Synonyms for "curate" in US English

Solution 1:

com·pile (the free dictionary)
tr.v. com·piled, com·pil·ing, com·piles

2. To put together or compose from materials gathered from several sources: compile an encyclopedia.

In a context where the material is not necessarily of a cultural or similar nature, compile can be used. However, note that unlike curate, compile does not include the sense of either to look after or to present.

Solution 2:

One word I've heard used is cull. Here are a few dictionary entries:

cull to collect something such as information from different places : recipes culled from magazines ¹

cull to choose or gather the best or required examples ²

cull 1. To pick out from others; select. 2. To gather; collect. ³

cull select from a large quantity; obtain from a variety of sources : anecdotes culled from Greek and Roman history ⁴

The word cull also implies, by picking out the best, you are also discarding the least desirable. (In fact, by culling a herd, you selectively slaughter the inferior animals; most dictionaries also make reference to this other usage of the word). Yet there is plenty of precendent for applying the word to data, as evidenced by this Google book listing.

_{R E F E R E N C E S}

¹ from Macmillan
² from Collins
³ from American Heritage, copied from Wordnik
⁴ from Oxford

Solution 3:

I ended up using variously "select", "showcase" and "compile".