This is your weekly update of important events and notes about the institutions that partake in the Flickr Commons.

• Virtuous circle – from visitor to speaker: Read about how the Flickr Commons transformed the relationship of one of the Powerhouse Museum’s guests.
• The mystery of Level One: what is happening at the Powerhouse Museum?
• What in the Powerhouse’s workshop? A telescope!
• The Brooklyn Museum releases v.1.3 of their iPhone application… and lessons learned.
• Cool – the Brooklyn Museum’s iPhone application gets a mention on the O’Reilly Radar.
• And check out their awesome Twitter profile at Beyond the Fail Whale.
• How Green These Valleys Were: Some info about the Library of Congress’s recent uploads to the Commons.
• Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy v 1.0: Hot off the press.
• Who do you trust? A post by Marvin Heiferman, Smithsonian Photography Initiative, on the veracity of photojournalism.
• Are You There? by Merry A. Foresta, Smithsonian Photography Initiative, on travel photography.
• Ten Years Later: A round-up of the Chandra X-ray Lab, from the Smithsonian.
• Matthew Lewis talks Harry Potter 7, IMAX, and weird fans, all at the National Media Museum.
• Praise for PANDORA: A post from the State Library of Queensland, Australia, on Australia’s Web Archive. They also have 3 new digital stories available.
• Fellowship Awards Preserves Films: A short report on this project by George Eastman House.
• Job Search: How to Avoid Interview Mishaps: Get armed for your next job interview, from the good folks at the New York Public Library.
• Also, The Craft of the Book: Reading List: A PSA from the NYPL
• Oh yea, and the NYPL is looking for a Senior Applications Developer. Apply now.
• The Australia War Memorial goes on the offense about the terms ‘wounded’ and ‘injured’.

Friday Fun!

Need more baby animals fix? Look no farther than Flickr and the National Zoo’s photostream.

Go Visit!

01 August – My Fair Lady at the Dryden Theatre, George Eastman House, a Lerner and Loewe classic.

Now through 18 October – In Focus: Making a Scene at the Getty Museum. Theatricality and photography: “the images in this exhibition are inspired by art history, literature, religion, and mainstream media.”

13 August – The New York Public Library partners with the NYC chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association to host screenings of HBO’s series on Alzheimer’s Disease.

Among the joys of browsing the Commons is finding those photos whose dates are more specific that “circa 1920″ or even “1920″. Here, in celebration of the middle of summer — or winter, as the case may be — are photos from across the Commons, from Julys past …

Cyclists climb over a closed railway crossing. July 1932, the Tour de France.

Nationaal Archief

“Revolutionary uprisings in Persia and Mexico threaten civil rebellion”. July 5, 1908, the New York Tribune.

The Library of Congress

The Dudley Cantrell Band plays at Grace Bros. July 15, 1937, Sydney, Australia.

State Library of New South Wales

A young bride is prepared by her bridesmaids. July 11, 1970, Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Nantucket Historical Association

Tom Walton plays the guitar. July 4, 1982, White Springs, Florida.

State Library and Archives of Florida

The Langley Flyer superstructure is loaded onto a houseboat. July 1903, Widewater, Virginia.

DC Public Library

Berenice Abbott captures one moment in the city. July 16, 1936, Union Square, New York City.

New York Public Library

Seven testifying scientists pose for a photographer during the Scopes Trial. July 1925, Tennessee.

Smithsonian Institution

American manufacturers parade on Independence Day. July 4, 1893, Chicago.

Brooklyn Museum

And Mme Gadriol goes for a ride. July 9, 1899, Luchon, France.

