Exploring Flickr

I've used Flickr to search for photos many times. I am a big fan of the Creative Commons project and, when I blogged for the Free Music Archive, I would use Flickr to search through "the commons" and find photos that I could use freely, without a license, without paying, for non-commercial use. I was often rather surprised to see the quality of the photos that people would take and distribute for free. This is just another aspect of the Commons Community that I have learned to admire. The photo at the top of this blog post was uploaded to Flickr by the Library of Congress. I found it by utilizing the "Search the Commons" option and typing in New Jersey. This photo was taken in Newark, and the Flickr photo page (here) provides a lot more information on the archive collection it is housed in. Really interesting stuff.

Exploring Flickr is fun and truly addictive. I haven't used the site in a while, and absolutely loved exploring the Flickr map! I have been visiting my girlfriend in Buffalo, NY a lot as of late, so I searched the Flickr map for areas near her. I found this really beautiful photo, which is the coffee shop we go to every morning when I visit! It is literally a 3 minute walk from her apartment. I was blown away.

Then I started to read the comments on the photo, and was equally impressed by the sincerity of the posts. People were respectfully critical and inquisitive about the nature of the photograph and the circumstances under which it was taken.

Further investigation of the comments led me to the Delete Me Uncensored Group. Unfortunately, it's a private group, so I was unable to explore it. I did, however, find the insanely intricate details and rules of the group. Basically, the group keeps a rotating gallery of 200 pictures that are "the best" on Flickr. As new photos are nominated for inclusion, they are voted on. If they pass, the photographer who took it then gets to add it to the gallery and nominate another photo for removal. Phewwwwww, that was work. Just another interesting aspect of digital sharing!

One final note: Tagging is one of the most useful Internet tools I have ever encountered, and it is especially important for digital photo collections. Tagging makes things findable, it gives a form and subject to objects that can't necessarily speak for themselves. A librarian can learn a lot from the tagging structure (especially the geo-tagging) of Flickr.