Like tiles? The Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian delights with <i>sooo</i> many new tile images from convents — including some from Brazil!
I like the images that the Swedish National Heritage Board posts from Carl Curman. From sweeping landscape to portraits, this series always offers a great glimpse into northern European life.
Who doesn’t love a great adventure story? One replete with strange new lands, hard journeys across the high seas, and amazing new sights to behold . . .
Journey through the Commons and you might find …
… a voyage to Antarctica at the turn of the last century.
He’s also got more great ideas about geotagged photos from the Commons. Directing us to Frank Taylor’s article on Advanced Photo Placement in Google, Jim has started building KML files that you can use in Google Earth to view geotagged Commons photos. He also suggests that it works with the Google Earth plugin, which can be embedded in a web page, using this tutorial.
Here are some sample photo overlay files you can use with Google Earth that Jim created of the National Maritime Museum’s images:
And the Commons does have geotagged images! Don’t forget to use the Flickr Commons geotagged feed to see what’s newly uploaded that you can use with Google Earth. And let us know if you make any Flickr Commons–Google Earth photo overlays or mashups.
The Smithsonian’s Chandra blog resolves a galactic mystery and interviews Eli Bressert, the guy responsible for making the Chandra images. Wow. That’s a cool job.
SQUEE! Cute overload with baby leopards at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
Podcasts: ‘Face-to-Face’, from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian.
Petrina Foti, Computers Collection at the NMAH, Smithsonian, processes objects from Ralph Baer, the Father of the Video Game.
The Source: news about digital libraries and library innovations from around the web, every Friday, from the National Library of New Zealand.
‘Visualizing search data: What’s the right amount of visibility?’ from the New York Public Library.
The State Library of Queensland, Australia, reports on the success of ‘Discovering Queensland’, their community history course. They’ll hold another in October.
Podcast of the DC Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting, held on March 25, 2009
Notes from Anzac Day, by the Australian War Memorial.
Sowing Culture: an interesting blog on history that we ran across this week when they linked to our Morse post.
A Call to Action:
Enter The Smithsonian Institution’s YouTube Video Contest. Tell them how to position the Smithsonian for the New Media Generation.
Go Visit!
Just opened – I Do Solemnly Swear: Photographs of the 2009 Inauguration, at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. See some of them online at CNN.
April 30 through May 4 - drop by the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Services booth at the American Association of Museums annual meeting in Philadelphia.
May 2 -Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum; enjoy free programs of art and entertainment from 5–11 p.m.
May 7 -Star Trek IMAX, the new film by J.J. Abrams (Lost), screens at midnight at the National Media Museum! Beam me up, Scotty, with a racy, young James T. Kirk, too.
May 7 - Poet Laureate Kay Ryan reads at the Library of Congress in the Coolidge Auditorium.
Bedford Lemere & Co First class restaurant reception room on the ‘Titanic’, 1912 National Maritime Museum: G10671
On the night of April 14, 1912, on her maiden voyage, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg; it sank less than three hours later, in the wee hours of the 15th of April. 1,517 people perished in the icy North Atlantic waters. Just after 4 a.m., the RMS Carpathia arrived to pick up the 706 survivors from the lifeboats. The White Star Line chartered the cable ship Mackay-Bennett to retrieve the bodies from the sea. Many were interred at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
We honor this tragedy with a collection of images from the Library of Congress.
One of the biggest draws of Flickr is the social aspect of groups. Any Flickr user can open a themed group with a pool of photos and discussion threads. Here, we explore some of the groups that Commons’ institutions are running on Flickr.
Australian War Memorial:
Love and War: For people to share their photos and stories of Australians in love and war: how do people meet, do they marry, how do they keep a relationship going in spite of separation?
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Bridge (Brooklyn Museum Website): Images of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Museum archives, library, and art collections, as well as the text of our 1983 exhibition catalogue The Great East River Bridge, 1883–1983 on our website.
Brooklyn Museum: For photos of the Brooklyn Museum, Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden, Target First Saturday events and, of course, the Museum’s fountain. Photos of friends and family visiting the museum are welcome too!
