What I think is especially interesting about this is that you can easily compare the existing LC subject headings with the new Flickr tags and judge which are more likely to help get users to images. I think all sorts of revelations may come from this. I found myself staring at the poster of Ruth the Acrobat, trying to think of apt tags that had not already been contributed.
Eileen Fry
Indiana University
-----Original Message-----
From: ART LIBRARIES SOCIETY DISCUSSION LIST [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sherman Clarke
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 1:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARLIS-L] The lists are alive with the sound of LC on Flickr
There have been a bunch of messages on various lists over the past couple days about the Library of Congress loading several thousand records on Flickr where folks can tag and comment.
In a message on the visualmat list, Helena Zinkham of Prints & Photographs at LC responded to the enthusiastic response to LC's announcement. The particular question had to do with whether LC's load of records was done in a special way. Here's the bulk of her message to visualmat (the list of the SAA Visual Materials Section):
Thanks for an early show of support and interest! The warm response from Flickr members to 'old pictures' has been very gratifying so far, too.
I'll check on the load routine, and in the meantime, here's the link to the project summary and FAQ on LC's Prints & Photos site,
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/flickr_pilot.html
Also, a glimpse of early tagging in languages beyond English:
http://flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163455430/
And a sample of how the kind of personal-association user comment that we've all enjoyed in our Reading Rooms is going:
http://flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163155973/
Helena Zinkham
Library of Congress
Prints & Photographs Div.
--------------------------
If you want more, you can read the January archive of the steve.museum discussion list at http://steve.museum/pipermail/discuss/index.html
Sherman Clarke, New York University Libraries - [log in to unmask]
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