Worst Journey in the World

McMurdo, Ross Island, Antarctica (Mount Erebus in the distance)
Flickr Creative Commons, © August Allen

This evening I shall join a virtual journey to Ross Island at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, following in the footsteps of Edward Wilson and Robert Falcon Scott on the Terra Nova expedition of 1910-1913.

This is just one of numerous events taking place across the world to celebrate the centenary of the British Antarctic (Terra Nova) expedition - see the calendar of events at http://www.scott100.org/

To view some spectacular photographs of the Antarctic, historic and modern, look no further than SPRI's picture library.  This includes their Freeze Frame project, which includes photographs from the original Terra Nova expedition, which can be viewed as a slideshow, and an 'image of the day'. Alternatively, you can search SPRI's picture library by expedition - and view pages of images from the Terra Nova expedition.

More thoughts on SlideShare and Flickr

I would recommend new users of SlideShare read the article posted by JISC Digital Media, Using SlideShare to share presentations.  It contains a useful  summary of the legal terms and conditions you agree to if you create a SlideShare account, and provides practical advice on best practice, using tags to enhance publicity and on privacy/setting permissions.  It also contains a useful link to Finding and using still images for use in presentations.  From this I located the following historic image, taken in Wellington, New Zealand in 1933, and made available on Flickr, with no known copyright restrictions, by the National Library of New Zealand 'on the Commons'.  It captures the scene at Pipitea wharf, where supplies were being loaded for the second Byrd Antarctic Expedition.

Pipitea wharf, Wellington, 1933
(National Library of New Zealand on the Commons)