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December 07, 2007

Lee & Michael, Apple Store, Coconut Point, Estero, Florida

Thanks to Mr. Lee Leblanc for driving me around southwest Florida for my talk at the Florida Council of State University Libraries/College Center for Library Automation (CCLA) Executive Board/Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA) Board Meeting at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Lee is a MLIS student at FSU - and he inspires me.

http://bibliodox.blogspot.com/

December 05, 2007

Patrons Participating

http://www.herzogbr.net/blog/?p=223

Brian Herzog writes:

Earlier this year, my library uploaded to flickr a set of historical photographs taken around town in 1901. We thought it was a good way to make these library materials more accessible.

I just noticed a comment on one of the photographs. A patron recognized another patron’s house, and forwarded him the link to our historical photograph. The second patron then uploaded a photograph of his house today to his flickr account, and linked the two together using comments.

That’s great - that’s exactly how libraries can enrich their collections and communities. We didn’t really do anything, other than put our pictures out there (no real promotion or involvement after that). It was word-of-mouth between patrons that brought this about, and let the library be involved in their daily lives. Neat.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chelmsfordpubliclibrary/sets/72157600000139715/

November 28, 2007

Dutch Flickr Documentary at YouTube

Via Jaap, comes this documentary about Flickr use in Holland. It's subtitled and dubbed. From what I've seen so far, the human connections that Flickr enables are first and foremost. Fascinating.

November 22, 2007

Dishwasher Meme - I love stuff like this!


October 31, 2007

BOO!


Libraries 2.0 = FUN!!
Originally uploaded by leecolibrary
Director Dawn is a CONVINCING wIcked witch. (Could she be channeling Librarians 1.0?)

October 18, 2007

A Calendar... A Quilt...

http://librarystream.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/marketing-a-vibrant-community-place/

Libraries are part of the communities they serve. They’re often a very active part — sometimes central to the daily life of community events, programming, and resources. So why not show that pulse? Why not display the vibrancy of daily life. One photo at a time might not mean too much, but look at the same sort of calendar quilt done for a library.

Thanks Steve!

October 09, 2007

Help Me Choose my Shirt/Tie Combo at Flickr (UPDATED!)

Choose? For TTW

Tomorrow at 11am CST, I'm keynoting the Illinois Library Association. Please help me choose a shirt and tie combo by commenting on one or the other at Flickr. The suit is black!

Blue & Blue Tie OR Black and Burberry Tie

The Winner:

The winner... Self portrait convention center men's room

October 08, 2007

Reason 573 to Love Flickr + Libraries

Celebrate Banned Books

Celebrate Banned Books Week at Hatcher Graduate Library, University of Michigan

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hatchergraduatelibrary/sets/72157602113979751/


September 18, 2007

Where did the pictures go?


Where did the pictures go?
Originally uploaded by mstephens7
Eddie Byrne asked this question on Facebook. Looks like the account was deleted. I wonder what happened...

Great Flickr Image for New Books


New fiction 2008_09
Originally uploaded by Books R Groovy
Via Phill Bradley comes this striking image of the New Fiction Titles for August and September 2008 at Sutton Libraries.

Well done!

September 01, 2007

Marilyn Monroe promotes MyLibraryDV at the library


marilyn
Originally uploaded by dblduchess
Ellen Druda at Half Hollow Hills Community Library writes:

We signed on with Recorded Books for their new MyLibraryDV service, and to promote it, we got some movie star standees and loaded them with bookmarks for patrons explaining how to download movies. The reaction has been great! Here we are:

http://flickr.com/photos/halfhollowhills/sets/72157601806637231/

July 26, 2007

For TADL Folk


For TADL Folk
Originally uploaded by mstephens7
Back in traverse City, working on stuff at the Traverse area District Library today. :-)

Dominoe: A Story Told in Flickr

Domino

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/sets/72157600975093412/

What stories could you tell about your library?

A day in the ______ department?

The journey of a book from arrival to being placed on the shelf?

The possibilities are endless! This might make a good exercise as well for learning Flickr, planning a story and creating it. Hmmmm. :-)

July 12, 2007

Potter party, Valencia Library, Tucson, AZ, July 11, 2007

NICE! The lucky folks at this library must have had some fun! Happy Potter Party!

