The Unquiet Librarian

National Poetry Month Celebrations

Originally uploaded by theunquietlibrarian

Here is a cool mosaic I made using fd’s Flickr Toys at http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/ . I chose the mosaic option and pulled photos relating to National Poetry Month 2008.

I am proud to say one of our photos, The Unquiet Library, is a member of the “Poem In Your Pocket” photo pool!

I came across two items this morning that you might enjoy if you are into history, stories, or archives.

First, I stumbled across this wonderful Flickr collection entitled “Mom’s World” by Joey Harrison.  This collection chronicles his mother’s recollections (she provides most of the narratives) and photos of life in Grand Rapids, Michigan between the late 1940s —2007.  If you want to hear first-hand accounts of life from this time period, you must check out the photos and narratives…his mother is sharp as a tack!  What a wonderful way to preserve history for your family and the general public!  Fascinating stories, amazing photography—definitely something you will enjoy.

Secondly, the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran this story this morning about a historical collection of rare newspapers donated by Nell McGruder to the Atlanta History Center.  If you are interested in north Georgia history (particularly Cherokee County), this is a great story!  I only wish the Atlanta History Center had the money to digitize and upload the images of these rare newspapers to Flickr a la Library of Congress!  Perhaps they may eventually go to the Georgia Archives? 

While reading The English Patient in 2004 for a course with Dr. Mark Faust at UGA, Dr. Faust wisely observed that history is really a series of stories and accounts, not necessarily objective facts that are black and white.  I think primary sources such as these affirm that view.  It makes me a little sad to think that I never perceived “history” as story until I was a graduate student!  I think more people might take a interest in history and its study if they thought of it as story rather than a series of disconnected facts.

I hope you enjoy these resources!  Let me know what you think!

I actually stumbled on this yesterday while working on a pathfinder (and sent an email of pure excitement to my fellow district media specialists!), but in case you haven’t heard this exciting news, the Library of Congress is now on Flickr!  Check out all the tags on the Library of Congress Flickr account!

What is the project about?  Why would the Library of Congress create a Flickr account?  You can read the full scoop here, but here is what you need to know in a nutshell straight from the Library of Congress on Flickr Project Page; you can also learn more by visiting the Library of Congress on Flickr FAQ Page.  The purpose of creating a LOC Flickr page includes these aims:

• To share photographs from the Library’s collections with people who enjoy images but might not visit the Library’s own Web site.
• To gain a better understanding of how social tagging and community input could benefit both the Library and users of the collections.  
• To gain experience participating in Web communities that are interested in the kinds of materials in the Library’s collections.

Here are two “must read” posts detailing the project and the public’s response to this new project from the Library of Congress Blog:

• Post 1
• Post 2

What does all this mean for us as educators and librarians?  I personally feel this is going to make the rich photo collection so much more accessible to our students and the American public in general.  Talk about an easier mode of searching!  Wow!  This new tool is a fabulous way to tap into these amazing primary sources.  To me, this is another example of the power of Web 2.0 tools to ignite learning and get our students excited about history. 

As always, Joyce Valenza has her thoughts and musings on this exciting development, too—you can read more in her post, “Let’s Tag:  Library of Congress Shares on Flickr“.

What do you think about the Library of Congress @ Flicker?  Share your thoughts!

Here is a fun and free tool:  Spelling with Flickr!