User-Assigned Labels Now Invited for Google LIFE Photos
The other day I noticed that the Life magazine photo collection at Google now allows users to provide tags or "labels" for the images.
This might help alleviate the helpless feeling I get when I realize that I'm looking at a photo, and I know what's in it, but there is no indication that Life does. For example, Allan Grant's pictures of the bizarre lunar ballet on the Destination Moon set are entitled "Preparation Moon Ballet," because somebody incorrectly deciphered handwriting on an envelope full of negatives.
The Time for Beany pictures are entitled only "Beane TV Act," and the only tag they carry is "1950s," which will not be helpful to someone searching for information about Beany, Cecil, Stan Freberg, Daws Butler, Bob Clampett, puppets, or KTLA.
On the other hand, there is a smug emotion associated with (believing myself to be) the only guy that knows about some cool thing buried among two million images. If I label Fritz Goro's 1947 pictures of a Lichtenberg figure as "Lichtenberg Figure," than it is no longer a delicious secret possessed by me and those I choose to share it with. Any schmo can type "Lichtenberg Figure" and find it.
Another problem: Suppose I get past the smugness, and nobly decide to share my secrets with humanity. I pull up an image and type in a bunch of labels. Okay, the photo is tagged. But the photographer shot several rolls that day long ago. Should I go to the next picture from that shoot, and label it? Some of these collections have over 200 pictures. My altruism will wear thin, somewhere around Photo Three.
Google does have some way of associating pictures from a particular assignment; you can access these through their "Related Images" and "More" links. Maybe if I offer labels for one or two photos, it will help other searchers discover a trove of related images.
Anyway, if users get into the habit of adding extra tags, and if these provide more signal than noise, we may find that this archive becomes even more useful. Though the thrill of finding unidentified treasures will become less frequent...
(Another discovery: they've added more pictures from Goro's shoot; previously there were half a dozen or so, and now there are 159 tagged with "Capacitron." Off to see if there are any fresh Lichtenberg figure shots!)
This might help alleviate the helpless feeling I get when I realize that I'm looking at a photo, and I know what's in it, but there is no indication that Life does. For example, Allan Grant's pictures of the bizarre lunar ballet on the Destination Moon set are entitled "Preparation Moon Ballet," because somebody incorrectly deciphered handwriting on an envelope full of negatives.
The Time for Beany pictures are entitled only "Beane TV Act," and the only tag they carry is "1950s," which will not be helpful to someone searching for information about Beany, Cecil, Stan Freberg, Daws Butler, Bob Clampett, puppets, or KTLA.
On the other hand, there is a smug emotion associated with (believing myself to be) the only guy that knows about some cool thing buried among two million images. If I label Fritz Goro's 1947 pictures of a Lichtenberg figure as "Lichtenberg Figure," than it is no longer a delicious secret possessed by me and those I choose to share it with. Any schmo can type "Lichtenberg Figure" and find it.
Another problem: Suppose I get past the smugness, and nobly decide to share my secrets with humanity. I pull up an image and type in a bunch of labels. Okay, the photo is tagged. But the photographer shot several rolls that day long ago. Should I go to the next picture from that shoot, and label it? Some of these collections have over 200 pictures. My altruism will wear thin, somewhere around Photo Three.
Google does have some way of associating pictures from a particular assignment; you can access these through their "Related Images" and "More" links. Maybe if I offer labels for one or two photos, it will help other searchers discover a trove of related images.
Anyway, if users get into the habit of adding extra tags, and if these provide more signal than noise, we may find that this archive becomes even more useful. Though the thrill of finding unidentified treasures will become less frequent...
(Another discovery: they've added more pictures from Goro's shoot; previously there were half a dozen or so, and now there are 159 tagged with "Capacitron." Off to see if there are any fresh Lichtenberg figure shots!)