GIF IT UP 2014

Over the course of Fall 2014, DPLA and DigitalNZ held GIF IT UP, an international competition to find the best GIFs reusing public domain and openly licensed digital video, images, text, and other material available via our search portals. The winners of of the competition were announced in December 2014. The GIFs generated as part of the competition have been made available under either a CC-BY 3.0 or a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 International License. Please note this page contains multiple flashing images, which loop continuously, and a continuous scroll.

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Calling all GIF-makers, creatives, history nuts, and animators! GIF IT UP, a challenge coordinated by DigitalNZ and the Digital Public Library of America to find the best GIFs created from copyright-free heritage material, launches today and will run until November 21.

Following the inaugural GIF IT UP in 2014, the competition returns in 2015, seeking innovative and endlessly looping uses of archival videos and images. This year, the challenge expands internationally with support from Europeana and Trove and features an esteemed line-up of judges, plus some nifty prizes.

How it works

To enter GIF IT UP, you need to make a GIF with material which you have found via either DigitalNZ, DPLA, Trove, or Europeana, or a combination GIF with material from several of these sources. Your source material must be clearly marked as:

in the public domain;

have a ‘no known copyright restrictions’ statement;

or have a Creative Commons license which allows for reuse.

You can enter up to three GIFs, using still images or video, and you have from October 12 to November 21 to submit your entry (submission form to be published on October 12).

All entries will be judged on creativity, originality, and thoroughness of entry (correct link to source material and contextual information). All eligible entries that meet the criteria outlined on the submission page will be showcased on the GIF IT UP 2015 Tumblr and generally adored by the Internet.

Judges

GIF IT UP 2015 will be judged by an international panel of judges: Sarah Schaaf from Imgur, Rebecca Onion from Slate Vault, and Alessandro Scali and Marco Calabrese from Okkult Motion Pictures, who will be awarding one supreme GIF IT UP winner, as well as three runners up. The GIF with the most Tumblr ‘notes’ will also receive a people’s choice award.

There will also be a special sub-section of prizes for New Zealand school students, judged by GIF artist and comic Toby Morris.

Prizes

The supreme winner will receive a Giphoscope of their winning entry, and the first three runners up and the people’s choice award winner will each receive $25 Amazon gift certificates, sponsored by DPLA.

The New Zealand school student prizes are sponsored by Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand. There will be 5 x $50 Mighty Ape vouchers for Years 1–8 and 5 x $50 Mighty Ape vouchers for Years 9–13 up for grabs.

Resources and reusable collections

Interested in making a GIF but aren’t sure where to look or how to get started? Fear not! The team behind GIF IT UP has pulled together a handy assortment of guides, tutorials, and links to reusable collections for all of your GIFification needs.

Check out the submission guidelines and submit a GIF

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Hey, followers of GIF IT UP 2014! Make sure that you follow the Tumblr for GIF IT UP 2015 to keep up with this year’s competition:

http://gifitup2015.tumblr.com/

To find out more about this year’s competition, head to http://dp.la/info/gif-it-up/gif-it-up-2015/

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GIF IT UP entry from Jason Varone in Brooklyn, New York. Source material courtesy the US Government Printing Office (GPO). Jason writes:

This digital file is an index of Brooklyn, NY from 1898 to 2014, as represented by the United States Geological Survey. When downloading the item (http://dp.la/item/a902ae1b3b83ea7aa4a408a1b413af17) I was redirected to the Geological Survey's website where I searched all maps of the same location dating back to 1898 (the year Brooklyn officially became a borough within New York City.)

This GIF it made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Jimmy Ghaphery in the United States. Source material courtesy Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries. Jimmy writes:

Felden Elementary School, Prince Edward County, Va., center front classroom, 1962-1963: From The Edward H. Peeples Prince Edward County (Va.) Public Schools Collection which documents the school closings and the poor conditions of the segregated African American schools. A ghostly teacher erasing the work READ in an abandoned classroom.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 International License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Jimmy Ghaphery in the United States. Source material courtesy Boston Public Library. Jimmy writes:

How to use a color chart: the title begs for this type of remix, and goes to the heart of the matter for creativity, thank goodness the color red is not copyrighted. Limitless possibilities with this image alone.

This GIF it made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP submission from Sean Lee in Beijing, China. Source material courtesy of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from James Williamson  in Huntsville, Texas. Source material courtesy Tarrant County College NE, Heritage Room via the Portal to Texas History. James writes:

Hats off to DPLA and DigitalNZ for creating the GIF It Up Challenge! This is my final GIF and it has been a blast participating.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP submission from Jenna Gavin in Auckland, New Zealand. Source material courtesy of the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai.

