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.

All of these images are taken from a Flickr Commons group discussion topic on “Landscapes across the Commons”. Those of us who posted in that topic found that while we knew there was a lot of historical landscape photography in the Commons, it was often not tagged to make it easily searchable. If you find more, please add tags, in English and other languages you may speak, to help later users find it as well.

Hakone Lake, Japan, late 19th century, chosen by Nina.

New York Public Library

Swallow Cliff Woods area, Illinois, 1917, chosen by Nina.

Field Museum Library

Sintra, Portugal, 20th c., chosen by Penny.

Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

Loch Earn, Scotland, about 1864, chosen by Penny.

National Galleries of Scotland

Percé Rock, Quebec, 1898?, chosen by Criz.

Musée McCord Museum

Willoughby Falls, Australia, turn of the century, chosen by Criz.

Powerhouse Museum

Ryfossen, Norway, 1890?, chosen by Criz.

Swedish National Heritage Board

Diamond Lake, Oregon, 1945, chosen by Nina.

Oregon State University Archives

Castelet falls, France, circa 1900, chosen by me.

Bibliothèque de Toulouse

Inspired by the original:

Powerhouse Museum	Ian Sanderson (iansand)
THEN	NOW

Off on holiday this summer? Check the Commons for photographs of where you’ll be, shoot a “now”, in any weather and with any camera, and let us know about it!

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.

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.

Our First Oldsmobile - 1897, New York Public Library

The headlines are filled this week with the news of General Motors, an American icon, declaring bankruptcy. The New York Public Library takes us on a stroll down memory lane with six sets of GM photographs, chronicling the storied manufacturers history, in their G.M. and Chrysler Cars and Trucks, 1897-1938 collection on the Flickr Commons.

Heard around the Commons:

• Help the NYPL! Donate today to the New York Public Library. Services there are now at risk; even throughout the Great Depression, The New York Public Library was able to maintain seven days of service.
• Read all about the Civilian Conservation Corps’s (CCC) 1933 Camp Arboretum, from the Oregon State University Archives. Sort of ties in with that whole Depression-era thing we have going on lately.
• Check out OSU’s new finding aids, too.
• Brooklyn Museum API: the iPhone app released on iTunes!
• Wales in Europe – art without frontiers – Read about the National Library of Wales’ contributions to EuropeanaTravel.
• WIGGLE! JIGGLE! Get jiggity with stereoscopic images from the National Library of New Zealand. Read more at our Flickr group.
• 1000th Tyrrell image in the Commons (1265 released in total) – Celebrate with the Powerhouse Museum on this milestone by commenting, tagging, and viewing!
• And check out their new Flickr group, Sydney Design.
• U. S. Copyright Office to Adjust Fees – Information from the Library of Congress.
• “Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong” – From Smithsonian curator Paul Chaat Smith (review by the Washington Post).
• Take a sneak peak of the a new D.C. Public Library Building.
• The George Eastman House asks for your help in moving them up the charts at CommuniCause’s $25,000 Social Media Makeover contest. Re-tweet early and often!
• Destroying Photographs? A decision made about old photographs for an exhibit by the GEH.
• Conserving Hollywood History at George Eastman House – an article about film preservation that includes some great old stills.
• Print of the Brisbane River donated by the Mackay Historical Society to the State Library of Queensland, Australia.
• The girl on the badge – A story of an Anzac Day donation to the Australian War Memorial.
• Being serious isn’t the whole answer – a great article by the Electronic Museum on Web 2.0 and museums.
• Everyone’s Smithsonian – an entry by Nina Simon on the Smithsonian Institution and multi-platform museum experiences.
• Celebrating 2,020 years of service – A tribute to the Smithsonian’s docents.
• Like birds? Apply to be an exhibit interpreter at the Bird House for the Smithsonian’s National Zoo!

Friday Fun!

Vote at Budget Travel for the squeeeelicious Clouded Leopard cubs at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo! See more of the cubs on Flickr.

Go Visit!

6 June 2009 - Target 1st Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum! Free entertainment.

9 June – The 31st Annual Museum Mile Festival in New York City. Free access to all museums along the mile, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum.