Review: I don't get it
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 11, 2014
Zaslofsky presents an engaging, enthusiastic argument for recording and preserving (that is, "curating") all one's experiences, preferably in the form of Excel spreadsheets, designed in such a way as to preserve all essential attributes. He makes a cogent case for using Excel because of its privacy and portability, although he admits that (my preferred information capturing system), Evernote, can work well if one is willing to trust one's archive to a third-party provider.I am a cataloging librarian; I work daily with the organization of knowledge; I have (paper) lists and files and notebooks that go back to childhood. I appreciate Zaslofsky's enthusiasm for constructing a rational digital system for preserving personally important information. In fact his Excel system recreates the essential characteristics of professional Content Management Systems such as ContentDM.  I also applaud his insistence on full and complete acknowledgement of sources of information.What I don't get is why someone would want to record, excuse me, "curate," everything -- every meal, video, book, YouTube, conversation, prank ... He says he has a bad memory and curates to remember his life better. I prefer more selective remembering and trusting my research skills to find information when and if I need it. That said, the system he outlines would work well for anyone facing a project that requires the systematic compilation of a lot of information. The book is well-written and easy to read.