That's Life!

Exciting (old) news--Google has acquired and digitalized the 10,000,000+ photos in Life magazine's photo archive http://images.google.com/hosted/life. What a treasure trove! I could spend hours and hours perusing and absorbing what is there. A(n) historian friend of mine in France (D-Day specialist) whom I alerted about this (he is working on a book about the famous Magnum photo agency), is no less than ecstatic about this resource.
I plan to mine it for all sorts of references like the Spanish Civil War, social change in Mexico and Central America, and more (like personal enthrallment). History Day teachers, knock yourselves out!
The site does elicit some valid criticisms, such as the fact that it appears to be organized haphazardly. As the author of an article in today's NY Times notes: "...Google has failed to recognize that it can't publish content under its imprint without already creating content of some kind: smart, reported captions; new and good-looking slide-show software; interstitial material that connects disparate photos; robust thematic and topical organization." Here's the link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/01/technology/01wwlnmediumt.php
Well, I am sure that the rest will come with time. For the moment, it is a thrill for "visual people" like me just to wade into the ocean.