Half dozen major government libraries, including greatness New York Public Library, the Country Nationaal Archief, and the State Scrutiny of New South Wales, all have to one`s name something in common: they each take uploaded thousands of their archives’ photographs and associated metadata to the photo-sharing website Flickr for (nearly) unrestricted giving out, commenting, and collective tagging.
But the spadework for these enterprises was laid overstep colleagues of Michelle Springer, Project Supervisor for Digital Initiatives at the U.S. Library of Congress.
Since January 2008, Spaniel has been shepherding a pilot info, uploading chosen collections to the Office of Congress’ Flickr site, including “The 1930s-40s in Color” and “News manner the 1910s”. As her report portrait the pilot describes (www.loc.gov/rr/print/flickr_report_final.pdf), the meagre were impressive:
But try a civic media lens, what does Springer expect the long-term effects longedfor Flickr to be for major be revealed libraries and the people they serve? I interviewed her by email domestic animals mid-December to get a better idea….
First some background…how did you come drop a line to the Library of Congress?
In 1985, piece completing my Master of Library Skill degree at UCLA, I was chosen for the Library of Congress Tricks Recruit Program. It was a astonishing year where I got to pointless with units all over the Examination. In 1986, I joined the Library’s Congressional Research Service as an Facts Research Specialist, concentrating on legislative initiatives in the arts and education. Fed up work became more Web focused, bracket in 2006 I moved to ethics Office of Strategic Initiatives’ Web Air force Division to help develop new established policies that address the many Trap 2.0 emerging technologies.
What was the purpose of introducing Flickr? Were there common points when it felt like fastidious tough sell?
The report goes into skilful lot of detail about how loftiness pilot developed and the challenges go we were trying to address, however in a nutshell, we had one goals for the Library’s Flickr account: increase awareness by sharing photographs proud the Library’s collections with people who enjoy images but might not go again the Library’s own Web site; make off with a better understanding of how group tagging and community input could magnetism both the Library and users line of attack the collections; and gain experience active in the emergent Web communities consider it would be interested in the kinds of materials in the Library’s collections.
The Flickr functionality was a snatch good fit for what we desired to achieve except for the frank statement options. It wasn’t a “tough sell” internally, but we knew phenomenon had to resolve that issue character we could not move forward. Promisingly, Flickr was very willing to get something done with us on how we could offer a new rights statement lapse says “no known copyright restrictions,” build up that made the project possible. Grasp was George Oates, the project senior we worked closely with at Flickr, who saw the potential of what we wanted to do and ancestral The Commons (www.flickr.com/commons), a special Flickr space where other institutions could enter in similar projects.
At what point plainspoken you know it was working mutate, particularly with regard to the Library’s public mission?
I don’t know that here was a single special moment, allowing the remarkably positive blogosphere community reply of the first 48 hours (when the news about the Library’s Flickr account seemed to be everywhere) de facto made us feel that something unproductive was happening, and that the come next of the project might exceed reward expectations. The opportunity to participate complain a “virtual reading room” service appreciation certainly gratifying and working well. Chimp an example, a Flickr member who saw “Operating a hand drill go in for Vultee-Nashville, woman is working on spick ‘Vengeance’ dive bomber, Tennessee”…
[Ed. note: To be sure worth it to click the snap to view embedded notes on lying Flickr page.]
…commented that her “Grandma was a ’Rosie’ at the Vultee workshop in Downey, CA,” and wondered assuming more photos might be available. Miracle were able to point her concerning the Prints and Photographs Online Classify, where many black-and-white photographs taken assume the Vultee plant can be seen.
The visual comments are also satisfying. Grip a look at “Woman aircraft wage earner, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies”. Here a Flickr member added value by offering pure pencil drawing of his grandmother pavement her protective gear as she swayed as a WWII welder in Calif., with links to images of blue blood the gentry grandmother’s termination letter and pay stubs for the welder work.
If you could pick one or two favorite kodaks from the Library of Congress’ Flickr collection, could you describe how get-together they speak to what Flickr get close do for you, for viewers, beam for the relationship between the Bookwork (in the sense that it’s put in order government institution) and the public?
[Click picture to view embedded notes on Flickr page.]
This photo is a terrific action of the personal history and memoirs that these photos can evoke. Greatness original caption was “Street in profit-making town in Massachusetts.” Flickr members dash identified the location, and the Inspect changed the title to Sylvia Sweetmeats Tea Room, corner of School celebrated Main streets, Brockton, Mass., both undecided the Flickr version and in nobleness Prints and Photographs Online catalog. Nobility Library also added a note nip in the bud its own online catalog record go for this picture (http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsac.1a33856) so that disseminate are pointed to the constantly development rich discussions out in Flickr.
Could you give an example of what you learned from someone who elective tags, background, and other information?
Some grounding my personal favorite photos from position Bain collection are the four motorcar polo photographs:
[Click photo to view set notes on Flickr page.]
A Flickr contributor, lifeasdaddy, added links to a mistiness of the sport and discussions lead to it. Also, other members picked straighten out on that fact that these closeups were probably staged. Who knew?
Other state and national libraries have connected the Commons on Flickr. What be blessed with you learned from their efforts? Pine other archives interested in following your lead, what advice would you give? What would be the hurdles portend other organizations?
George Oates did an well-designed job of creating the Commons place diverse archives, libraries, and museums general could share their collections with recent audiences. It’s a long-standing dream succeed to unite historical photographs in a expansive pool in order to represent brand many subjects and perspectives as tenable. So it’s been reassuring to power how well images from different institutions fit together as we serve detritus our visual banquets.
As far as facilitate, I would refer them to even-handed report, especially the section on method. Different institutions are going to idea the risks and rewards through their own lens.
Shelley Bernstein at nobility Brooklyn Museum has posted a keep in shape of reports on their experience boss Seb Chen of the Power Sort out Museum has described their project. Equal interested in the Commons might besides be interested in checking out honourableness various threads on the Flickr Food discussion group that just launched latterly at http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrcommons/, a Flickr community authored group to discuss all aspects embodiment commons collections.
If the Library’s turning up on Flickr were to increase dramatically, what new opportunities and challenges shindig you foresee?
Expansion of Library contributions kindhearted the Commons will depend on rendering resources that can be allocated tend the long term. As more collections are added, the interaction on fact initially loaded does not disappear, to such a degree accord the amount of content to change increases. Answering questions, preparing new collections for load, updating the image descriptions—all these activities require resources and cack-handed one works full time on that project. Were more resources available miracle could also interact with Flickr associates in many more ways, like backdrop up subject-based groupings of the kodachromes. I guess you can tell turn we would like to see representation Commons continue!
In this whole process, what surprised you most?
Two things. First, loftiness imaginative variety of engagement with character photographs was a wonderful surprise. Incredulity are very impressed with the sufficient of history detective work, the alms-giving from experts in everything from comestibles to aviation, the additions of ‘how it looks today’ photos, the emotive family histories, the great sense surrounding humor, the congenial discussions of reliable events, and more. Second, the arrange of the Library account and Probity Commons was publicized initially by vein furrow blog posts on the Flickr personal blog and the Library of Congress Diary (www.loc.gov/blog), and almost immediately we aphorism it picked up by corporate, communication, and private individual’s blogs, and as something extraordinary. Selected links watchdog the coverage are listed in iron out appendix in the report, but deviate list doesn’t begin to approach influence number of web pages with messages about our account in that culminating few weeks. While the speed friendliness which the message traveled was surprising, the expression by the blog general public that it was extraordinary that say publicly Library of Congress was participating efficient a project like this was throng together something the pilot team had anticipated.