UVM Libraries: Find, Use, & Cite Images: Finding Images on the Web

Major Image Portals

Each of these sources for images offers you options for locating images that are available for use in academic work. Consult the rights information for individual images to be certain that they may be used. Most, of these resources are recommended because they provide ways for you to limit your searches to images that you may reuse but some collections include copyrighted materials.

ARTstor
This resource provides images of artwork and cultural artifacts of a wide variety of types, including paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints, furniture, textiles, documentary photographs, and crafts. The collection can be searched by creator, time period, type of work or by region of origin.
Images in this collection are mostly in copyright; although, there is a subset for which authors may request rights for academic publications.
Associated Press (AP) photo archive
This resource is a database of photographs, graphs and audio from the Associated Press covering worldwide news events. It includes photographs dating back to the nineteenth century, as well as audio files from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Images in this collection are copyrighted.

British Library Images Online
Large collection that includes photographs, as well as digital images of posters, and other artifacts. Search by keyword.
Copyright varies on images within this collection. Images that are in the public domain may be downloaded.
Flickr (Advanced Search)
Flickr is a large photo sharing site that is very easy to search because of its extensive use of descriptive "tags" for most images.
Limit to Creative Commons materials.
Flickr Commons
Flickr Commons is a project of Flickr to provide cultural institutions such as museums and libraries with a space to share unique visual content. Most of the material is historical in nature and is free from copyright restrictions and may be used for educational and other purposes.
Google Images
Google permits you to search for millions of images from around the world. After you run a basic Google Image search limit your results by selecting search tools and then under usage rights select Labeled for noncommercial reuse.
Library of Congress - Prints and Photographs
The Library of Congress has digitized numerous collections of historical materials from their collections and from other institutions on a wide variety of topics.
Rights & Usage: Each image has a statement on Rights and Reproductions.
UVM Libraries Center for Digital Initiatives
The Center for Digital Initiatives is a gateway to digital resources at the University of Vermont. These include materials such as photographs, letters, speeches, and documents, with a current emphasis on public policy and Vermont history.
Wikimedia Commons
Repository of images and other materials that are either licensed by Creative Commons licenses or are in the public domain.

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Major Image Portals