The Library of Congress just informed me of a new project they have undertaken with, Web 2.0 photo community, Flickr. In addition to posting photos on its own the Library of Congress website they have decided to also start putting historic photo sets on Flickr for all the world to see. The Library of Congress is looking to show off its photos to a larger photo centric community. With some 14 million prints, photographs and other visual materials at the Library of Congress, more than 3,000 photos from two of our most popular collections are being made available on Flickr. Wow!
In a recent Library of Congress blog post Matt Raymond explain that:
"The real magic comes when the power of the Flickr community takes over. We want people to tag, comment and make notes on the images, just like any other Flickr photo, which will benefit not only the community but also the collections themselves."
Currently, I have over 4,999 photos on Flickr and I have expressed my Flickr love/obsession before so I definitely understand the "magic" that they are referring to. Check out the Library of Congress's Flickr photos. Welcome to Flickr Library of Congress, I am glad you joined in the photo sharing fun. The Flickr blog also offers a little more perspective.