Bibliothèque de Toulouse

NASA
Astronaut James Irwin gives salute beside U.S. flag during lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA), August 1, 1971
George Eastman House: 1992:0007:0002.0001

• George Eastman House posts a terrific podcast on the The Lunar Orbiter Camera, manufactured by Eastman Kodak.
• Also from GEH, The Moon Imagined, about James Hall Nasmyth and the moon.
• The Getty Museum tweeted a great old moon photo in their collection to celebrate the 40th anniversary of men walking on the moon.
• Students can help archive the Internet – the Library of Congress teams up with the Internet Archive (hey! George works there, yay!) and the California Digital Library to launch the K-12 Web Archiving Program.
• The Field Museum launches a new Facebook application! Get yer pirate on, matey…
• Preserving Gallipoli aerial photographs, an article from the Australian War Memorial about one of their fascinating and unusual collections.
• Check out the Picks from the feminist bloggers on the Brooklyn Museum’s site: Feminist art, news, and events from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.
• Have you read the New York Public Library’s Blogging@NYPL? A great resource for book reviews and info on their services.
• Read Destination: Niagara Falls, a great article by Christin Boggs of the Smithsonian Photography Initiative.
• Iain Logie Baird, the curator of television at the National Media Museum, talks with the BBC about an old TV set.
• View podcasts of the NMeM’s film series.
• The Oregon State University Archives has a new take on preserving history (psst, it involves Flickr!)
• The Powerhouse Museum asks for your help with direct input into the Australian Government 2.0 Issues Paper.
• Do also check out some fun notes about their Odditorium exhibit.
• Learn about debris from an exploded star in the Smithsonian Institution’s Chandra X-ray Lab blog.
• View the Design in D.C. webcasts on Friday, July 24, 10 a.m.–11 a.m., from the Smithsonian’s National Design Museum.

Want to tag Flickr Commons photos on your iPhone? Check out the Extraordinaries! Crowdsourcing just got a whole lot easier.

Heard around the Commons:

• Hot diggity! The Swedish National Heritage Board reports it’s reached 200,000 views on its Flickr Commons collection!
• Remembering Michael Jackson, from the New York Public Library’s blog.
• The Library of Congress is now on Facebook and iTunes U!
• There is still time to sign up for the FLICC Preservation Institute, a joint venture between Lyrasis, the Library of Congress, the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC), and the Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK).
• Three new indigenous digital stories are now on Queensland Stories at the State Library of Queensland, Australia’s website.
• Check out the Powerhouse Museum’s Odditoreum, “an incredibly low-tech ‘exhibition’ with no technology-based interactive experiences and minimal web presence.”
• See the Modern Times immersive, a nifty Powerhouse article about an exhibition which is traveling to the State Library of Queensland.
• Husbands and Wives: Stories from the Film Archive of the George Eastman House.
• A quick rundown of the Brooklyn Museum’s ArtSee, a web app formatted for the iPod Touch 3″ screen.
• The Scout Report brings you the Best of 2008-2009 online resources, and the Smithsonian’s History Explorer tops the chart!
• The Camera Loved Einstein, another in a series of posts about the Smithsonian’s Flickr collection, by Catherine Shteynberg, Smithsonian Photography Initiative.
• A Galaxy Collision in Action, an informative post from the Smithsonian’s Chandra X-Ray blog about Stephan’s Quintet.
• Happy birthday to the Smithsonian National Zoo’s giant happy panda, Tai Shan! See photos of Tai Shan and his giant birthday cake.

Friday Fun:

Watch an intriguing video about digital information by Everywhere Is Here.
Hat tip to the good folks at the D.C. Public Library for this find.

Go Visit!

11 July - Mas Exitos, the legendary twice-a-month event held at the Verdugo Bar in Highland Park, comes to the Getty Museum. The Getty has been closed due to wildfires this week, so be sure to call ahead for information about this event.

23 July - Watkins and the Rapiers play at the George Eastman House, part of the Garden Vibes summer concert series.

Our weekly look around the Commons’ institutions to see what’s happening both digitally and brick-&-mortar.

Fill the Gap: Case 55B (Jul 09) by the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Help the Smithsonian American Art Museum find an object for this space by searching their online collections.

