While enjoying my vacation I came across this interesting little read about how the Library of Congress is now offering some of their photo collections online via Flickr. Being a big fan of flickr this was a plus but after more thought I realized that at $24.95 a year for a pro account plus the multitude of services offered through flickr (many I use) this has got to be a major savings or?

"Offering historical photograph collections through Flickr gives the Library of Congress a welcome opportunity to share some of our most popular images with a new visual community.

We invite you to tag and comment on the photos, and we also welcome identifying information--many of these old photos came to us with scanty descriptions!"

(Via Library of Congress Photos on Flickr (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress).)

The other great thing was the simple fact they are inviting the community to help enhance the details available with the photos. Several have some great notes already, like this interesting panoramic one.

They even have a FAQ set up around the topic.

"Q: Why is the Library placing pictures on Flickr?

A: