Hanna furnaces of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation, Detroit, Mich. Coal tower atop coke ovens (LOC), photo by The Library of Congress.

Yesterday I learned through a couple of emails, an IM, Lifehacker and even this post in the Absolute Michigan pool (yay!) that the Library of Congress has embarked on a new project to increase access to their photographic collection and also to more completely “tag” their photos. From My Friend Flickr: A Match Made in Photo Heaven on the Library of Congress blog:

The project is beginning somewhat modestly, but we hope to learn a lot from it. Out of some 14 million prints, photographs and other visual materials at the Library of Congress, 3,000 photos from two of our most popular collections are being made available on our new Flickr page, to include only images for which no copyright restrictions are known to exist.

The real magic comes when the power of the Flickr community takes over. We want people to tag, comment and make notes on the images, just like any other Flickr photo, which will benefit not only the community but also the collections themselves. For instance, many photos are missing key caption information such as where the photo was taken and who is pictured. If such information is collected via Flickr members, it can potentially enhance the quality of the bibliographic records for the images.

This photo was taken in November of 1942 by Arthur Siegel of the Hanna furnaces of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation in Detroit (now U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes Works). You can see (and perhaps help to classify) more photos tagged as Michigan right here.

Much as I love Detroit’s rich industrial history, I really hope that the good people at the Library of Congress can toss up a few photos from elsewhere in the state, including some that highlight Michigan’s natural beauty!

LOC Call Number: LC-USW36-811 (link)