• RIP Michael Jackson. Some notes about his passing from the Brooklyn Museum and the Smithsonian.
• Gone, But Not Forgotten: Marvin Heiferman, Smithsonian Photography Initiative, laments the passing of Kodachrome.
• m-Libraries 2009 coverage by the New York and D.C. Public Libraries.
• PandaCam at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo!
• Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution discusses how the Smithsonian is using new technology tools in support of the Institution’s 163-year-old mission: the “increase and diffusion of knowledge,” in this CSPAN video.
• Did you know that the Smithsonian streams live events on ustream?
• Vote for the best dressed in red, white, and blue in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History 4th of July contest!
• Intern opportunities are available at that museum, too. Check out this write-up of what it’s like to intern for them.
• Guinea pigs wanted for the D.C. Public Library’s Google Voice platform! Check out the DCPL’s other projects, too, including an iPhone app.
• You can learn a language at the D.C. Public Library, too.
• 8 finding aids for the Oregon State University Archives collections were completed or updated in June 2009.
• Judith H. Dobrzynski had lunch with Arnold Lehman, director of the Brooklyn Museum; they discussed the problem of permanent collections.
• Hey U, Tune In: The Library of Congress is now on iTunes!
• Learn about the people that make the stacks come alive in this Library of Congress post.
• Is a Bad Economy Ever ‘Good’? Read this LOC post about public service announcements, the Ad Council, and the donation of ad inventory by papers struggling to stay afloat in the new economy.
• Learn more about the global recession and the arts in this round-up from The Source, National Library of New Zealand.
• Find, Out. NLNZ’s discovery service is now in beta!
• See Old McDonald … and Dick and Jane, a favorite of Jay Vissers, New York Public Library.
• The delphiniums are in bloom at the George Eastman House! Check out their trials with email in Picturing Rochester: Behind the Scenes.
• Keep up to date on all the happenings of the Swedish National Heritage Board during Almedal Week. Lots of information and presentation info, and links to translate it all into English.
• Museums as soup kitchens for the soul, from the Powerhouse Museum.
• These podcasts from the State Archives and Library of Florida will brighten any day. I’ve been listening as I compile this. :)
• Download the National Media Museum’s film schedule.
• First World War diary record series passes 400,000 images at the Australian War Memorial.
• The History of the John Oxley Library – Part Five, by the State Library of Queensland, Australia.

Friday Fun!

Astoria, Oregon, Oregon State University Archives

Take a trip with the Oregon State University Archives! People and Places: Early “Oregon” – a great overview of OSU Archive’s latest release to the Commons.

Go Visit!

Ending July 5 - Caillebotte: The works of impressionist painter, Gustave Caillebotte, exclusively at the Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn is the final stop on this tour and the only American venue for this exhibition.

Ending July 5 - Masterpieces of Ancient Jewelry: Exquisite Objects from the Cradle of Civilization at Chicago’s Field Museum.

Now through July 11 - Foundry to Finish: Making of a Bronze Sculpture at the Getty; This exhibition and accompanying photographs and videos demonstrate the process of bronze casting as Adriean de Vries practiced it for Juggling Man.

July 20-24 - Summer School – How Do You Make Powerful Art? at the National Galleries of Scotland. Investigate art from Raphael to Damien Hirst, looking at why artists make art.

Friday Fun!

The Brooklyn Museum engaged in live tweeting on 23 June when they took four mummies from their collection to be CT scanned at the North Shore University Hospital in Long Island. They used hashtag #mummyCT: their Tweets and with everyone!
See more photos and videos here.

Heard around the Commons:

