Comments on LibraryTechNZ: Awesome photo – thanks!! Or, what I've learnt from...

Thanks a lot for taking times and efforts to reply...

2009-10-10T19:20:26.462+13:00

Thanks a lot for taking times and efforts to reply Courtney. Your feedback is greatly apprecited!

PS: wish you have a wonderful day a work!

Regards
QingQing ^^

Hi QingQing Trying to answer your questions in or...

2009-10-09T13:41:03.396+13:00

Hi QingQing

Trying to answer your questions in order;

1. We don't currently have plans to encourage people to add their photos to the National Library's collection via Flickr (although I wouldn't rule this out as a potential thing for us to do in the future)

2. We're always very happy to hear from people who'd like to donate images to the collections. We have information about donations and bequests here. We can talk to people on a case by case basis about the best way for them to deliver their items to us.

3. I think the different ways that people can add information/metadata to images on Flickr have different value: for example, a comment left on a photo might correct inaccuracies or add information; a favourite indicates "popularity"; adding an image to a gallery adds context to it. Bringing this information and activity into our own collections is something we're working on.

4. Earlier in the comment stream I addressed the Flickr people/librarian as gatekeeper question. To quote myself "Your final question sets up a kind of either/or approach to institutional cataloguing and 'crowdsourced' contributions that I don't really support - I think in an ideal situation, the two can happily and helpfully co-exist (see the Powerhouse Museum's online catalogue, for example)." We've always benefited from people who can tell us about our collections, and while being on Flickr might be a different place to be having the relationship, the relationship itself is just the same.

Hope this helps, Courtney

Hey, it's QingQing again. Forgot to ask one more ...

2009-10-08T03:27:31.895+13:00

Hey, it's QingQing again.
Forgot to ask one more thing, would it be possible for users to contribute their own digital image to National library? if yes, how does this process be conduct if national library accept it
via Email ,
via Flickr
via ....other tools?

Also, what vaules do you think contributions made by users on Flickr through (comments, notes,favourting, tagging that benefit national library.

Would you say, implementing Flickr facilite a new relationship between users and library staffs that this entails, librarian give up some of the traditiona power associated with being the controllers/gatekeeper of knowledge.
For example: permit users to contribut content,challenges the traditional view: It is librarian's sole domain to give information to users.

Kind regards
QingQing

The overview is fascinating. I was wondering one ...

2009-10-08T02:49:54.264+13:00

The overview is fascinating.

I was wondering one thing, I know that national library of Australia has taken a 'PictureAustralia' project. Apart from cultural institutions as participants to contribute images, any user can also contribute through a Flickr account. Why don't National Library of NZ do something similar to utilise the power of Flickr, crowdsourcing great materials from users, increase the interaction with users, plus drawing more potential users to discover the library materials.

Look forward to your reply!
Kind regards
QingQing

Hi MikeThanks for the questions. In order:We don't...

2009-02-09T09:45:00.000+13:00

Hi Mike

Thanks for the questions. In order:

We don't "verify" in terms of approving/moderating, but we are alerted every time a tag, note or comment is posted in Flickr - the site makes it really easy to monitor these interactions.

We pass on new information that people submit about our photographs to our curatorial staff. So far, only a handful of comments provide extra information of the kind we might add to catalogue records - most are personal responses.

I'm don't recall seeing any "conflicting" tags. I think it's tricky to make any judgements of tags; people add them as search and discovery aids, and while I might be confused as to why someone has added a certain tag, it will make perfect sense to them.

There is no backlog. All activity is sighted within about 2 days of occurring - there is very little overhead here.

Currently, tags and comments are not being sucked back into the Library's own databases, so all interactions remain on Flickr; I don't believe a disclaimer is needed here, as this is pasrt of the point (and joy) of the site.

Your final question sets up a kind of either/or approach to institutional cataloguing and 'crowdsourced' contributions that I don't really support - I think in an ideal situation, the two can happily and helpfully co-exist (see the Powerhouse Museum's online catalogue, for example). Our own sites don't currently support commenting and tagging, so Flickr is a great place to share our collections, and to learn more about these activities. We don't currently have a review of the kind you suggest planned - I would recommend that you look at the Library of Congress's report on The Commons on Flickr, as the closest kind of review I can think of to the one you are suggesting. You're probably also aware of the Steve Museum project, which is seeking to explore the kind of questions you're asking.

A few questions regarding "crowdsourced" data on i...

