Typical questions

• • Is there a good place to search for royalty free images?

• • I need a photograph of the British prime minister I can reuse.

Starting points

• • It is very easy to find images on the internet. However, students should always check their origin and copyright status. Many libraries have access to large databases where materials suitable for teaching can be found. These should be the first starting point.

• • This chapter highlights well-known academic resources. Other good places to search include national archives and museums as these often have out-of- copyright materials that can be safely reused. The Art chapter lists good sources for locating images of art works.

• • There is a separate chapter on Films, Documentaries and TV Programmes. Advice on Creative Commons is provided in the Copyright chapter.

Recommended resources

Creative Commons Search

search.creativecommons.org

Find content from websites that are licensed by Creative Commons for reuse. This includes images from major services such as Google and Flickr. Students should always be advised to recheck individual items before reuse.

Google Images [Basic]

images.google.com

Standard search engines such as Google include the ability to find images. It even has the Life Magazine photo archive. Users should look for the advanced search form to limit searches by size resolution and usage rights. However, note they can only search the web content they can find. Many images contained within databases cannot be found via this route.

Flickr [Basic]

www.flickr.com/creativecommons

A public photo-sharing site with millions of images – some of variable quality! Look for the Creative Commons section to search for reusable items. Even when using this, remember to check individual licenses.

Europeana

www.europeana.eu

Gateway to more than 15 million items from archives, library and museum collections in Europe. Includes extensive image collections.

NYPL Digital Collections

digitalcollections.nypl.org

A good example of one of the many large national and research libraries who provide free access to digitised photographs and prints online via their website. Many also offer themed online exhibitions.

MediaPlus (Subscription) [Basic]

www.jisc.ac.uk/mediaplus

More than 100,000 still and moving images licensed for the UK FE and HE community by Jisc. Includes content from Getty Images.