• The Brooklyn Museum’s 1stfans Twitter Art Feed Artist for July 2009: Ranjit Bhatnagar’s “Exquisite Sonnet.” 1stfans members, get yer tweet on for this one!
• The 2nd International m-Libraries Conference in Vancouver is all a-twitter with updates: #mlib09.
• Make it Digital – DigitalNZ’s one-stop shop for questions about creating digital content in New Zealand! This site features questions, ideas, and guides; do drop by and check it out.
• Top museums on Twitter – Jim Richardson reports on how museums are using the popular micro-blogging website Twitter. The Brooklyn Museum is listed as #2.
• Be sure to make a visit to The Source: news about digital libraries and library innovations from around the web, brought to you every Friday by the National Library of New Zealand. Copyfights!
• What’s in the workshop #2 – Investigate the Powerhouse Museum’s fetish for strange things on wheels.
• The New York Public Library is gearing up for its new website launch. Yay! The NYPL also has some new things in the works and is looking for lab rats.
• Name that film! The George Eastman House shares sleuthing tips.
• NARA and MoMA – See what’s happening with the students of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation, from the George Eastman House.
• Aquamarine crystals are the Gemstone of the Month at the Field Museum’s Grainger Hall of Gems.
• The National Librarian, Andrew Green, of the National Library of Wales, will be among those honored by the Gorsedd of Bards at this year’s National Eisteddfod.
• Diwrnod agoriadol y Smithsonian – ahhhhh, no idea what this says, but I liked seeing the Smithsonian being discussed in Welsh. ;-)
• Watch the 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival webcasts this weekend! Welsh music, mariachis, storytelling and poetry.
• Suited for Space: Last Words from the Curator – An engaging blog post reporting on the tribulations of a traveling space exhibit by the Smithsonian Institution.
• SI also reports on how Google Street View was used to solve a crime.
• A Short History of Photography from Cigar Box to Cell Phone, by Merry A. Foresta of the Smithsonian Photography Initiative
• The Swedish National Heritage Board live blogs from its activities during Almedal week. The Board will organize a seminar on e-government and new social media July 2.
• Portraits — and Pot-Shots — in Song: A witty exhibit from the Library of Congress chronicling US Presidential campaign songs.
• Newstead – The State Library of Queensland, Australia, tells you all about this Brisbane suburb.
• Also, Picture Queensland images now available through One Search.
• The Oregon State University Archives reports that William Jasper Kerr, a biography, has been scanned and is now available on ScholarsArchive.
• Win one of the biggest Harry Potter posters in the world in the National Media Museum’s competition.

Go Visit!

12th June to 31st August: The Art Competition for Schools 2009 exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland. See the 53 winning works of budding young talents.

24 June through 22 August: With Malice Toward None: Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibit, a traveling exhibit from the Library of Congress at the California Museum in Sacramento, CA.

Throughout July: The July Film Series is announced at the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus Theater, including Key Largo, An American in Paris, and Chinatown.

2 July: Exclusive preview of Soul Power, a film by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte documenting a music festival that unites black American stars with African musicians in Kinshasa, at the National Media Museum.

Flickr’s best-known meme may be Kitten, Baby, Sunset, Flower … We bring you oodles of them from across the Commons!

George Eastman House	Powerhouse Museum
KITTEN	BABY

Brooklyn Museum	State Archives of Florida
SUNSET	FLOWER

Again, with gusto!

Nationaal Archief	State Library of Queensland, Australia
KITTEH!	BABEH!

Oregon State University Archives	George Eastman House
SUNSET!	FLOWER!

SHOUT IT OUT! Help keep the New York Public Library open.

Read more about the NYPL’s plight at the Daily News.

Heard around the Commons:

• Vet du hvor bildet er tatt? Last week, the Swedish National Heritage Board asked for help identifying a photo in the Commons. Within 24 hours, the location was determined … and they got a write up on the news!
• Pirates land in Chicago, a photo essay in the Chicago Sun-Times of the Field Museum’s “Real Pirates”.
• The Field’s dead geese help solve mystery of plane in Hudson, an article by the Chicago Tribune.
• Enter the Don McCullin competition at the National Media Museum: Win a signed hardback copy of the book Don McCullin by commenting on one of the photos Don curated for the museum’s Flickr stream.
• Check out the photos of the opening night of 1984, with John Hurt, at the National Media Museum.
• Celebrate the 1,000th Tyrrell image in the Powerhouse Museum’s Flickr stream!
• Valour is explained by the Australian War Memorial.
• Installing the Summer Shows, insight into the behind-the-scenes work at the George Eastman House.
• I Do Solemnly Swear … Got photos of the 2009 U.S. Presidential Inauguration? Share them with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
• Picnic pest is focus of a Smithsonian exhibition — A write-up from the Philadelphia Enquirer on an intriguing photography exhibit.
• Check out some new National Air and Space Museum Photos (Smithsonian).
• Meanwhile, back on earth … A Slideshow, curated Flickr photos, by the Smithsonian Photography Initiative’s Marvin Heiferman.
• Islamic Art at the Brooklyn Museum, from Sunday Arts.
• Check out this interview by the Examiner of Dr. Patrick Amsellem, the Associate Curator of Photography at the Brooklyn Museum.
• The Sounds of American Life and Legend are tapped for the Seventh Annual National Recording Registry, from the Library of Congress.

