Thing #36: Flickr Revisited

This month we are going to revisit Flickr. Don’t stop reading if you already have a Flickr account or did Thing #8 Discover Flickr back in 2008. We’re going to do things a bit differently this month and give you some options that will hopefully work not only for folks new to Flickr but also long time Flickr users. Before we go any further, if you don’t know what Flickr is step through the short What is Flickr? tour.

For Thing #36 participants have three options.

Option 1: Watch the hour long WebJunction recording of Library Images: Engage, Inspire and Tell your Story. "In this entertaining and heartwarming presentation you will learn how two librarians teamed up to advocate more effectively (and boldly) while staying true to the personality of the communities, the libraries and the staff they serve. You and your library really can market your services and engage more effectively, and images, video and authenticity can be a key! Learn how you too can use images and video creatively and effectively to inspire Libraryland, engage the communities you serve boost staff morale and get more enjoyment from your job."

Option 2: Set up a Flickr account and upload 5 pictures. If you already have a Flickr account but haven’t done much with it you may also choose this option.

Option 3: You can always do Option 1 and Option 2. :)



Option 1

On March 30th Jeff Dawson from the Lester Public Library in Two Rivers WI and Michael Porter from WebJunction did a great online presentation titled Library Images: Engage, Inspire and Tell your Story. This presentation is an hour long. If you don’t have a free hour block of time to watch the video you can watch it in sections by following the instructions I’ve included below.

Note: This presentation does have audio so you will need speakers or a headset.

1. The presentation is located at: http://www.webjunction.org/marketing/articles/content/94460985
2. There are a number of resources listed on the page related to the presentation. To view the presentation click on View full Archive. A new page will open.
3. Select Playback.
4. You may be taken to an Installing… window. Selecting the Install using Java option worked well for me.
5. This should open a new window for the presentation. NOTE: You will need to wait about 50 seconds before you will hear anything. There is a clock/counter in the bottom left corner of the window.
6. If you don’t have time to watch the complete presentation in one sitting you can watch parts but it will take a bit of patience and attention to elapsed time on your part.

• If you need to stop watching the presentation for a few minutes you can use the pause button located in the bottom left corner
• To completely stop watching and exit the presentation you will want to note the time displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen. The first number tells you how many minutes you’ve already watched. The second number is the total time of the presentation. You’ll want to note the first number.
• To resume playback go through steps 1-5 again. Now you will have to have a minute or two of patience as you wait for the presentation to load. The bar at the bottom of the screen shows the progress. If the bar is green that means you’ve moved past that point either by watching it or moving forward. If the bar is blue that means the presentation has loaded. If the bar is gray that means it’s not done loading yet. Next open the Table of Contents. It’s located under View – Table of Contents. Scroll down the list until you find a time that’s close to the time you stopped. Double click on it to jump to that location in the presentation. Jeff’s part ends and Michael’s starts right around the 17:28 time point. The Q & A part starts around 38:07. Don’t skip the Q & A portion. It contains good information.

Option 1 Assignment

Write a blog post about the presentation. Here are some questions to think about.

1. What do you think about Lester Public Library’s approach to taking pictures?
2. Is there currently anyone in your community who takes photos of library and community events and publicly shares them on Flickr?
3. Would this be good PR for your library?
4. Is this something your library could do?

Option 2

For option 2 participants will need to setup a Flickr account and upload 5 items or if you already have an account but haven’t been using it now’s your chance to starting using it again. For this exercise you can use either a personal Flickr account or your library’s account.

Setting up an Account

Flickr offers both a free and pro account. The free account should work just fine as you get started with Flickr. You can learn about the limits of the free account and upgrading to a Pro account options at: http://www.flickr.com/help/limits

In order to use Flickr you will need a Yahoo! account. If you already have a Yahoo! account you can sign in to Flickr. To create an account follow the Sign Up link and complete the form.

Below I’m going to cover a number of topics that I think you should be aware of but if you have additional questions or want to learn more I’d suggest starting with the Flickr’s FAQ page. For each of the topics below I’ve also included the URL to the appropriate FAQ page.

Your Profile (FAQ: http://www.flickr.com/help/profile)

Your Profile can be accessed by clicking on the down arrow next to the word You which is located on the top navigation menu. On the right hand side of your profile page will be links to Manage your profile. The most important thing to know about your profile is that you don’t need to set one up. Providing information in your profile is optional. You may also want to Edit your profile privacy options. I would also suggest that you go into the Your Account area and quickly look at the Privacy & Permissions settings.

Uploading Photos (FAQ: http://www.flickr.com/help/photos)

There are multiple different ways you can upload photos to Flicker. Today we will use the upload option available on the Flickr website. The upload page is available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/upload/ or there is a link to it under the You dropdown menu. Follow the steps on the page to upload an image. For the assignment you will need to upload 5 photos. In the future you may want to explore some of the upload tools available at: http://www.flickr.com/tools. Don't forget you can also upload videos that are up to 90 seconds in length.

Now that you have your Flickr account set up you can easily share your photos with other sites.

• Flickr Badge: http://www.flickr.com/badge.gne
• Twitter: http://www.flickr.com/help/sharing/#953361
• Your Blog: http://www.flickr.com/help/blogging/
• Facebook: While logged on to your Flickr, click on Profile located in the upper right corner. Select the Wall tab if it's not already selected. Click on Options. It's located on the right side below the What's on your mind? box. The word Settings will now appear in the same spot. Click on it. Under Imported Stories: select Flickr and follow the directions.

Option 2 Assignment

1. Upload 5 photos to your Flickr account and provide the URL to your account.
2. If you're new to Flickr write a few sentences about your experience. If you already had a Flickr account write few sentences about why you haven't been using Flickr recently or how you intend to use it in the future.
3. In conclusion write a few sentences telling how Flickr could be used to promote your library.