TASI Guide to Finding and Using Flickr Images

Over the past few years, the Technical Advisory Service for Images has consistently provided in depth, up to date, and free guides to all manner of digital image matters, including creating, managing, delivering, and finding images. Of late, they've been paying more attention to the growth of user generated content online, and the increase in personal image collections. One of their latest guides looks at how to find and use Flickr images:

Whatever their reasons for joining and posting photos, the 24 million active users have contributed what currently amounts to a staggering 525 million photos on Flickr (as at June 2007).

These figures alone make Flickr a good place to look for images - almost every conceivable subject has been photographed and uploaded to Flickr. Most images are recently taken digital photos, but a large number of users are scanning older negatives and prints and uploading those.

However, quantity does not equate to quality and there are more reasons than sheer numbers that make Flickr a useful starting point when sourcing pictures. That is not to say it is entirely without drawbacks, and this document is intended to highlight its disadvantages as well its strengths.

Useful, straightforward, and interesting. [link]