Ipernity
From LIS 460 Summer 2007
Contents |
About Ipernity
Ipernity is a social networking site similar to Flickr. In addition to posting photos, members can post videos and audio. There is also a blog built in to every member's page. Although Ipernity can be used for almost all of the same purposes as Flickr, it has some interesting and unique features.
According to several Flickr users I know personally, and a slew of bloggers (see links below), a huge Flickr contingent is moving to Ipernity, and many of them are canceling their Flickr accounts as they go. As far as I can tell, the primary reason for the move is outrage over censorship by Flickr, particularly in Europe, so it is fitting that competitor Ipernity is a French site. However, Ipernity does also offer some nice features and integration that Flickr lacks. Apparently there is even a way to import all of your Flickr photos and tags directly into your Ipernity account, which makes the transition even easier.
From the Ipernity website: "In three years, many things happened on the Internet. Greater firms didn't await us to launch services that are now mainstays of Web 2.0. We observed them closely. We were happy to find there some of our ideas and did not hesitate to inspire ourselves from the best. Today we think we are able to compete with the greatest by offering you a more complete and better integrated Web 2.0 experience. This is our opinion, we will let you be the judge of it." http://www.ipernity.com/about/us
Reasons to use Ipernity instead of Flickr
- censorship issues at Flickr
- integrated blogging and photosharing
- ability to post video, audio, and other documents as well as photos
Using Ipernity in the school library media center or classroom
In addition to the all of the wonderful ways to use photosharing services like Flickr in the library media center or the classroom, Ipernity offers a few more options. I won't go into detail for all of things they have in common, since the Flickr article is very thorough and has some great ideas, but Ipernity also offers tagging, networks, and many of the other neat features that make Flickr interesting.
Since an Ipernity account has a blog included, it is easy to integrate your photos into your blog. Each student could have an account and use it as a blog for school, take photos and choose one to write about. In the library, you could also incorporate research into such an assignment, by having them choose a photo, create tags for it, and find information about those subjects in the library, writing a blog entry with background information or history that applies to the content of the photo.
The integrated photo, audio, and video sharing is nice as well. This semester we have been talking about ways and venues to find and to post content in various media, and Ipernity offers a simple solution that might be of interest to library teachers. If you are considering a project which will require more than one, rather than having students sign up for a separate YouTube, Podomatic, and Flickr account (or equivalent services offered by different companies), why not give them one username and password to remember, and keep all of their blog, photos, video, and audio in one place? This also allows consistent tagging and makes the resources easier for the students to find. And of course you could have them write a course-related blog and link directly to audio, video, or photos that they have posted there as well.
For the school library teacher, Ipernity would be a great way to stay in touch with teachers, parents, and community members. We've talked about using a blog as a way to keep everyone up to date on what's happening in the library, and we've talked about using podcasts for this purpose as well. Wouldn't it be great if you could post, in one place, photos you have taken to show parents what the library looks like, and students and teachers using it, videos giving an orientation or tour of the library, and regular podcasts and blog entries; they could see it all in one place without having to follow links to external sites. This could also be great for selling the importance of the school library, especially to residents who might not otherwise be invested in passing that override for the school budget, for instance.
Links and sources
Ipernity's guidelines for users
