Photosharing websites have been around since the '90s, but it took a small start up site called Flickr to catapult the idea of “sharing” into a full-blown online community. Within the past two years, Flickr has become the fastest growing photo sharing site on the web and is known as one of the first websites to use tags to create associations and connections between photos and users of the site.
Let's take a look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. You can find out how Flickr's tags work, what groups are, and how other libraries are using Flickr to create interesting things. (Some of us here at CCPL already have Flickr accounts, like our Public Relations department, St. Andrews, and Cynthia Bledsoe, to name just three.)
Some of the neatest features of Flickr are actually aren't created by Flickr employees. Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on the site. Many people have created these third party tools and mashups that use Flickr images. Here are just a couple of examples:
Retrivr - lets you search Flickr photos by drawing a rough sketch and retrieving pictures that "match" the sketch.
fd's Flickr Toys - a collection of lots of Flickr add-ons and toys.
Flickr Graph – creates a visual representation of your connections with other Flickr users.
Before we move on to the Discovery Resources and Exercise for the week, here are 3 thoughts to keep in mind about Flickr photo posting etiquette. When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) is it advisable to get the person's (or parent's) permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr. Never upload pictures that weren't taken by you (unless you have the photographer's consent) and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else.
Now, on to Flickr for some photosharing fun!
Discovery Resources
- Flickr Tour (7 steps)
- Mediamazine Flickr Tutorials
- Popular Flickr tags Interestingness - Last 7 days
- Flickr Services (3rd party applications & mashups)
- libraries on Flickr
Discovery Exercise
Choose one of these options and complete it for this week's Discovery Exercise.
Option A:
Take a look around Flickr and discover an interesting image to write a blog entry about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or, if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr's blogging tool to add the image directly to your post. (You can also include images in your post by using Blogger's photo upload tool.)
--OR--
Option B:
Create a Free account in Flickr and use a digital camera to capture a few pictures of something in your branch. Upload them to your Flickr account and mark it "public". Then create a post in your blog about your photo and experience. Be sure to include the image in your post. (Remember, once you have a Flickr account, you have two options for posting your photo: through Flickr's blogging tool or using Blogger's photo upload feature.)
--OR--
Option C:
Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools that are out there. Create a blog post about one that intrigues you. (Personally one of my very favorite tools is FD Toys’ Trading Card Maker. And there’s a ton of librarians out there that have created their own Librarian Trading Card.)
PS: CCPL Tech Stars! image created by Spell with Flickr.
No comments:
Post a Comment