June 22, 2007

The Term Paper


poster fgcu library
Originally uploaded by iblee...


May 31, 2007

All I Ever Wanted...


Commonwealth Avenue plaque
Originally uploaded by Muffet
Jessamyn shared this. It resonates deeply with me. Dream on--

May 16, 2007

ImaginOn Bathroom - Helene!


ImaginOn Bathroom
Originally uploaded by hblowers.


April 28, 2007

Reason #567 Why South Carolina Libraries ROCK


Day in the Life of SC Libraries on Flickr

Winner Day in the Life of SC Libraries

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nlwdayinsc/

April 20, 2007

Librarians 1.0


Librarians 1.0
Originally uploaded by agsaandjsmom.
Winner for Most Humourous in the National Library Week Day in the Life of South Carolina Libraries Contest!

On Monday the Lee County Librarians dressed up as Library 1.0 types. The patrons loved it and so did we. The entire day was filled with laughter.

April 14, 2007

I Was Assaulted By This Man Who Identified Himself as a Police Officer and Refused to Provide Me Identification, Photography is Not a Crime

No, I wasn't assaulted, but the photographer was.

This image and long thread of comments at Flickr fascinates me. Privacy..First Ammendment rights... photography...it all illustrates how the world is changing and that those changes can bring about messy events. At the bottom of the comments, someone proposes a Flash Mob at the site on the one year anniversary of the assault. I hope they do it.

April 10, 2007

365 Library Days Project


365 Library Days Project
Originally uploaded by libraryman.
Hey Library Folk! Check out Libraryman's 365 Library Days Project!

http://www.libraryman.com/blog/2007/04/08/365-library-days-project-the-beginning/

April 09, 2007

HOT


HOT
Originally uploaded by Hatchibombotar.
Yes indeed! Thanks Steve!

March 25, 2007

A Day in Allen County

A Day in Allen County

The folks at Allen County Public Library asked their patrons to take photos on a specific day and then send them in. The created a collection called "A Day in Allen County" for their library Flickr presence.

http://flickr.com/photos/acplinfo/sets/72157600001135158/

Hey libraries - you can do this too! How about:

A Day in ____________
A Day at the Library (or branch or department)
A Day on Campus
etc.

March 11, 2007

Flickr Plans...and Convergence

From a Macworld chat with Flickr co-founder and general manager Stewart Butterfield:

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/03/09/flickr/index.php

IDGNS: If you’re the eyes of the world, do you foresee Flickr getting a news component?

Butterfield: Yes, we already allow for that and it already happens but it’s not surfaced nor packaged up very well. But almost every day, Flickr is used as a source for photos that either don’t exist anywhere else or that there’s just a bigger variety on Flickr. A good example is when the New York Yankee player’s plane crashed into a [Manhattan] building. A text bulletin went out on the wires but there weren’t photos available, so the Yahoo front page team did a search for “NYC crash” on Flickr and found the first couple of photos that had been posted and weren’t available from any other source at that time. By the time photos started coming out of the wire services, there were dozens and dozens of images from different people on Flickr, and that’s where the Yahoo front page pointed to, linking to the Flickr photos. Expanding that capability and making it easier so it’s not a manual process is definitely something we’re interested in.


February 26, 2007

Check Out the Faces of the Newport Public Library!


Check us out!
Originally uploaded by Newport Public Library.
Just a nice Flickr moment I thought I'd share. It does my heart good to see the human side of the library.

January 04, 2007

Best Web 2.0 Software of 2006

Dion Hinchcliffe posts an overview of the best of Web 2.0 for 2006:

http://web2.wsj2.com/the_best_web_20_software_of_2006.htm

Amongst the choices are some of my favorites as well: Netbvibes and YouTube.

December 19, 2006

TTW Mailbox: Flickr'ing Libraries and the Flickr TOS

For TTW

Photo illustration of LaGrange Park Public Library's Flickr profile

Hi Michael, I'm a librarian at a large public library and I'm wondering if you can help me out. I'm trying to convince our staff to dive into the world of Flickr but a question has been brought up about #7 on Flick's official terms of use.

"Flickr is intended for personal use and is not a generic image hosting service. Professional or corporate uses of Flickr are prohibited."

