Flickr

From LIS 460 Summer 2007

posted by --Covintre 17:18, 20 June 2007 (EDT)

1 Flickr defined
2 Flickr in the library community
- 2.1 A few of the many Library Groups on Flickr
3 Flickr in a school community
4 Questions I still had
5 Related Flickr Links
6 References and Articles

Flickr defined

According to their own About page, Flickr is "almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world." While these could be seen as fighting words for other online photo companies, take away the superlatives and they define themselves accurately.

Flickr (owned by Yahoo!) allows members (both free and fee (called "pro" accounts)) to manage their visual content as they can upload photo(s), organize photos, tag photos, and comment on photos. Photos can be put into "sets" which can consist of one or many pictures. Members can also determine privacy settings for their images. Images can be private, private for friends, private for family, private for friends and family, and public. Photos can be uploaded individually or in batches and be added to the site via the web, camera phones, or various software programs.

In terms of photo sharing, Flickr members can share their photos in a variety of ways. Any "public" photo can be seen by any person searching through the flickr page, member or non-member. Photos can be given a Creative Commons label, allowing other users access to those images. Flickr members can add contacts, and Flickr displays new photos by those contacts on a users homepage under the Contacts setting. In addition, Flickr allows RSS feeds and Groups so that people can find images of their specific interest. Flickr photos can also be placed on or in blogs and other online locations. A user can search for photos in Group pools, by tag, title, or username.

Flickr supports seven different languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese, and more information about this is on their Flickr blog.

A Flickr member put it best at the following image from cogdogblog's Flickr photostream. To us, it just looks like a cluttered desk, but with Flickr, There is so much more

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Flickr in the library community

A search for the word "library" led to "408,570 images matching the term, library." Not all of these images are in the United States either. Images of, about, and for libraries are abound on Flickr.

The ALA Flickr page which includes images from book conferences and festivals. (If you cannot attend ALA in Washington D.C. or missed ALA Midwinter in Seattle, you can view many of the events and highlights via this site, and virtually be there.) In addition, ALA has a set for READ posters created by their software and now available to all.

Many of the photos in the ALA sets come from Pools. A pool is a another name for a Group of photos which cover a specific theme or idea. As a member you can join as member pools as you want. Groups are sometimes Invite only, but are varied in topic and theme. By using the Group Pool feature, ALA gets many more photos than it could have with just photos from its own staff.

In addition, many libraries (public, school, branch, private, academic, etc) have Flickr accounts. One group discussion board is trying to find them all and that list is here.

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A few of the many Library Groups on Flickr

Here's a list of some library group pools you may want to join or view:

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Flickr in a school community

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Teachers & Administrators

Teachers and Administrators could share images across a district through Flickr. Each district, state or other collaborative body could work together in an image pool. In this way, teachers could share images of their classrooms and the final results of certain projects. This could be a great tool for highlighting the strengths within a school community in terms of diversity, campus, classrooms, etc. Educational organizations have Flickr groups to share their work. Consider:

Images with notes and comments can act as instructional tools in and of themselves. Teachers could also create a page that could work as their portfolio which they could then share when up for evaluative review or when applying for new jobs. They could also use Flickr's slide capabilities to create their own slide show programs. Consider:

Teachers could also search for photos with the proper Creative Commons license to use images from this page in their discussions, lectures, handouts, and assignments. Some pools are created with this specific need in mind. In addition to taking images for classroom use, teachers create assignments asking students to take photos for a project and those photos could then be displayed on Flickr, and given a sharable license. More on this under "Students," but consider the following:

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Students

At the Governor's School, a private school in Massachusetts, the library featured Photo sets created by students for specific assignments. One of the best is called Poetry Pictured. In this assignment, sophomore students in an English class took photos as a way to visually represent lines from poetry from their textbook. This was a great way to have students look at the world, discuss the power of "image in poetry" and make poetry more personal and accessible. It seems that other similar projects could be possible.

In that example, Flickr became the display space for students work. Flickr could also be used to highlight student events like science fairs, visiting speakers, sports events, and more. Those images could either be taken by students or by others.

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Library Teachers

With the various group pools, and the number of libraries around the nation and the world linked in to Flickr, it can prove a great resource for Library Teachers. Adding specific libraries to your contact lists allows a library teacher to see what others schools are doing in their libraries. As a Library Teacher, Flickr gives visual proof for teachers and administrators of what a certain project or idea can really look like when trying to encourage a new program or idea.

The Book Display group is a great place to visit to get ideas on ways to showcase books and other materials in your school library.

The Library Teacher could also use Flickr to highlight new books, save images from past Library events, advertise the collection and resources.

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Questions I still had

My question: Can Flickr print photos?

Answer: Printing photos is a newer service on Flickr. Only members in the U.S. who have a Credit Card and US billing address can print through Flickr. Otherwise, you have to use an outside service. In this way, it seems, Flickr is better as a social image sharing site, but one could make Posters through other Flickr partners. See the next Q&A.

My question: What other things can Flickr with my pics?

Answer: As stated earlier, Flickr images can be added to other websites through live streaming. In addition, outside services are compatible with Flickr, and make it possible to create Photo Books, mini business cards, calendars, and stamps. The mini business card option from Moo could be great for bookmarks. For more information check this part of the tour.

My question: What about security for students?

Answer: It seems security is always an issue when dealing with schools. To prevent students or others from vandalizing images, there is the option to prevent "Comments" or "Notes" from public photos. Personally, these are two of my favorite aspects of the site, but if they are abused, it could be a major problem. In addition, since the person who uploads the photos chooses what the titles and captions will be, names of students can be omitted. User settings can also assist with this. Images of specific students can be held in "private" view, while abstract art and other images of a school campus could still be public. For best results in a school setting though, this might be something you would have to include in your school or district Acceptable Use Policy.

My question: Do I have to get a "Pro" account?

Answer: The "pro" account costs about $25 a year and allows an unlimited number of sets and pictures to be displayed and uploaded. The free account only affords a user 3 sets, has a limit to the amount of bandwidth which can be used in a month, and will only display 200 photos at the most. On the plus side, photos no longer displayed are not destroyed, just hidden. For optimum library use, being able to have more than three sets is highly appealing. In addition, once the 200 photo limit is reached on a free account an annoying black announcement is listed at the beginning of a user's main photostream.

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