Flickr and Digital Image Your Library Jason Clark Bonnie Mccallum Montana State University Libraries

Overview Introduction & Overview –Jason Clark About MSU Flickr.com Project –Jason Clark Flickr.com Project Processes & Procedures –Bonnie Mccallum Flickr.com Photostream Results –Bonnie Mccallum Flickr.com Project Results –Jason Clark Questions & Discussion –Jason Clark

About Presentation Slide show has static images for Handouts Presentation will toggle between slide show and Flickr’s MSU Photostream

Introduction – Who? Jason A. Clark Head of Digital Access and Web Services Montana State University Libraries twitter.com/jaclark Bonnie Mccallum Digital Library Technician Montana State University Libraries

Introduction – Why? Our reasons… –Low cost –Active user community –Libraries in the workflow –Growing participation of non-profits –Leveraging web 2.0 and social software

Using Flickr.com in Academia About Flickr.com –An image and video hosting website, web services suite, online community platform. –Standard HTML, HTTP, XML functionality –Public or Private accounts, parental control, private photo storage Other learning institutions hosting images on Flickr.com –Library of Congress –Brooklyn Museum –New York Public Library –Others The Commons –

Using Flickr.com About Flickr.com Accounts –Two types of accounts (  Free  Fee –Account Organization by Owner  Tags (metadata)  Sets  Geo-tagged, original date, copyrights  Batch Uploads –3 rd -Party Partners  Web Mashups and Tools  Mini and Business Cards, etc

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project MSU’s Flickr.com Project Objectives –Increase world-wide-web exposure to MSU Libraries Collections –Increase search engine optimization (SEO) of MSU- Libraries Special Collections –Increase scholarly and educational access to MSU Libraries Collections and their objects –Increase digital object presence and delivery technology options across campuses, state, and academia

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project Montana State University Libraries “Pro” Site –Currently Focused on Special Collections & Archives

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project Montana State University Libraries Photostream

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project Four Sets –Collection 10 - James Willard Schultz –Collection 2451 – August “Gus” Ludwig Hormay –Collection 771 – Thomas B. Brook –Collection 1507 – Frank Jay Haynes Family Each Set has: –Brief description of the Special Collection and Photographer –Links back to:  MSU Collection  MSU Libraries Homepage

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project An Example of a Set

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project Each photo object has: –Description with Object ID –Links back to:  MSU Collection’s Finding Aid  MSU Individual Object  MSU Duplication Policy  MSU Libraries Digital Initiatives

Using Flickr.com –End-users  Downloads and Prints  Comments  High quality tiffs as masters

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project An Example of an Object

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project MSU-Libraries Object Selection Process –Institution’s charter  Land-grant University (Land-grant College)  Public educational outreach –Libraries’ digital and web services mission –Digital object’s quality –Patronage and Low-picking fruit –Copyrights

MSU-Libraries Flickr.com Project Preparation –Photostream Sets  Each MSU Collection is a “Set” within photostream  Browser page holds 60 thumb-nails  Collection “Set” has unique description –Select ≤ 60 digital images  Where are photo objects internally?  Where do we want tiff copies of them for uploading process?  Check the size and adjust accordingly

Flickr.com Project Data Data collection long-view –Re-use data for other Web 2.0 initiatives Data –“Set” and “photo-object” descriptions with links  SEO spiders like good content and links  SEO and end-user descriptors and keywords  Inclusion in The Commons is a human decision  Help our Special Collections Librarians Types of data –Text fields and HTML

Flickr.com Data Collection Data Collection –Used digital photos already created and published to MSU Libraries website –Photo-objects and associated information on several different servers and in different files –Needed a central file to hold all the information about individual photo-objects and their associated sets –Excel file holds all data for uploading to Flickr  Individual photo-object information, including HTML  Set (collection) descriptions  Multiple collections

Flickr.com Data

Flickr.com Data in Web 2.0 Metadata (Tags) –What are end-users and SEOs looking for? –Unique to the digital object –Persons, Places, Things, and collection name –Keyword phrases  “Montana State University” –Batching tags and keywords  Once an entire collection was uploaded, Batch Tagged: “Montana State University” “MSU Libraries” “James Willard Schultz”

Sample Object Meta Data Front end view –Title –Description –Tags

Sample Object with HTML Montana, Bureau of Land Management, Porcupine Creek Fish and Game, a fenced-in study field. (Object: ) Object ID: Creator: Hormay, August "Gus" Ludwig -- Photographer Source: Collection 2451: August "Gus" Ludwig Hormay Photographs and Papers, ( more info ) Repository: Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections at Montana State University Libraries Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, cl ick here ) More information about the Montana State University Library: Digital Initiatives Back end view HTML –Links with HTML code

Flickr Photostream Admin Photostream account administration –Flickr is a social network and someone has to be sociable on a regular basis  Answer comments, monitor contacts and favorites –Track statistics –Flickr contact

Flickr Photostream Results Pleasant surprises –Photos people are finding of interest –How people are finding these photos –Individuals and groups –End-users feedback and interest Wish we know more –What tags and metadata are we missing –What other photo collection topics are of interest

Flickr.com Project Results Data collection used in other projects –Heritage West –Montana Memory Project Findability - bring MSU collections visibility

Flickr.com Project Future Plans Our current status –Applied to Commons – We are in the queue More sample collections going forward Educate and make research accessible

Lessons Learned Consolidate your data into single file (Excel) Most hits from outside of Flickr.com People want to share, use, and contact Scale of “long tail” brings new uses and interest Data mining of Flickr stats brings new understanding of digital content Flickr has community guidelines and acceptable use policies

Recommendations Get your data in order first – Excel or other tool Batch and optimize generic metadata –Tags, permissions, locations Add metadata for your librarians –E.g., Special collections object id Allow time for social monitoring and participation –Staff time assigned Talk to Flickr early, show samples Add external linking strategies within metadata –Links into your collection, out to search engines

Resources & References References –Library of Congress’s Blog article: “Library Releases Report on Flickr Pilot”  –Wikipedia article on Flickr  Flickr Resources –Flickr Services ( –Flickr Create a Flash Badge ( –Partner Products – MiniCards (

Questions & Discussion