OSU Archives: the Flickr Commons Experience
Get Ready, Get Set, Launch!
On February 14th, 2009 -- Oregon's 150th birthday -- the Oregon State University Archives will become the 21st institution to join the Flickr Commons.
Not only are we joining noteworthy North American institutions like the Library of Congress, Smithsonian, New York Public Library, and George Eastman House, we will sit next to international libraries and museums such as the National Library of New Zealand, the Powerhouse Museum, National Galleries of Scotland, and Bibliothèque de Toulouse. If that wasn't exciting enough, the OSU Archives is the first university to join The Commons!
So What is The Commons?
In January of 2008, Flickr launched a new project aimed at increasing access to publicly held photography collections in civic institutions around the world. They called it The Commons. The idea was to provide a space to show off hidden treasures and for the public to contribute their historical knowledge to compliment the information the institutions already had for these images, thereby creating even richer collections.
The Commons opened its doors on January 16th, 2008 with nearly 3000 images from two Library of Congress photographic collections. Twenty museums, public libraries, and other cultural heritage institutions from around the world have joined, releasing images to be perused, tagged, and researched by the public.
Why do we think The Commons is so important? The folks at indicommons have said it best, check it out!
OSU Archives in The Commons
In order to celebrate Oregon State University's rich heritage, the OSU Archives joined Flickr in the summer of 2008. It was a great place for images of current events, virtual tours and instruction, archival happenings, and eclectic historic photos; however, after seeing the connection the general public was having with historical images and the real impact the historic photographs in the Flickr Commons were having on both Flickr users and the larger community, the OSU Archives was more than eager to join this project. We will launch with Civilian Conservation Corps images from the Gerald W. Williams Collection.
In addition to the personal research library and papers of Dr. Williams, the Gerald W. Williams Collection includes over 24,000 photographs in a variety of formats (photographic prints, postcards, stereographic images, and glass lantern slides). Focusing on OSU's history of conservation and forestry, the photographs in this collection reflect a range of images. This is a history OSU is proud to celebrate; a complex story with chapters on forestry, geology, environmentalism, and the people that have inhabited and worked this land.
As time passes, the OSU Archives will be digitizing and releasing other images in our collections that showcase some of the amazing items that help to illustrate the complicated intersection of culture, natural resources, and history.
To learn more about The Commons, our contributions, and the Gerald W. Williams Collection, please read through the document I've attached to this email.
