For decades, the opportunity to browse through millions of our nation’s historic photos at the Library of Congress likely meant a trip up to Capitol Hill. While many of those items still require a visit in person, this week the Library began offering high-resolution scans of some of their historical photograph collections on the popular photo sharing website, Flickr, enabling history buffs to view thousands of high-resolution images on the Web.

While digital images were already offered through the Library’s Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, sharing a selection of these images on Flickr allows the Library to extend access to their collections to users who might not otherwise visit the LOC website.

Users are permitted to tag and provide comments on images, a feature not available on the LOC website. Not only will comments provide a way for visitors to express their opinions regarding a particular image, it could also provide the Library with additional identifying information. Flickr also allows for a much more interactive experience, with the Library providing direct feedback to users’ comments as well.

Source: feeds.feedburner.com