Wikipedia Loves Art: A scavenger hunt and free-content photography contest by the Brooklyn Museum in coordination with a host of other institutions.
George Eastman House
George Eastman House: Photos taken at The George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y.
National Maritime Museum
Beside the Seaside: UK seaside photos — beaches, proms, piers, beach huts, fish and chips, fairground rides, & seagulls.
Sailor Chic: The Sailor Chic exhibition at the National Maritime Museum has closed but you can still view some of the collections online — and this photo pool keeps growing.
Oregon State University Archives
What did you see, Where did you go: History in the Making: History is made everyday at OSU and they want to capture it. For photos of some major OSU event or just a beautiful sunset over Milam Hall, it’s something that someone may want to see in another fifty years.
Powerhouse Museum
Australia in the 1980s: Shots that represent Australia in the 1980s. They might be photos of yourselves, your friends, your haircuts, places, possessions and events, but we want to see how you interpret this decade.
Modern Times: For contemporary shots that represent ‘Modernism’. This may be architectural, city spaces, furniture, interiors, fashion and design but really we want to see how you interpret this era today.
Sign design in Australia: To see images of signs, taken in Australia, that have captured your attention in some way.
Tyrrell Today: Images from their Tyrrell photographic collection taken around the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Post your contemporary images taken from approximately the same location.
Smithsonian Institution
SIConnections/Lincoln in Your Hometown: For Lincoln images in Washington, D.C., across the country, and around the world (if you can find it!). Connections between history, art, and culture, as well as connections across the centuries, from the time of Lincoln to the inauguration of our new president.
Twitter picture share: A space for @Smithsonian Twitter Followers to share their images of the Smithsonian, its projects, museums and exhibitions.
Smithsonian: National Air and Space Museums: For pictures from the museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center next to Dulles International airport.
Star-Spangled Banner Share Your Story Project : Share your thoughts about what the American flag means to you and your submission may become a part of the mosaic on the online exhibition: “The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag That Inspired the National Anthem.”
@1934: An American Art group inspired by the exhibition, 1934: A New Deal for Artists, February 27, 2009 through January 3, 2010 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Smithsonian 2.0 Conference: Smithsonian 2.0 was a two-day interactive gathering exploring how the Smithsonian can better and more effectively reach the younger generation with its collections, materials, and expertise through the web and web/new media-based interactive strategies.
This week we find out a bit more about the very cool folks who look after all things Web-related at the National Maritime Museum, including the museum’s Flickr Commons account.
The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
As the NMM in Greenwich is my local museum, I was delighted when they joined the Commons in September 2008. I visit the museum regularly as it takes up a large area in the middle of Greenwich and is housed in some very photogenic buildings. I was pretty excited when Fiona invited me down to the Museum one Wednesday afternoon to meet the team and have a chat about Flickr and the Commons. Having met them all, I can say I like the NMM even more now than I did before.
1. What is your involvement with the National Maritime Museum and the Commons Project on Flickr?
Fiona Romeo
FIONA: I’m Head of Digital Media at the National Maritime Museum (and Royal Observatory, Greenwich), which means that it’s my job to think about how we can transform our visitors’ experience of the museum through innovative uses of technology. In particular, my department is responsible for things like digitization; the museum website; and creative development of digital content and services — from a monthly podcast, to interactive exhibits and mobile learning. About half of my department is participating in the Commons project in some way.
On Wednesday, February 11, a few Flickrites joined with the staff at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, for a Flickr Commons meetup. Rebecca Higgitt first gave a talk, then the group was given a sneak preview of prints in the Royal Observatory’s photographic collection that will be added to the Commons in the near future. The group also took a tour of the ROG buildings, ending with the crew venturing to the Union Pub for refreshment and Commons discussion.
Anna Graf (our group’s founder) says,
A great day was had by all.
Thanks to James, Natasha, Lucinda, Sam and Fiona from the NMM for making this happen!
Read first-hand accounts at the NMM’s blog and at Bridget McKenzie’s blog.
