Then and now.

• Author: Hagon, Paul
• Position: Photograph collections of libraries and museums

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The arrival of Web 2.0 has given libraries new opportunities to enable their users to interact with their collections. Traditionally, users have been able to search for items but the ability to interact with collections has been limited. Today, users are able to post comments on items, add tags and apply ratings to items. One area where this is particularly prevalent is photographic collections.

The ever-decreasing cost and availability of digital cameras, particularly in mobile phones, has seen a surge in the numbers of photos being taken by members of the public. The emergence of Flickr http://www.flickr.com/ in 2004 combined a photo-storage service with social networking, and many similar sites have since emerged. Flickr has become one of the largest photographic archives in the world, with over three-billion photographs uploaded to the service.

Cultural institutions have taken advantage of Flickr's...