Katselists

Katselists are user-curated lists used to organize and track items across domains such as books, films, software, and tasks. They combine metadata, annotations, and social collaboration to support discovery, planning, and decision-making.

The term arose in online curation communities in the early 2000s and has since been used generically without a centralized standard. Practice emphasizes flexibility and ongoing refinement rather than fixed inventories.

Structure: Each entry typically includes a title, creator, date, category, status (planned, in progress, completed), and optional notes. Lists can be flat or hierarchical and may use tags or cross-links to connect related items. Some platforms provide version history and collaborative editing.

Creation and governance: Katselists can be personal or communal. Workflows often involve drafting, review, and publishing, with guidelines to maintain consistency. Verification, citations, and annotations improve reliability.

Usage and impact: They are used for reading lists, media curation, project planning, and research inventories. Benefits include transparency, discoverability, and collective decision-making; challenges include maintenance burden, bias, and information overload.

Relation to similar concepts: Katselists relate to bibliographies, playlists, and catalogs but emphasize ongoing collaboration and adaptive organization rather than static inventories.