Thing 3: Pershendetje!

That's how you say hello in Albanian, according to flickr, which teaches me a greeting in a new language everytime I log on.

I got happily lost in the photostream of The Commons, flickr's site where the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, The Field Museum and more are posting images that are in the public domain.

These esteemed institutions are asking users to comment or add tags, which are mostly just joyous "how wonderful!" sorts of comments but have the potential to add valuable information to the collections. Who knows, someone might recognize great-grandfather and add a name.

I could definitely see libraries with valuable holdings, such as Texana collections, post photos to flickr to see if any informative tags were added.

The posting of photos on flickr allows libraries and museums to create portals to their other online offerings by offering links to "read more at..."

I also think these collections are good teaching tools. I learned a little bit about taxonomy by reading the cataloging terms used by the institutions.

The photo above is not my great-grandfather and there is no indication he is Albanian.

Photo citation:

Digital ID: 88462. 1860s-1920s

Source: [Photographs and prints of Egypt and Syria.]

Repository: The New York Public Library. Photography Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs.

Persistent URL: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?88462