Friday Fun!

The History of Household Technology, from the Library of Congress

Go Visit!

Now through 30 June — 1969: The Year of Gay Liberation at the New York Public Library. The 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, New York, is this month. There’s also a collection of GLBT books on display at the D.C. Public Library. We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!

12-14 June – Fantastic Films Weekend at the National Media Museum. Oohhhhhhhhh, scary movies!

13 June –Garden Fest 2009: The Scenic Route, the annual all day family-friendly event presented by the Horticulture Services Division (HSD) at the Smithsonian Institution.

13 June — Alice Waters book signing at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

15 June – Kick-Off Event: Juneteenth DC 2009 at the D.C. Public Library. Featuring performances, remarks and a reception in celebration of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. More info on Juneteenth here.

16 June – What Is a Conversation Piece? at the National Galleries of Scotland. Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, explores this fascinating type of art, which is such an important tradition within European painting.

Get yer hankies out: the State Archives of Florida uploads the location scouting photos for MGM’s 1946 film The Yearling. The photographs taken for pre-production of The Yearling document two significant aspects of Florida culture: the state’s role in American film and the folklife of Florida “Crackers.”

“The Yearling”: Pre-production and Location Photographs of MGM’s “The Yearling,” 1939-1941

The Field Museum goes crazy and provides 170 more images of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. The White City comes to life with these gorgeous, crisp, clean images of the fair.

1893 World’s Columbian Exposition

The Field Museum also brings the first images of South America into the Flickr Commons with a great set of photos from geology expeditions in Argentina during the 1920s.

Argentina Geology Expeditions

Happy International Year of Astronomy from the Smithsonian Institutions’ Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Chandra X-ray Observatory

The State Library of Queensland, Australia, is now posting its Photo of the Week at the Flickr Commons. This week’s image is of the 1893 flood in Brisbane.

Picture of the Week

(more…)

Heard around the Commons:

• Archives sharing content in the digital age — The Australian War Memorial summarizes an online research project by the Nationaal Archief, Afscheid van Indië (Separation from Indonesia).
• Graduate Student Projects — Take a sneak peak at the next Flickr set from the George Eastman House.
• Also, check out their blog post, Exploring the Archive.
• 1stfans Twitter Art Feed Artist for June 2009: Nick Fortunato — Read about a fun project from the Brooklyn Museum.
• Arts of the Islamic World Reinstallation — A quick tour of the behind-the-scenes goings-on at the Brooklyn Museum [video].
• The Source: news about digital libraries and library innovations from around the web — This Friday’s collection of links from the National Library of New Zealand includes articles on copyright.
• What Katie Does — A design and craft blog that discusses the coolness of the Flickr Commons.
• The Collective Picture — A blog about old photographs which weaves stories around them.
• Free Family Fun at the Getty — A round-up of all the cool and free things families can do at the Getty Villa.
• The Library of Congress posts resources for you to learn all about Justice Sotomayor.
• Ghost Remains After Black Hole Eruption — More exciting adventures in outer space from the Smithsonian’s Chandra X-ray blog.
• All about Astronomy Visualization Metadata, also from the Chandra blog.
• Owney! A very cool video of Owney, the US Postal Service mascot … from the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum.
• Everyone into the White House Photo Pool! Nice summary from the Smithsonian Photography Initiative on being a photographer for the White House pool. Includes Flickr photos from the White House!
• The History of the John Oxley Library — Part Four — The State Library of Queensland, Australia, continues its series on its history in celebration of its 75th year.
• The D.C. Public Library Social Sciences division puts Flickr Commons images to use on the blog. Yay!
• A big shout-out to the ROTC from the Oregon State University Archives.

Go Visit!

30 & 31 May — Treeless Mountain is showing at the George Eastman House DrydenTheatre. “Director So Yong Kim’s second feature is a gentle and restrained semi-autobiographical account of two little girls, told from a child’s perspective.”

31 May – Last chance to apply for Rock Camp 2009 at the D.C. Public Library.