The Library of Congress did not know the names of French brothers Michel, age 4, and Edmond, age 2, when the institution uploaded this photograph to Flickr in the summer of 2008. They knew the duo were Titanic orphans. They didn’t know anything else.
The LOC now has that data. They know the kids’ father and why he changed his name when boarding Titanic. They know the name of the woman who took in the kids and raised them. Through Flickr’s users who viewed, commented, liked, and shared that photo, the LOC can now tell a story for what was once a story-less photograph.
The Smithsonian Institution, the New York Public Library, the National Library of Ireland, the NYC Center for Jewish History, and the Stockholm Transport Museum are among worldwide cultural institutions that make up The Commons — a repository of photographs enabling anyone to visit and learn the culture of who we are.
The past is a click away.
Whereas Flickr’s Commons is restricted to photos, the Google Cultural Institute encompasses videos and interviews to revisit the past.
At a time when the world mourns the tragic loss of life in a small town called Newtown, it’s important to remember the past — because remembering the past helps us reconnect with our future.
About Ari Herzog
Yeah well what happens when these companies start doing stuff like instagram who just announced when you share your photo with a friend they OWN IT.
How long before flickr follows this precedent?
Think about how much time these companies spend in court over patents imagine copyrights?
Imagine a library filled with blank photos that just say “copyright dispute” because some high powered lawyer threw a hissyfit.
The way I view it is that anything that is posted on the internet, regardless of what privacy setting you may have, it is public information. Flickr will probably follow suit from Instagram, and then in a few years, we’ll see our embarrassing Facebook pictures used as evidence at ancestry.com!
Fantastic! I am really impressed to know about both of Titanic orphans. As the both of sites are really looking promising to enhance remembrance. Great!
Classy piece of information, thanks for sharing the details of the Titanic orphans. True Google and Flickr are both good tools which help us to remember the stuff which we sometimes forget.