MOOcing Experiences - 1st in a series of MOOC reflections

This is the first, of [what I hope will be] a series of posts on my MOOCing experiences over the past 5+ months. I hope they will provide food for thought to my fellow co-learners and aspiring/experienced curators. If you’ve been ‘following’ my journey using #metaliteracy, #dcurate, #teachinglibraryresearchstrategies on Twitter, this series is being written with you in mind as my primary audience.

It’s Friday afternoon and the following Canvas notification appears in my email:

This “Teaching Library Research Strategies” MOOC only started on January 27, and, in addition to replying to our individual discussions on the discussion board, our instructor has already posted 8 announcements!

I appreciate how this MOOC instructor helps keep learners engaged by posting notifications like this. [But I digress - that’s NOT the point of today’s post nor do I want to call your attention to the fact that there are some discussions (the RED arrows) that I need to read.]

Since I already know that my instructor is looking for some discussion, I go to this new ‘Announcement’ on the Canvas site.

The page is replete with links. The instructor has certainly gotten my attention. [You’ll remember that I am an Informavore and aspiring curator!] 

But I immediately notice that this "Friday update" appears to contain some verbatim text and doesn’t provide a link to the source! [This IS a course on research strategies, right?]

As I scroll down the page, I notice something about the References it provides:

I go in search of the original article and find that, although it indicates today as its last modification date, it actually dates from January/February 2002 [making these links at least 12 years old]!

So, just for the ‘halibut’, I decided to follow the breadcrumbs so my co-learners could be alerted to the status of these antiquated links and shared my findings with the instructor and my co-learners:

My takeaway: In reflecting on this journey through the 'Valley of the Shadow of Dead Links', I'm reminded that a good book is often a better source than a soon-to-be outdated curated list of Internet resources!

Have you had similar experiences? Share them in the comments section below.

And stay tuned for more "MOOcing Experiences".