Sunday 31 January 2016

Rud 18: Communicating Through Photographs

I've been interested in the power of photos to communicate since learning about Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory whilst doing the H.Dip in Education. Some 15, nearly wrote 165 there, years later it's on the Cert. in Teaching & Learning course too. Basically Gardner's Theory looks to harness the different intelligences so that we may learn. Schools tend to use only the linguistic and logical intelligences but not everyone learns this way.

https://flic.kr/p/C5Zy2
Flickr
I haven't used Flickr in such a long time and I didn't consider using it for libraries. Is it just one more channel that needs updating? Do we need a team of people working on communication then rather than one person and what happens when that one person goes on leave? What purpose does Flickr fill that Twitter and Facebook doesn't? There are photos after all in albums on Facebook and I can view Photos and Other Media on Twitter. As with much, I've more questions than answers.
For the challenge part of this thing my functional illiteracy kicked in, I didn't search for library related photos. Instead I searched for something that I'm interested in: #skyphotos. The one I chose has amazing colours. Markus Spring took it and it's called 'Steinhögl sky on fire.' Markus included a map of where Steinhögl is (FYI: Bavaria, Germany) and a link to the discussion on how the image was created. I think a link like this would be really useful to see how images are formed. The behind the scenes things are really interesting, peeking behind the veil.
 
https://flic.kr/p/5aNds8

Instagram
Like Flickr, I'm not 100% sure how to use Instagram for libraries. I think our library would want to be very clear in the purpose it serves and not to do just to be part a wave. I tried using Instagram with my Tumblr account but it only lasted for one day. That said, it was interesting to try.
#treephoto
http://cloudwalkerabroad.tumblr.com/image/85228600195
 Instagrammed Tree:
https://www.instagram.com/p/nyI7q4Eem2/

Tumblr
I find Tumblr works slighly better but what I don't like is the constant scrolling. Tumblr allows more to be written - not quite a blog, not quite a tweet. I've seen libraries create separate Tumblr accounts for different parts of their collections but then the collection is unified on one platform. For example Collen Theisen has one for the University of Iowa's Special Collections.  Oregon State University has a Tumblr for Oregon Hops & Brewing Archives. What I like about this account is there's a menu on the left so you can see what other platforms Oregon State University uses: the Archives' website, Flickr, Facebook, Zotero and the Library's homepage. Handy!

No comments:

Post a Comment