2009-02-08T07:19:00.000+13:00

A few questions regarding "crowdsourced" data on images in your collection:

-- Do you verify user-supplied tags and comments?
– How many crowdsourced leads were staff unable to verify?
– How many items were tagged with conflicting if not mutually-exclusive terms?
– What is the “arrearage” or backlog of crowdsourced tags, comments, and notes to be verified?
– What kind of disclaimer do you provide patrons about the unverified crowdsourced data that appears on the Web with your institution’s imprimatur?
– When will you do a cost-benefit analysis of crowdsourcing versus professional curatorial research and cataloging?

Web 2.0 is great for outreach, and is certainly of use in widening curatorial networks of knowledgeable collectors, scholars, and amateur enthusiasts, but I am concerned that there has been no impartial independent review of the quality and value of "crowdsourced" data in the museum and library environment.

Thanks Seb. People interested in Flickr Commons sh...

2008-07-22T08:52:00.000+12:00

Thanks Seb. People interested in Flickr Commons should also check out Shelley Bernstein's recent post 'Top 10 Reasons The Commons on Flickr is Awesome' on the Brooklyn Museum blog.

Thanks for this Courtney.For those who are asking ...

2008-07-22T01:10:00.000+12:00

Thanks for this Courtney.

For those who are asking about the difference between this and the Commons, I've published my report on our experience in the Commons and how it does differ. (We also have a 'normal' Flickr account)

Read the report over at Fresh & New.

Fantastic information about the use of Flickr, and...

2008-07-10T01:02:00.000+12:00

Fantastic information about the use of Flickr, and something that we here at the National Library of Scotland are only just dipping our toes in.

In response to the question about using the Flickr API to build online collections, I'll draw reference to the following http://americanimage.unm.edu/ which is actively using Flickr as the content repository for the feature. It mirrors our intent to use Flickr as a means to promote reuse of content (where allowed)

I'm looking to source a building project at the moment that we can include as a set on our own Flickr account so watch this space.

I'm still forever hoping for a cultural exchange between Libraries and am first in line!

Thanks bennuiAndy's going to be posting here about...

2008-07-09T14:07:00.000+12:00

Thanks bennui

Andy's going to be posting here about Flickr Commons in the next couple of weeks, so I'll leave that question to him.

We just had a dig through our web stats and it works out that the click-through ratio from Flickr to Timeframes and www.natlib.govt.nz is about 1 click per collection image over the time we've been up there.

Is that good or bad? I'm not sure. We also can't tell which images are sending visitors through - but thanks for reminding me, I'll put this into our trend-tracking mix.

Fascinating work. The New Zealand National Library...

2008-07-09T12:38:00.000+12:00

Fascinating work. The New Zealand National Library never fails to impress me. I've been considering such a project for the library I work for, and I am curious to know a couple of things.

The Flickr Commons page doesn't provide a whole lot of information describing what distinguishes it (functionally) from a typical Flickr account. I do notice some modest presentation enhancements in the participating organizations, but I am wondering what you sense are the benefits of using Commons compared to what you have now.

I know this can be difficult to discern, but I am curious to know if you've researched how/if Flickr affects or drives traffic back to your Website.

I understand your point about third party APIs, but has the Library considered actively using such APIs to create different online interpretations of its own collections?

Thanks everyone for the nice comments - and for yo...

2008-07-09T09:03:00.000+12:00

Thanks everyone for the nice comments - and for your suggestions & nudges throughout the year, which have helped us keep pushing the project forward!

Excellent article, one the best "reviews" I have r...

2008-07-08T20:20:00.000+12:00

Excellent article, one the best "reviews" I have read anywhere about use of any social networking site.

Keep up the top work and looking forward to the use of Flickr Commons, Creative Commons licensing and most definitely the building work - an excellent way to raise interest in the project.

And thanks for the link :-)

As Phil said - thanks for making this whole proces...

2008-07-08T18:20:00.000+12:00

As Phil said - thanks for making this whole process so transparent. It's so good to see you're sticking with it too - so often people get involved in this as a tester and then leave orphaned accounts.

Fascinating data and trends, thanks for the revelations. Many will find it useful.

Thanks for taking the time to write such a great o...

2008-07-08T17:27:00.000+12:00

Thanks for taking the time to write such a great overview of your experience.

--Phil.

Thanks for posting about your experiences with Fli...

2008-07-08T11:52:00.000+12:00

Thanks for posting about your experiences with Flickr!

Re using it to record the redevelopment of the Wellington building, I used Flickr on a sort of unofficial trial basis to record the building of our new lift (something of more interest to the engineering students and researchers who make up our customer base than perhaps to most populations!) I basically took photos at each stage and added a title and caption describing what was going on - sometimes it put a strain on my creativity (and I seem to have given up for those latest three!) but I think it's made for a nice record of the process.

(We have low viewing stats, though - it was mainly only promoted via occasional postings on our blog and a sidebar widget with the latest three images.)