#6 - Even more fun with Flickr (aka Mashups)

Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on their site. Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third party tools and mashups that use Flickr images.

Mashups?

Mashups are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and mash it up with another (like a mapping program). With this combination, for example, you get Mappr.

Wikipedia offers a slightly more detailed explanation.

New mashups come out, literally, every day. Here are some fun ones that work with Flickr:

- Spell with Flickr lets you spell anything from Flickr photos.
- Montagr creates photo mosaics from photos found on Flickr - all you have to do is change the tag in the top right corner.
- Flickr Color Pickr lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
- Retrievr lets you find photos based on your sketching abilities.
- Trading Card Maker lets you create your own trading cards (many library staff already have...).
- There's even Flickr Sudoku.

And tons more - discover more on the Flickr services page, Flickr Bits (this is not officially part of Flickr) web apps, and this incredible list of Flickr tools from Quick Online Tips.

And now to today's Discovery Exercise.

1. Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools that are mentioned in this blog posting or in the links provided just above.
   
2. Create a blog post about the one that is most intriguing to you. Tell us which one you explored and what you liked about it.
   

That, everyone, is it for today's discovery exercise - hope you've had fun exploring some of these extremely cool Flickr mashups. All that's left to do now is submit your weekly Learning 2.0 Progress Log.

Next up: RSS & Newsreaders...

#5 - Discover Flickr

Welcome back for another week of Learning 2.0. This week we focus on photos and Flickr.

Photo sharing websites have been around for several years. Flickr, though, is different - it's half photo sharing and half online community. How so? Flickr makes incredibly intelligent use of linking keyword 'tags' to create associations between photos and between users.

Let me illustrate.

Take a look at a photo on the Learning 2.0 Flickr profile (this link will open in a new window). Look to the right side of the page and scroll down until you see the label 'Tags.' Click on the 'library architecture' tag - this will quickly display all other photos with the same tag in our Learning 2.0 Flickr account. Quickly, near instantly, you have linked to all similarly tagged photos in our account - this works the same whether you have 3 photos with the same tag or 3000.

Now click on the link that says 'see all public photos tagged with 'libraryarchitecture.' This is where we get into the online community part of Flickr - just as quickly as we saw other library architecture photos in the Learning 2.0 account, we're now seeing similarly themed photos from other Flickr members.

Let's have Flickr fill in some of the blanks - take a look at their FAQ page on tags. And, if for no other reason that it's so well done, take a look at the image below - it was posted by Flickr user cambodia4kidsorg.

The above photo illustrates the beauty of tags - there are many many ways to describe whatever it is you are looking at in a photo (in this case: Pen, Marker, Sharpie, Purple). Why not include them all as tags?

Flickr also makes use of groups. Groups are communities of like minded photo posters. And, yes, there are quite a few groups with a library theme. Let Flickr fill in the rest of the blanks - take a look at their FAQ page on groups.

But who is going to spend time posting photos, tagging them, and particpating in Flickr groups?

That, my colleagues, would be you. Or at least one of you - in this week's podcast David talks to Pam Riess about her experiences using Flickr outside the library world.


Click the Play button above
to hear this week's Podcast (3:21)
And inside the library world? A growing number of public libraries are starting to use Flickr for many of the functions mentioned in today's podcast. Take a look at some of the links contained on Library Stuff and see what's out there.

And now, finally, we get to today's Discovery Exercise. Today you get to choose - scenario 1 or scenario 2. Either way, you'll be asked to blog about your experiences in your week #3 blog entry...

Scenario 1

1. Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about.
   
2. Blog about it and be sure to include either a link to the image or a copy of the image itself in your blog posting. For the later, you can either use Blogger's photo upload tool or Flickr's blogging tool (you'll need to set up a Flickr account for this).
   

Scenario 2

1. Create a free Flickr account.
   
2. Use a digital camera to capture a few photos.
   
3. Upload these to your Flickr account and tag at least one of the images “kcls27things” and mark it public.
   
4. Create a blog post in your blog about your photo and the experience of getting it loaded to Flickr (be sure to include the image in your post - use Flickr's blogging tool or Blogger's photo upload feature.)
   

And before you get started, 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 (as I have above in the case of cambodia4kidsorg).

That, everyone, is the end of the Discovery Exercise.

But if you want still more, feel free to take a look at these tutorials:

- Flickr's 'What Is Flickr' tour
- Mediamazine Flickr Tutorials
- Flickr's popular tags

Or relax and curl up with a good book...


(it's okay to post this photo, he's my son)

Next up: More Flickr fun and Flickr Mashups...