Thing #5 Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site

Photo sharing websites have been around since the '90s, but it took a small startup site called Flickr to catapult the idea of “sharing” into a full blown online community. Within the past few years, Flickr has become the fastest growing photo sharing site on the web and is known as one of the first websites to use keyword “tags” to create associations and connections between photos and users of the site. We're taking a look a the wide world of Flickr and the little interactive world of our library's mysapl and mysaplstaff accounts.

For this discovery exercise, you are first asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people and other libraries are using Flickr for.
Photo credit: Central 2008 Knit-Out Program on mysapl.

Discovery Resources:

• Flickr Learn More tour (8 steps)

• Quick video by Common Craft: Online Photo Sharing in Plain English (use headphones or speakers)


• Flickr: Popular tags


• Flickr: The Commons:


• Flickr Services (3rd party applications & mashups)

Discovery Exercise:

In this discovery exercise, you have two options…

OPTION 1. Login to the mysaplstaff flickr account (your password is on the Intranet Flickr cheat sheet). Take a good look around your contact mysapl for an interesting library photo that you want to blog about. You are encouraged to tag or comment on the mysapl photo in Flickr- this makes the photo findable and adds a personal touch. Don't worry, instructions on how to tag or comment are on the Intranet Flickr cheat sheet.

You can paste the photo's URL link into your blog, or you can "embed" the photo directly on your blog. To embed, click on the mysapl photo you want to blog, click to the right of the photo on "Share this," click where it says "Embed it" and copy the html code Flickr generates. Then (in a separate browser window) go to blogger and sign in, go to "New Post," and paste the html in your editing window. Blogger will give you a option for the size of the photo - choose small or medium size. Presto, you have embedded the photo in your blog! Type your blog reflections under the photo.

-- OR --

OPTION 2. If you're up to an easy challenge ... create a Free account in Flickr and use a digital camera to capture a few pictures from your life. Upload these to your Flickr account and tag at least one of the images "SAPLL2" 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. Once you have a Flickr account, you have two options for doing this: through Flickr's blogging tool or using Blogger's photo upload feature.

So go ahead, explore the site and have some Flickr photo fun and if you're interested in looking at some photo hosting sites, then why not check out Jamie's recommendations & this Wired story. (Thanks Jamie for the link).

PS: A quick word about photo posting etiquette - When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) is it advisable to get the person's verbal ok 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 in your blog. For more, check out the my SAPL and Flickr FAQs or the my SAPL and Flickr: Share Your Photos on the Intranet. If you have any questions about Flickr, you are welcome to ask bibliosopher on her 23 things blog - she's here to help along the way.