While the original purpose of joining Flickr was to gain feedback
from users (DigiTool does not allow for users to leave comments) it
became clear quickly that Flickr is also a great tool to promote the
Center and partners’ digital collections. The 189 images on Flickr (as
of 11 December 2009) were viewed more than 12,300 times over the
course of eight months. This means that on average, an image on
Flickr has been requested 65 times. This is a much higher average
number of requests for images in comparison to CJH Digital
Collections. The lab was also contacted and asked if some images
could be featured on a personal blog. Moreover, people responded to
AJHS’ requests to identify unknown people in photographs. Among
the people who offered their help was the great-granddaughter of one
of the people featured in a photograph. Users tagged images with the
occasional “that’s a wonderful image” remark. There were no negative
remarks. Considering the feedback and number of requests per image,
the Center and participating partners deemed the project a success
and the uploading of images to Flickr and the administration of the
Center’s Flickr site has become part of the digital lab’s services.