Digial Content Strategy

I took the opportunity on Tuesday to attend one of the presentations on the draft Digital Content Strategy. One of the things I was particularly pleased to see was the inclusion of a category of content called “informal” content (which I often refer to as “user generated content” – the sort of thing created in blogs, wikis and other forms of social software.) I’d argue that this is an important dimension of a digital content strategy given the emerging discussion about “informal learning” that is taking place in the e-learning world (see recent contributions by Stephen Downes, Juliett White and Tony Karrer for instance)

Not all would agree however. One gentleman at the presentation challenged the presenter by asking “why are we taking this (informal) content seriously?” He contended that such content was untrustworthy, opinionated, and not worth the time and effort to classify or store for the future. Such traditional views of the nature and value of content are bound to inform the way the final document is developed – which is why I guess it is important for those who regard the importance of informal content as a part of the Web2.0 should make a response to the writing group by the due date of 20 December. Response forms, along with copies of the discussion document are available on the Digital Strategy website.