About thinglink.org
Thinglink.org is an initiative to build a free product code and an open database system for creative work. Small producers, such as artists, designers, and crafters can use thinglink.org to identify, document and promote their work in the Internet. Thinglink.org offers an easy way to learn about makers, ideas, stories or histories behind products.
Thinglink is an Open Source project that is sponsored and developed by 101tec corporation. Major skills of 101tec are in the area of Web 2.0, large-scale search and database applications.
To get started, get your own free thinglink account by clicking register. Select a username and a password, and you are done. If you don't want to create an account, you can still find about things by searching makers, titles, or tags.
How to use thinglinks?
Thinglinks are codes that you can use for giving an object a unique identity. For example, let's say you have made a painting that you want to add into the thinglink database.
Select Create, and you will get a new form with a unique thinglink. If you want to register this thinglink for your painting, fill in the fields 'title' and 'maker'. In the description box, you have basically an unlimited space to tell about your work. You can refer to its history, tell about the materials and techniques you have used, or add links. If you have a Flickr account, you can easily add a Flickr photo to your thinglink description. If not, get a free account from www.flickr.com, or just add a link to your homepage.
The thinglinks that you register are saved into your personal portfolio called "your things". The portfolio can contain things that you have made or things that you own. Only you can edit the basic information about a thing or delete a thing if it no longer exists, or if you don't want to keep it anymore in your portfolio.
However, you can give a thinglink to another registered user. For example, in the case your work has changed the owner, by clicking 'give' on the list of your things, you transfer a thinglink from your portfolio to the portfolio of the new owner. This way, the new owner gets the access to edit the thing-description. The transaction is complete when the receiver has accepted your gift.
The information that you give about a thing is public. To make it easy for other people to find your work, you can add tags (keywords) to your things. For example, tags for a Japanese style manga painting made in Osaka would include: manga, Japan, Osaka, art, comics, etc.
You can also learn about other people's work by searching tags, makers or titles. Just click search and find out about what other have made!
Thinglink.org publishes personalized thing-labels that you can use to label physical or virtual products with a unique product code. Click label and, you find a page to save or download label designs for free. If you want, you can design your own label and share it with others. To do that, send a pdf-file of your label design to info (at) thinglink.org.
Thinglink is currently a project of Aula, which is a community of people working in different fields of life including science, art, business, government and NGOs.(www.aula.cc). Read more about thinglinks on www.ullamaaria.typepad.com/thinglink.