Library of Congress Newspapers on Flickr:
Frequently Asked Questions

About this Project | Access on Flickr | Things You Can Do | Technical Information

About this Project
Why is the Library placing illustrated newspaper pages on Flickr?
Will this replace putting newspapers on the Library's Web site?
How were the items selected/why did you pick these pages?
How long will these pages be available on Flickr?
Does the Library have plans to add more items to its Flickr account?
Did the Library add any tags to its content on Flickr?

Access to the Newspapers on Flickr
Do you have to create an account on Flickr to view the Library’s newspapers on Flickr?
Is there a fee to create a Flickr account?
How do I find the Library of Congress material on Flickr?
Are these pictures only on Flickr?

Things You Can Do
How can I participate in the pilot?
Will the Library do anything with the tagging info once I add it to the Flickr newspaper?
I have more information or a question about a particular newspaper. Whom should I contact?
I noticed an error in the data associated with the newspaper.  Whom should I contact?
Can I reuse the newspapers the Library has made available on Flickr? What are the rights and permissions on these? Can I reproduce these newspapers?
Are higher resolution copies available?
How do I get copies of these newspapers?
Where can I find other newspaper as like these?
Where do I find out more about LC image collections? What else do you have?

Technical Information
How did you load the images and descriptions onto Flickr? Did you load them one by one?
How did you digitize the newspapers?
Did you alter these newspapers in any way?
How can I find out when more newspaper pages are added to the Library's Flickr pilot?

About this Project

Q: Why is the Library placing illustrated newspaper pages on Flickr?
A: We have several goals:

• To share visual content found in historic newspapers in the Library’s online collections with people who enjoy images but might not visit the Library’s own Web site.
• To gain a better understanding of how social tagging and community input could benefit both the Library and users of the collections.  
• To gain experience participating in Web communities that are interested in the kinds of materials in the Library’s collections.

With the launch of the Library of Congress pilot (for more information on the pilot project, see Library of Congress Photos on Flickr) Flickr began a new initiative called "The Commons." Cultural heritage institutions that join The Commons are sharing images from their collections that have no known copyright restrictions as a way to increase awareness of these collections with the general public. For more information on The Commons, see: http://www.flickr.com/commons.

Q: Will this replace putting newspapers on the Library’s Web site?
A: No.  The Library will continue to make digitized collections available on its site.

Q: How were the items selected/why did you pick these pictures?
A: We have picked illustrated newspaper pages which are primarily visual in nature and for which no restrictions on publication or distribution are known and for which high quality files are available. These heavily illustrated supplement sections became the most widely read section of the papers. , and world events displayed in their pages captured the imagination of a curious public. These items contain many hidden gems and may be of particular interest to the Flickr community.

Q: How long will these pages be available on Flickr?
A: The length of the pilot will be determined by the amount of user interest and tagging activity related to the materials. 

Q: Does the Library have plans to add more newspapers to its Flickr account?
A: The Library has other candidate collections in mind. Leave us a comment on what you’d like to see.

Q: Did the Library add any tags to its content on Flickr?
A: We placed only one tag ("Library of Congress") and two machine tags on each newspaper when we loaded them. Any other tags you see were added by the community; we are generally not controlling the content of Flickr tags, notes and comments, but we reserve the right to remove added content for any reason.

Access to Newspapers on Flickr

Q: Do you have to create an account on Flickr to view the Library’s pictures on Flickr?
A: No account is required to view the newspapers. If you want to leave tags or comments on the newspapers, you will have to create a Flickr account.

Q: Is there a fee to create a Flickr account?
A: A basic Flickr account (the type of account required to tag images in the Library_of_Congress sets) is free.

Q: How do I find the Library of Congress material on Flickr?
A: Go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/Library_of_Congress/.

Q: Are these newspapers only on Flickr?
A: These newspapers are all available on the Library of Congress Web site as well. To view and read about some of the initial offering visit the "Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers" page for more information about newspapers and the National Digital Newspaper Program, and to see and search more than one million newspaper pages from a variety of states and time periods.

Things You Can Do

Adding Tags, Notes and Comments to the Newspapers

Q: How can I participate in the pilot?
A: As you walk back in time through the eyes of photographers and graphic artist whose work was published in the illustrated newspapers, please contribute your own tags, comments, and identifying information.
 
Q:  Will the Library do anything with the tagging info once I add it to the Flickr newspapers?
A:  The Library will decide what to do with data added through Flickr once the pilot is over. Because resources to update catalog records are limited, the Library cannot promise to incorporate contributed data into its own records.

Q: I have more information or a question about a particular newspaper page. Whom should I contact? 
A: If you have a Flickr account, please send your information through a comment on Flickr (Library of Congress staff will be looking at the comments). If you don’t have an account, you can use the Ask a Librarian contact form available on the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room site. Please provide a citation and/or URL to the newspaper page in question.

