Photo by George
The Commons
Your opportunity to contribute to describing the world's public photo collections.
Welcome!
The key goals of The Commons on Flickr are to firstly show you hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives, and secondly to show how your input and knowledge can help make these collections even richer.
You're invited to help describe the photographs you discover in The Commons on Flickr, either by adding tags or leaving comments.*
A random sprinkling of our participating institutions...
A Commons Sampler
February 6, 1909
from National Library of Ireland on The Commons
Llanfachraeth in darkness without electricity
from LlGC ~ NLW
Bondi Beach, Sydney, 1922 / photographed by R. P. Moore
from State Library of New South Wales collection
Bombingen av Sunndalsøra
from Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway)
Picking hops in the Willamette Valley, Oregon
from OSU Special Collections & Archives
N_87_10_3 Ad-capture of Harriet Jacobs
from North Carolina State Archives
Turners Aerial Photography, Jarrow and Wallsend
from Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums
Decorative map of North America, 1715
from National Library of Scotland
Tin Can Tourists convention: Arcadia, Florida
from State Library and Archives of Florida
More about The Commons
A new way to share photos on Flickr
The Commons was launched on January 16 2008, when we released our pilot project in partnership with The Library of Congress. Both Flickr and the Library were overwhelmed by the positive response to the project! Thank you!
The program has two main objectives:
- To increase access to publicly-held photography collections, and
- To provide a way for the general public to contribute information and knowledge. (Then watch what happens when they do!)
FAQ
I work for a cultural heritage institution that would like to be a part of The Commons. How do we do that?
Please let us know you're interested by registering here. It helps a lot if you let us know some background about your institution, and direct us to any online photo collections you already have.
How can I get involved?
We've already seen fantastic contribution from the Flickr membership. Your tags and conversations about the content in The Commons has been wonderful! The best way to get involved is to add a tag or two to the photos you see, and if you happen to know anything else about the subject, by all means add a comment.
What's "no known copyright restrictions?"
This new rights statement is being contained to the institutions participating in The Commons, at the account level. It is a requirement for participation in the program that institutions may rightly claim "no known copyright restrictions" on the content they share. More information.
*Any Flickr member is able to add tags or comment on these collections. If you're a dork about it, shame on you. This is for the good of humanity, dude!!