More Great News from the Library of Congress!

During February, I blogged about the Library of Congress sharing it's photographs on Flickr. Are you now, like me, one of over 15 million people that have viewed these photos? You should keep checking back with the LOC since they have been adding 50 new photos a week to the original launch of 3,100.

Are you ready for more? Announcing the "Library of Congress Makes More Assets and Information Available Through New-Media Initiatives." If you enjoyed Flickr, then YouTube and iTunes launches will bring even more treasures to the public and that can't be a bad thing can it?

A lot more sharing is about to happen. The Library's audio archives will soon be available on iTunes; its video will be available on YouTube. And you will be able to find more stuff on Vimeo and BlipTV. This means that searching their favorite portals, our learners will be able to discover a vast array of critical primary sources.

A March 25th news release promises:
"New channels on the video and podcasting services will be devoted to Library content, including 100-year-old films from the Thomas Edison studio, book talks with contemporary authors, early industrial films from Westinghouse factories, first-person audio accounts of life in slavery, and inside looks into the Library's fascinating holdings, including the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and the contents of Lincoln's pockets on the night of his assassination."

The LOC has been growing more accessible and more interactive through Web 2.0. Anyone can build a personal collection of library objects, visit interactive exhibits and features, turn the pages of historical texts, access lesson plans based on primary sources, zoom into maps, and engage in such activities as rewriting the Declaration of Independence You may follow the Library though its RSS feeds, Tweets, blog, podcasts, and email updates I discovered the extended media sharing shift through a press release from the General Services Administration (which is, BTW, itself followable on Twitter) last week.