Q: I noticed an error in the data associated with the newspaper.  Whom should I contact?
A: If you have a Flickr account, you are welcome to give us your information through a comment on Flickr. (Library of Congress staff will be looking at the comments.)

Enjoying and Re-using Newspapers

Q: Can I reuse the newspaper page images the Library has made available on Flickr? What are the rights and permissions on these? Can I reproduce these pictures? 
A: Although the Library of Congress does not grant or deny permission to use images, the Library knows of no copyright restrictions on the publication, distribution, or re-use of these images. Privacy rights may apply.

We offer general rights information and specific rights statements through the “Rights and Restrictions Information” page: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/rights.html.

Q: Are higher resolution copies available?
A. Yes. Higher resolution JPEG 2000 versions of the newspapers are available through the Chronicling America Web site. Example: Click on the ”Persistent URL” link in the data information for the newspaper page (the URL looks like "http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1909-01-16/ed-1/seq-9/"). When the newspaper page viewer displays, click on the "Zoom +" or "Draw Zoom Box" icons for larger images, or select the "Download Image (JP2) link.

Q: How do I get copies of these newspapers?
A: You can download and print copies of the pictures yourself.  Higher resolution JPEG 2000 versions of the images are available through the Chronicling America Web site.

Finding more Newspapers and Information

Q: Where can I find other newspapers like these?
A. To view and search more than a million newspaper pages, you can visit the Chronicling America at the Library of Congress. To view other digitized historic newspapers from the Library of Congress, visit the American Memory digital collections "Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers' Newspaper, 1918-1919," and "Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Rotogravures."

Q: Where do I find out more about LC newspaper collections? What else do you have?
A: The Serial & Government Publications Division maintains one of the most extensive newspaper collections in the world, including 9000 US titles and over 25,000 non-US titles. The division also sponsors the National Digital Newspaper program, a joint program with the National Endowment for the Humanities, to enhance access to newspapers beyond its own collections by building a national digital collection of historic newspapers held in all 50 states. The collections of the Library of Congress are international in scope, but they are especially rich in materials produced in, or documenting the history of, the United States and the lives, interests and achievements of the American people. For more information about collections in the Library of Congress Serial and Government Publications Division, you might want to start by visiting the Newspaper and Current Periodicals Reading Room home page, which includes links to collection descriptions, search tools, and various resources for research using newspapers and government publications.

Technical Information

Q: How did you load the newspapers and descriptions? Did you load them one by one?
A: We load the images and descriptions for different collections and sets in batches. Using Chronicling America’s “linked data” features, a Library of Congress computer specialist used the Flickr API (available on the Flickr Services page) and a Python wrapper for that API called "Beej's Python Flickr API" available at: http://www.stuvel.eu/projects/flickrapi. Wrappers are available for a variety of programming languages. Many are listed under the "API Kits" heading on the Flickr Services page. With these tools, he developed a Python application that creates titles, descriptions, and tags from appropriate elements available in the linked data views; locates the images in Chronicling America; and uploads the whole set.

Q: How did you digitize the newspapers?
A. Newspapers included in Chronicling America are digitized using the National Digital Newspaper Program Technical specifications which can be found at http://www.loc.gov/ndnp/guidelines/ Material Is Scanned from Paper, Using Large-Format Scanning Devices, but most Is Scanned from duplicate print copies (2N) made from master microfilm negatives using specialized roll-feed film scanners.

Q: Did you alter these newspapers in any way?
A: The Library and participants in the National Digital Newspaper Program produce digital scans to reproduce the newspapers in our collections. Some material is scanned from paper originals, but most is scanned from duplicate print copies of master microfilm negatives. Newspapers were often filmed to preserve their content, but sometimes filming began after the paper they were printed on was already degrading. By scanning from master negatives, we try to avoid dirt and scratches that might appear on the positive copy you find in regular use at a library and there is no attempt to try to improve the look of the original material.

The digitized newspaper images from our collections are intended to support a wide range of uses and applications: general research, educational use, book publications, exhibitions, print reproductions and more. Photographs in newspapers may be used to illustrate and expand the context for articles and other content. The Library's intent is to provide users with access to the materials in a form that can support any particular output need.

In addition to the factors above, there is another very practical reason for producing digital images of newspaper collections with minimal post-scanning adjustment. In order to support the Library's mission to make its resources available, the scanning programs underway focus on producing high quality master images quickly and efficiently. The time and expense required to produce perfectly executed and restored digital surrogates would limit the ability to provide scans of large numbers of newspaper pages.

Q: How can I find out when more newspaper pages are added to the Library’s Flickr pilot?
A: One way is to sign up for Chronicling America’s weekly notification service, via RSS or Email subscription, that highlights interesting content in the site, when new newspapers are added both to the site itself and to the Flickr pilot, as well as program updates. Users can use the icons at the lower-left side of the Chronicling America Web page to subscribe to the RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed or sign up to receive the same information directly to their email in-box.

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