A pilot project between Flickr and the US Library of Congress has proved successful, a report says.

Launched on 16 January 2008, the Library’s collection of archived photographs went global in an attempt to maximise public views. An invitation, of sorts, was also sent to Flickr users to become more involved with the project, by allowing them to tag photographs with keywords or phrases that would make photographs easier to index and find.

Within 24 hours of launching, Flickr reported 1.1million total views, a number that increased to 1.9million a week later. Recent figures show the collection of photographs receives an average of 500,000 views a month and has long since crossed the 10million mark in total views.

There was a lot of speculation surrounding the project about whether the collaboration would undermine the Library’s reputation for impartiality, but the Library defends its position, by saying that the ‘benefits appear to outweigh the costs and risks’.

So why has it been so successful? First of all, asking the web community to get involved was sure to spark some interest in the project, the Library says in its report. Secondly, material that may not have been easily found on the Library’s website is now accessible and can be made a ‘favourite’ by Flickr users. The Library also says success can be attributed to the Flickr blog, which spread the word of the project and the fact that high quality images without copyright restrictions are being provided to the users.

Our verdict? Well, with 18 institutions, including the National Media Museum in Bradford and the National Galleries of Scotland, now contributing to The Commons on Flickr, it seems that harnessing the power of online communities is the way forward for large historical libraries looking to save cost and publicise their collections.

BJP has talked to the National Media Museum about their six-month collaboration with Flickr. Find a full report on our website here.

The Commons can be found at www.flickr.com/commons.