I would naturally assume that this is referring to for-profit uses of Flickr, but I'm wondering if you have heard of any official clarification on this from Flickr (specifically libraries opening Flickr accounts). I am also emailing Flickr, but I thought I'd also try you..

Wanting To Flickr

Dear WTF: :-)

Thanks for writing with such a good question. I wrote to Flickr as well, but you received this reply before I did:

Hello, Thanks for your question. The "commercial use" part of the Community Guidelines refers to using Flickr to sell products or services. Non-profit groups may create Flickr accounts. However, the Community Guidelines and Terms of Service also require that each account is used by one person. For example, it would be a violation to distribute the login and password information to a group of people so they could all upload their photos to one account. For these types of applications, a Flickr group would be a better fit: http://www.flickr.com/help/groups/

So one person per account, eh? Really, this may be how many libraries do it. Photos get funneled to one person and uploaded. However, I have worked with some groups that share the login info and more than one person uploads. What if a family got a Flickr account, can't they share the login info? A few days later, Heather from Flickr replied with a brief but different take to me:

It's currently a grey area, but if the library isn't say selling books via the account, then it would be a reasonable use. We hope to clear up confusion in the somewhat near future with not-for-profit and commercial accounts. Heather

Thanks Heather. Grey is right! But I like the fact that Flickr recognizes that non-profits could benefit from an account as well and has plans to open up that venue.

December 13, 2006

Ho Ho Ho Hat (A Flickr Easter Egg)


Ho Ho Ho
Originally uploaded by mstephens7.
This morning, I'm doing that thing I do: curl in bed with the laptop and catchup on my library feeds, news sites and my flickr streams before starting the day....when I see Chad Haefele has noted one of my recent pictures. I click through from the "recent Activity" page at Flickr and I'm wearing a Santa hat! More exploration leads to Jessamyn giving me a beard in a picture of Steve and I at the Apple Store!

To top this Christmas Ho Ho Ho fun, Stephen Abram sends me a link to the post describing this Easter Egg, featuring my favorite GTD'er and Mac Break podcaster Merlin Mann!

Flickr's got an awesome Xmas easter-egg: if you add a photonote called "ho ho ho hat," Flickr draws a Santa-hat on your pic; make one called "ho ho ho beard" and you get a snowy white beard.

So -- try it out! Let's see some Ho Ho Ho'ing hatted and bearded librarians and library users. How about a tag for this as well?

Here's Jake!

Ho Ho Ho Jake

November 11, 2006

Ten Ways to Use Flickr in Your Libraries: 15 Minutes of Flickr

I'm doing a CLA 2006 Infopeople Mini-Demo today. The topic is FLICKR! Here are the resources:

For Ten Ways to Use Flickr in Your Libraries

Flickr

Web 2.0 Commonalities:

Tagging Hey! Does this conference have a tag? It should! (Update: Just saw bethh Gallaway, she decided the tag is CLA2006!

Comments

Ten Ways to Use Flickr in Your Libraries:

To highlight New Materials

To show the face of the Teen Advisory Board

To highlight Programs & Some Young Library Users

To create a presence in the site itself

To create an easy virtual tour for users and staff!

To store and use images for Wikis, etc

To promote what your teens are doing at the library and a book sale!

To share the library's history.

To commemorate the first patron of the new bookmobile!

To celebrate Harry Potter Day!

BONUS:

To promote the state library association's conference -- putting a face on the association.

To promote a way to thank our users with fortunes hidden around the library!

To share images of Staff In-Service Day with the community - that's transperancy at work!

November 03, 2006

Great Demo of Tagging!


October 23, 2006

What Can We Do With Flickr?


What Can We Do With Flickr?
Originally uploaded by cogdogblog.
This cluttered desk represents just a small set of powerful ways you can use flickr. This image has been annotated with "notes", so as you move a mouse over hotspot areas, pop-up messages will appear, some of them with links that can take you elsewhere.

Explore these links to learn some ways you can leverage the power of flickr.


Run don't walk to this Flickr shot and follow the many useful links for ideas and inspiration.

