23 Things: The Fifth Tool = Image Search

The next 23 Things assignment is to discuss a technology-related topic of our choice. Following on from yesterday's post, I thought I'd look at options for retrieving other relevant images online. A number of forced migration sites offer photo collections that are not available through Flickr. Here are a few examples:

• AlertNet Pictures [access]
• Forced Migration Online Photos [access]
• IRIN News Photos [access]
• UNRWA Photo Archive [access]

If specialized photo collections do not yield relevant images, the other option is to search across the web using an image search engine. This article provides a useful review of 13 different services. As it notes, size is not necessarily equivalent to quality! While some search engines clearly maintain the biggest indexes of images (like Google, Yahoo...), other services like Exalead and Picsearch offer more enhanced search features. Before launching a search, however, users should review the various strategies described in this article, to improve their chances of conducting successful searches.

Once a relevant image has been found, then questions should be asked regarding the image's copyright status: Is it copyrighted? Is it public domain? Is its use regulated by some type of license? You may have noticed the appearance of Creative Commons licenses associated with photo collections and other online content. This system allows creators to establish a set of conditions for how their work can be used. Read this section of the Creative Commons FAQ to learn about how you can use works licensed under their system.

For a tutorial that covers all of the above, and a bit more, check out the Intute/TASI "Internet for Image Searching" guide.

23 Things: Displacement Photos

Following on from my post on Flickr, I wanted to add that a Group Pool exists called "Portraits of Displacement." It is described as a place "where you can post portraits of people who have been displaced (either internally within their own country or refugees who had to flee their country into a third country) from their homes due to war, natural disaster or else." Only members of the pool can post photos to it. This is an easy way to collaboratively build a collection of relevant photographs.

23 Things: The Fourth Tool = Photo-sharing

The focus of this post is on web-based photo-sharing tools, specifically Flickr. This service lets you upload photos, organize them into thematic sets, and even group them into larger collections. See, for example, IFRC's set on "refugees and internally displaced persons." You can view photos individually or as a slideshow. Another example of a collection is UNHCR's Pictorial History.

You can locate relevant photos either by browsing tags assigned to each or geographically through Flickr's map application. If you visit Minority Rights Group's tag cloud (or grouping of tags), you can select "iraqiminorityrefugees" to view photos that have been tagged accordingly. IFRC lets you choose country-specific photo sets to view by selecting from a map of the world.

And if you want to monitor new additions to someone's general photostream or to a specific collection or set, you can subscribe to an RSS feed or bookmark a page in del.icio.us. Just scroll to the bottom of the page displaying the particular photos you are interested in and choose from the options provided.

Other photo-sharing options are available including Picasa, Shutterfly, and many more.