Wednesday, September 5, 2007

#6 More flickr fun


Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on the site.

Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third party tools and mashups* that use Flickr images.


Here is just a sampling of a few …


  • Mappr - allows you to take Flickr images and paste them on a map

  • Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.

  • Montagr – create a photo mosaic from photos found on Flickr.
Discover more mashups, web apps, and Flickr tools.
An interesting site showcasing mashups is the Mash Up Awards .


Discovery Exercise:

Your discovery exercise for this “thing” is to:


  1. Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools that are out there.

  2. Create a blog post about one that intrigues you.

Suggested tools to use are FD ToysTrading Card Maker.

And there’s a ton of librarians out there that have created their own Librarian Trading Card.

So have some fun discovering and exploring some neat little apps.

And if you're up to the challenge while you’re at it, why not create a trading card of your own. :)

* Mashup Note: Wikipedia offers some great articles that explain mashups. Basically they are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and mash it up with another (like a map). In this example, you get Mappr (http://mappr.com/).


The image above was created by txt2pics

#5 Discover flickr

Listen to this podcast [2:38]-->powered by ODEO


Photo sharing websites have been around since the 90s, but
it took a small startup site called Flickr to catapult the idea
of “sharing” into a full blown online community.

Within the past year, Flickr has become the fastest growing
photo sharing site on the web and is known as one of the first websites to use keyword “tags” to create associations and connections between photos and users of the site.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people and other libraries (list also here) are using Flickr for.

Discovery Resources:

Discovery Exercise:

In this discovery exercise, you have two options…



  1. Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or, if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr's blogging tool to add the image in your post.

    -- OR --
If you have access to a digital camera you might like to upload a picture to flickr.

I have created an account your you to use (Please email me for login and password)



  1. To upload a photo first save you photo to you computer (or USB)

  2. Go to the flickr website at http://www.flickr.com/

  3. Sign in (using the login and password I have emailed to you. If you have forgotten it, please email me and I will send it to you)

  4. Click on upload photos

  5. Click on browse and locate where you have saved your photo (you can upload more than one photo at once)

  6. You can add tags describing your photo at the bottom of the page

  7. Click upload to complete the process.

Something else to look at:


You might also like to take a look at the National Library Picture Australia website
  1. Click on the flickr icon on the front page and you will be lead to a display of images the National Library have used from flickr.
    This is part of the National Library vision of building a comprehensive pictorial record of Australian history . You may also like to view the media release from the National Library about this collaborative project.
  2. Other photosharing and photography websites include www.snap.com, www.fotolia.com, www. slide.com, and www.dumpr.net.


PS: A quick word about photo posting etiquette - When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) is it advisable to get the person's permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr.
Never upload pictures that weren't taken by you (unless you have the photographer's consent) and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else in your blog.




Don't forget to label the post on your blog #5 flickr and talk about what you have learned doing this activity.

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