“Flickr”-ing the past into the present at the Cloyne and District Historical Society

Oct 22, 2014

As a means of gathering more historic photos and documents as well as making their current collection more accessible to the world at large, members of the Cloyne and District Historical Society (CDHS) engaged the know-how of one of their members, who is well versed in the workings of the world-wide web.

Ken Hook, who some might know as the owner of Flintshire Pheasant Farm, former Addington Highlands reeve, and the former general manager of the Land O' Lakes Tourist Association, currently co-owns and operates his own media production company called 45 Degrees Latitude, where he and his wife Cathy do video and website production as well as SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Hook recently volunteered his talents to set up the Historical Society’s current website and most recently has included the free photo sharing site FLICKR as part of the Society's newly fashioned web presence. He demonstrated to Society members in a special presentation on October 20 at the Barrie Hall in Cloyne how the society’s current collection of photos and documents can now be viewed online world wide. In additions to joining Flickr the society's collection has also been included in The Commons, a site for organizations who wish to share their photo collections with the public, and which includes notable organizations like NASA, the British Library, the Getty Research Institute, and countless others.

Hook said, “In the past before computers we did not really have a way of sharing all of these documents worldwide. Now it is not only fast, easy and free but it offers up a safe storage place for all of the museum's materials.”

Given the fact that the Pioneer Museum in Cloyne is open only in the summer months, interested historians will now be able to access the museum's unique collection at any time. Another advantage to the online collection is that the Pioneer Museum, like most museums, houses thousands of items that it does not have the space to put on display. Flickr will allow the society to display the majority of its collection so that interested parties can view items that are not displayed at the museum.

In his presentation Hook also demonstrated another reason why having the collection available online is a plus. He showed one particular photo where a viewer in a comment section identified a person in the photo whose name had been previously unknown.

CDHS members are thrilled with the work that Hook has done in making the museum collection more accessible. Because the number of photos and documents that can be shared are virtually limitless, the society is inviting those with historic photos or documents from the local area to contact Society members to arrange to have their photos added to the on-line collection. Anyone interested can contact the Cloyne and District Historical Society's president, Red Emond, at 613-336-8011; Carolyn McCulloch at 613-336-6858; Ian Brumell at 613-336-2203, or can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.