Saturday, September 10, 2011

Exploring Flickr

My experience of Flickr was a bit exasperating at times, especially when I was first getting started. Though I knew what Flickr was, I have never used it before and more or less fumbled my way through. You would not believe the huge sigh of relief I gave when I actually got through it. Oh, the joy of success! The hardest obstacle I had to surmount was figuring out how I was going to take pictures of various items in the library. I do not have a digital camera (which would have been helpful for an activity like this) and the camera on my phone was not working (just my luck). My only option was using the camera on my laptop. I'm sure you can imagine what I sight I was in Lockwood Library taking pictures of things with a laptop! Oh well, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. My only solace was that I was able to find areas in the library where nobody was hanging around. At least I can look back on it now and laugh at myself. Anyway, I got my pictures and managed to figure out how to upload them onto Flickr. That too proved a bit of a headache as the first two times the pictures would not upload successfully. Thankfully the third time was the charm and there they are. They are basically images of the stacks, a book cart, and a few different signs; all very common sights in any library.  As much of a hassle (and embarrassment) as it was a first, I'm glad I did this activity because I came out of it knowing a new skill that I may use in the future. I think more libraries should explore and and take advantage of Flickr. It can be a great tool for a library to use to connect even more with its community.

Here's my URL for Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/termegshe/

3 comments:

  1. Hi Teresa,
    I was trying to be incognito too snapping photos in Lockwood. Flickr was fun and I agree on the library making use of this to showcase special areas in their libraries, or pictures of events that took place for example. In Flickr, I saw that groups can be created and I believe their are library groups as well. So it may prove to be a place to meet other librarians.

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  2. I haven't explored Flickr yet, but I definitely relate to the frustration of figuring out a new tool! Somehow these things always end up being more complicated than they seem like they should be. But it's encouraging to see that you figured it out despite repeated troubles. And it does look like a useful skill to have, especially as you and your previous commenter say for connecting and publicizing within the community.

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  3. Hi Teresa,
    I'm not sure what the point of flicker is anyways. Doesn't facebook share photos much easier? Hey I was thinking you should become a senator for the GSA. I think we would make a good team, and its only one night a month, and we get to argue with people while eating pizza. Awesome huh. Anyways my e-mail is ryanfars@buffalo.edu. Also you don't have a facebook page?

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