Start by selecting a topic area for the given collection. This defines the scope of what items do, or do not, belong in the collection.
Decide, will this be a one time collection, or an ongoing collection. Do you need to set up a system to keep collecting information for this topic? Or will you be publishing it once, and never (or rarely) updating it?
Develop sources within that topic area. The Internet is full of information and some of it is even reputable. Choose well because the quality of your collection is judged by the quality of the sources.
There is a tradeoff between these two methods
- Selectively collecting each item individually
- Incorporating everything from a given source
Some sources are highly reliable, stay on topic, produce good quality content, are truthful, etc. When you find such a source, you'll want to incorporate everything published by that source. For other sources you'll have to pick carefully among what they publish.
Link to the original source of the item. The Internet is a "link economy" and the biggest payment you can offer your sources is by giving a link. This helps your readers to not only evaluate the items you've collected, but also to discover new sources for their own enlightenment.
In many cases you'll be embedding content from elsewhere, such as videos, tweets, pictures, etc. Embed in a way that encourages reuse and a link to the source.
Add value to the collection by providing some commentary. Keep your commentary short - enough to guide the story - let the curated items speak for themselves.
See Ethics of Curation for the principles behind these methods.