Jenna writes:

New Zealand whio (blue duck) pulls ten dollar notes (featuring the whio) outta feathers.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Eve Moodie in Invercargill, New Zealand. Source material courtesy Archives New Zealand. Eve writes:

This is a section from a PSA called "Keep off the footpath". This animatronic owl is both creepy and completely irrelevant to road safety, therefore, it is perfect.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Richard Naples in Washington, DC. Source material courtesy Mountain West Digital Library. Richard writes:

I was actually searching for a snowy winter scene I could animate when I came across this portrait of Virginia Snow. (Ahem, make sure you have specific and well thought out search terms!) Apparently, the photographer George Edward Anderson was quite prolific in photographing the people and environs of Utah, with his work here part of a collection at Brigham Young University Library brought to DPLA through the Mountain West Digital Library. I always wonder what's beneath the surface of these Victorian era photographs, so I just let my imagination dictate the course I took in making this gif. Of course, my imagination might be a little too literal in thinking "what's beneath the surface".

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Richard Naples in Washington, DC. Source material courtesy Smithsonian Libraries via the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Richard writes: In the year preceding the turn of the 17th century, Maria Sybilla Merian traveled with her daughter to the Dutch colony of Surinam in South America to carefully document the metamorphosis of the butterfly. Born in 1647, Merian was a budding entomologist even at the tender age of 13, spending her time collecting caterpillars and carefully observing their transformations into butterflies or moths. At a time when insects were poorly understood and often interpreted as evil or otherwise ominous, Merian blazed a path in entomology. In her career spanning decades, she left a lasting impact on the fields of entomology, naturalism, and scientific illustration, made even more remarkable considering she did so at a time when women were rarely educated let alone published. Her magnum opus, 'Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium' was first published in 1705, a few years after she was forced to return to Amsterdam from Surinam after contracting malaria. This GIF pulls from the 1730 edition. In considering what to submit for this contest, I knew right away that something from Maria Sybilla Merian’s 'Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium' would be high on my list. Bringing to life these vignettes was a small effort in comparison to the amazing legacy of work left by this amazing woman.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Mark Beatty in Wellington, New Zealand. Source material courtesy the Alexander Turnbull Library. Mark writes:

Moses, an Egyptian donkey, was the mascot of the New Zealand Army Service Company in France. These images were taken at Louvencourt on 20 April 1918. Dogs were generally speaking the preferred mascots and were often trained as rescue dogs . On occasion other animals were chosen including cats, monkeys, lizards, pigs, goats and birds. Pets were viewed as being a good way to help boost morale. Read more about Mascots from New Zealand forces here.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Elyse Schear in Sussex, New Jersey, USA. Source material courtesy North Carolina Digital Research Centre (1, 2, 3). Elyse writes:

Fairytales, fables, myths and legends...I love them all, especially those that deal with shapeshifting creatures.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Nono Burling in Olympia, WA. Source material courtesy New York Public Library (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Nono writes:

I made this for my son's girlfriend who loves fish. :-)

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP submission from Rochelle Lockridge in St. Paul, Minnesota. Source material courtesy of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Rochelle writes:

Looking around the many public domain sites for the right image to make a good GIF led me on an unexpectedly pleasant journey of discovery and learning. Although WAY too many hours were spent trying to find something representing my hometown of Eureka, CA. (I think that may've been the point of the challenge. :-) ) I saw all sorts of things, but nothing quite right for GIFing. I finally returned to an image I had been working with initially of a plain B&W flower. With the addition of two more creative commons licensed images, “Rainbow” by Evan Leeson (https://flic.kr/p/eovqWK) and a turquoise caterpillar by Alan Levine (http://cogdogblog.com/2013/08/25/keep-moving-along/) I created my 3rd GIF entry worthy of the GIF IT UP Challenge.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Nathan Hyatt in Bexley, Ohio. Source material courtesy Digital Commonwealth.

To view the Boston Sports Temples exhibition on DPLA, click here.

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 International License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Sara Ring in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Source materials courtesy the National Archives and Records Administration (1, 2, 3).

Sara writes:

Paul Bunyan Visits Yellowstone National Park - Part 3 of 3 Next stop: Montana and America’s first national park: Yellowstone National Park! Paul is right at home with the giant herds of elk, bison, and grizzly bears. According to Paul, Yellowstone also features one of America’s first water parks: the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River! Even Babe makes an appearance. Be sure to check out Paul’s other travels (and gifs).

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.

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GIF IT UP entry from Sara Ring in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Source materials courtesy the National Archives and Records Administration (1, 2).

Sara writes:

Paul Bunyan Visits Mount Rushmore - Part 2 of 3 Mount Rushmore is located near Keystone, South Dakota and features 60 foot portraits of 5 iconic Americans: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Minnesota's own Paul Bunyan. Be sure to check out Paul’s other travels (and gifs).

This GIF is made available under a CC-BY 3.0 License.