October 22, 2006

Nice use of Flickr & Toys: Teens Online at Hennepin

Teens Online

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hennepincountylibrary/sets/72157594340204870/

October 19, 2006

Michael Porter on Flickr

Via Jenny:

http://www.llrx.com/columns/tao8.htm

Connie Crosby interviews Michael porter about Flickr:

So, the Libraries and Librarians Group is the biggest, most active and successful library related group on Flickr. From its inception, it has been a real joy to work with the folks who have decided to make it a “living” online community. I have learned so much from the images I’ve seen there and the people I’ve met in this group. My fellow group administrators and I have been able to set up collaborative group tagging projects and a group mash-up project too. I’ve even have had the opportunity to do virtual presentations with group members from the National Library of Australia (Fiona Hooten) and Barcelona University (Lluisa Nunez). The collaborative relationships we developed came entirely from connections made in the Libraries and Librarians Group.

Don't miss Michael's talk about Flickrat Internet Librarian!

October 10, 2006

Fun with Richard Petty @ the Liberty Public Library!

Nice use of Flickr....click through and check out some images from Asheboro Public Library.

September 20, 2006

TTW Mailbox: Virtual Tours with FLICKR

Is your library afraid of Flickr, when other libraries like this one are using it to adavantage?

Virtual Branch Tour

Sarah writes:

Michael: Recently you posted about Mickey’s 16 cool uses for using Flickr at a library. I’d like to pass on a new example we have at the Johnson County Library. Our Lackman Branch (we have 13 branches! Wow!) created a Flickr account to give everyone a virtual tour of their branch. They even included photos on the staff side! Just wanted to pass on the Flickr goodness!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11329886@N00/sets/72157594291410121/

Beta forever,
Sarah aka veggienerd.wordpress.com

Thanks sarah. Nice to see uses such as this... Again, this is something any library can do and for relatively little time and money? Have you tried a virtual tour on Flickr?

September 18, 2006

Steal this Idea: Flickr for Librarians

Are you wrestling with Flickr at your library? Did recent scare tactics by anonymous emailers put your admin into a tizzy? Save or print this..and pass it on!

From NEKLS Tech Day August 10, 2006, by Mickey Coalwell (mcoalwell (at) nekls.org) who gave me permission to post it here. He and Joshua Neff did a great program on Flickr education for a standing room only crowd. This would be a great thing to do at your next staff meeting or staff lunch time learning session.

Thanks Mickey.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

16 Ways To Use flickr @ Your Library

1. Publicize EVENTS at your library with candid photos of activities and participants.

2. Present a collection of HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS of a city, community, area, or building – how about your own library?

3. Highlight OUTREACH SERVICES such as a bookmobile or delivery vehicle, along with outreach staff and drivers.

4. Publicize a GAMING tournament or other teen event.

5. Show photographs from an AUTHOR SIGNING at your library.

6. Show the BANNED BOOKS DISPLAYS at your library.

7. Promote and share a CONFERENCE OR WORKSHOP.

8. Provide a VIRTUAL TOUR of your library facility.

9. Share photos of PARTIES AND CELEBRATIONS at the library.

10. Show pictures of regular COMMUNITY MEETINGS held at your library.

11. Provide a gallery of LIBRARY STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS.

12. Create WIKIS OR INSTRUCTIONAL WEB SITES for staff on library technical topics.

13. Promote your Friends group's FUNDRAISERS and BOOK SALES.

14. Create a VIRTUAL TRAVELOGUE of your city or town.

15. Post pictures of your ADMINISTRATORS OR LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

16. Show BOOK COVERS for reading lists or Readers' Advisory blogs.

Fact: flickr's Community Rules and Terms of Service are quite clear. They disallow offensive images of the type described in the e-mail. Moreover, libraries are already required to block content that is harmful to minors under the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The pending internet safety legislation called DOPA, which potentially affects flickr and other social networking sites, is redundant and unnecessary.

Fact: Currently, hundreds of libraries -- public, academic, school, and special libraries across the world -- use flickr to enhance web services to their various constituencies.

Educate yourself, your staff, your board of trustees, and governing agencies about social sites, like flickr, and the issues surrounding them. Educate your patrons and your community about the good -- and bad -- of flickr and other social software sites. Sit down at a library computer with any patron who has a concern, and demonstrate the site to the patron. Let them see the benefits first hand.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The central issue for libraries regarding DOPA is education. Libraries need to ramp up their efforts to provide Internet & information literacy education and safety programs for kids, teens, parents and caregivers.
If people were more well informed about what social networking sites are and knew & used basic Internet safety tips, this cloud of fear may disperse. Also, if library users were more well-informed about the far reaching effects DOPA may have on their personal lives if passed, then they may be more willing to join librarians in the fight against it.

