The Sheridan Libraries
Source: https://guides.library.jhu.edu/images Parent: https://guides.library.jhu.edu/anthropology
Search
Finding Images
Learn the best methods to identify and utilize images in many fields of study
- Getting Started
- By Subject
- Arts and Humanities
- History
- Medicine and Public Health
- News and Popular Culture
- Science and Engineering
- Social Sciences
- Citing Images
- Saving and Presenting Images
- Copyright
- For Publication
Ask a Librarian
\ Email us: ask@jhu.libanswers.com
Text us: 410-692-8874
Getting Started
- Searching for Images
Unlike searching for text sources where the subject is often relatively easy to describe, putting images into words can be challenging.\ \ Below are general tips for finding copyright-free images.
Search tips:
- Look in specialized image databases first. These have more advanced image searching capacity than Google.
- Look in journal indexes for illustrated articles. Many articles in periodicals have great illustrations.
- Search for illustrated books in our library online catalog.
- If at first you don't succeed, try again:
- Are there other terms that describe your subject?
- Are there more concrete symbols that represent abstract concepts (e.g. ""heart" or "kiss" instead of "love")?
- If you aren't turning up many results, try more general terms.
If you are still having problems, ask a librarian for help!
Start with these Resources
A collection of digital images in the arts, humanities and social sciences. - Visual Resources Collection, Krieger School of Arts & Sciences
Consult this guide to explore local image resources and services available to JHU faculty and students. - Associated Press Collections Online
Associated Press photographs, audio files, graphics and text from 160 years of history. - Image Collection from EBSCOhost
Historic and contemporary images of people, places, and the natural world, with an emphasis on news and events. Within Academic Search Ultimate, to search images, click on "Image Search" in the blue bar at the top of the screen.
Web Resources
A search engine to find images that are freely available. - Flickr Commons
Image collections from libraries, museums, and archives from around the world. - Flickr Creative Commons
Millions of photos created by Flickr users are available under different kinds of Creative Commons licenses. - Google Image Search
Search for images on the web. - morgueFile
A public image archive for creatives, by creatives. - Smithsonian Galaxy of Images
Search the collections of materials digitized by the Smithsonian Libraries. Note: the site prohibits the use of images as content for online courses. - Unsplash: Photos for Everyone
An Internet source for freely-usable images. - World Images
A database of images in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences, from all over the globe.
Creative Commons Materials
Be sure the images you select are free from restrictions! Here are some sources to explore:
- CC Search - a search engine to find freely available images via Creative Common.s
- Flickr Commons - to limit search to Creative Commons, click Advanced Search and check the appropriate box. When you click on an image you like, look for the copyright info under "Additional Information" in the bottom right.
- Wikimedia Commons - a database of freely usable media files.
- Google Usage Rights - to limit search, click Advanced Search and select appropriate level of access under "usage rights".
- MorgueFile - Free stock photos, created by artists for the common good.
- Finding Images Guide - explore the JHU guide on how to locate images; note that most of these are not free of license restriction, be sure to explore each image individual for permission.
| Be sure to cite the source of your restriction-free image! Provide: - Image title - Image creator / username - Service providing access - Creative Commons license number or Public Domain designation - URL for image so we can link back to the original source EXAMPLE: Image by Everyskyline via Flickr / CC by 2.0 | FINAL RESULT: |
- A nearly fool-proof way to avoid copyright complications is to take your own picture!\ \ Just remember not to take pictures of copyrighted materials...\ \ It's the best way to document a local phenomenon, like a place on campus or an employee.
If you're talking about a particular database or licensed research tool, consider using the product logo in your post.
But, be sure to:
- check for any specific restrictions on the vendor website
- make the logo link directly to the product (proxified, of course!)
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