Thing 10: Using Images

Copyright and use of someone else's images are extremely important topics and should be at the forefront of our minds as information professionals when we are searching for promotional images (indeed, any type of image) online.

I was aware that Flickr had some provision for this but I have welcomed this opportunity to explore the search options and only search across creative commons licensed material. A search for 'librarian' retrieved a very interesting data set (not least of all the librarian costume!) A search for 'personal libraries' revealed this gem taken by vieux bandit:

The potential for using images is high. The library Twitter feed and Facebook account both need images of the library. People are becoming much more visual; the little bird and the shadow man just won't cut it anymore. To have a strong online presence, one that is viewed by people other than close colleagues, there needs to be a strong sense of identity. This can be achieved through use of images within social media networks. I'll definitely be playing with this tool in the future!

Flickr

Flickr.com serves the dual function of allowing people to search for images and to upload their own images onto the platform. Both of these functions are very useful.

The ability to store information on the web itself - cloud computing if you will - allows us to be free from the machine and the dread of misplacing the usb. The images are stored within Flickr itself, reachable from any pc. I personally uploaded my pictures from a road trip through Germany last year and created a photostream to email to friends and family. As a personal organisation tool, this is fantastic. And Flickr lets you tag your images to produce even more semantic links between your images and the images of different users.

Flickr is a database of images and as such it is a great place to look for images of specific things. Logically, if I am looking for specific images or images about specific things, then other people are too. Flickr is a place where people go to look for images. If someone has heard something about your library, they are as likely to look on Flickr for images as they are to Google it. Therefore, Flickr has great marketing potential for the library. Imagine creating a photostream and then pasting that url on the library's Facebook page or tweeting it out to your followers. The possibilities are endless!