Beth Yoke, Executive Director of YALSA, American Library Association
July 11, 2006

September 07, 2006

Flickr #1 Photography Site In UK

Phil Bradley reports at search Engine Watch:

Hitwise is reporting that Flickr is the #1 photography site in the UK. This isn't really a surprise at all - what's more suprising is that it's taken a while to get there, and how it's got there.

Flickr's UK market share has increased 39%, Photobucket's share decreased by 17% and Webshot's remained flat. This is apparently due good SEO and searches for soft porn using the brand name and various terms you can work out for yourself.

In some respects this is worthy of nothing more than a wry smile and shrug of the shoulders. Unfortunately however, this may be seen in some circles as a justification for the calls for libraries to limit their (innocent) involvement with Flickr.

August 30, 2006

Fourth Monday Discussion Book for August 2006

I heart this on so many levels! Well done WPL!

Fourth Monday Discussion Book for August 2006

Chin Yu from the Circulation Desk shows John Grogan's "Marley & Me," the Fourth Monday discussion book for July. The discussion will be held on August 28th at 7PM in the Library's meeting room.

Would you like to join Fourth Monday, and meet up once a month to discuss great books? Visit the Fourth Monday info page for more information!

Click on the book title to visit the library catalog. And if you've read "Marley & Me", be sure to leave a comment and let everyone know what you thought!

August 20, 2006

Flickr Coincidence


Flickr Coincidence
Originally uploaded by gragsie.
Once again...the power of connections made via the social Web astound me!

July 28, 2006

Flickr is Scaring Some Folks!

Please zip over and read my post about Flickr at ALA TechSource.

http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2006/07/flickr-libraries-scary-scary-scary-to-some-folks.html

I ask that you do not make any spur-of-the-moment, reactionary decisions, Flickr'ing Librarians! What I sincerely hope will not happen is the libraries and associations that have started using Flickr will abandon the site because they are scared... come on! Don't let this type of e-mail campaign derail you. Look at the big picture of how this site and many others are used and can benefit your online presence. Let's teach our users about the good and bad of online communities, BUT LET'S NOT just close the door and lock it!

July 23, 2006

Flickr Profile Widget

mstephens7. Get yours at flagrantdisregard.com/flickr

http://flagrantdisregard.com/flickr/profile.php

(Via Download Squad

July 05, 2006

Waterloo PL Flickrs On their Web Page

Waterloo PL Flickr Badge

http://www.wpl.ca/

I talk about WPL alot becuse they are doing some cool stuff... Take a look at the Flickr section of their front page. It links to their collection of sets. This not only allows the librarians to organize, tag and receive comments on their photos, but it also educates users: this might be some folks first experience with Flickr. It's a Web-based teaching moment! Other experienced Flickr folks might click through and add WPL as a contact. In fact, maybe the next step is a link in that box something like this:

Add the Waterloo Public Library to your Flickt Contacts!

or

Add your library to your Flickr contacts here!

June 27, 2006

Rock On Westmont PL & Flickr! (Updated!)

Westmont PL Flickrs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/westmontlibrary/176505152/

Update: Michelle points out they've linked from their front page to Flickr! Is this the first instance we've seen of this? I think it just may be.

Westmont Front Page with Flickr

Update 2: Oops! Aaron Schmidt informs me that the Thomas Ford Library pages has had a "pictures" link that takes folks to the TFML Flickr page for some time.

TFML

Update 3: David King IMs to tell me that Bloomington PL has a link at the top of their new pages called Gallery, that links into the many sets put up by the librarians! HOT! And wowza but their pages are nice!

Picture 1

May 31, 2006

Charlotte's Web @ SJCPL

Look at these happy fellows with their SJCPL library cards!!!

(via SJCPL's Flickr account.)

A thought: this picture hidden on the library's Web site might never bee seen...on Flickr (and this one should be blogged too!) it joins the pool of images associated with SJCPL, South Bend and libraries! :-)

May 22, 2006

Post It TTW