How to Find Images

Define Your Need
Image Sources
Print/Digital Media
Online
Legal and Ethical Uses

Define Your Need

The type of image you need will influence your selection of the best source. Consider your needs in terms of the following:

Intended Use
If the image is for study purposes only, then many images can be legally used without permission, but will still need attribution.
If the image is for publication, including use in a thesis, then you will need permission to use the image unless there is a clear statement of free, attributed use conditions.
Broad Area or Theme
Many image repositories are subject-specific e.g. art, medical, advertising-orientated. Using repositories and other sources specific to your needs may provide more efficient retrieval and better-quality images than generic sources.
Time Period
If you require historical or 'heritage' images, consider sources such as museum or heritage sites.If you need very contemporary images, the Google search filters 'Custom date range' and 'sites with images' may be useful.
Quality
If you need high resolution and/or culturally authentic images, use reputable repositories such as cultural institutions or academic image databanks such as ARTStor.

Image Sources

Print/Digital Media

Massey Library books - in particular those located at Massey's Wellington Library - are a rich source of images which may be scanned or photocopied (with attribution) for study purposes. Some books come with CD-ROMs or DVDs that include graphic images. These images can be copied for non-commercial use.

How to find Massey Library books with images:

Search the Library Catalogue for broad topic search terms (e.g. textile*). Add format terms such as illustrated, pictorial, pictogram* or photograph* to your topic search terms.
Or search the Library Catalogue for the type of publication that fits your needs (e.g. “visual dictionary”, maps).

How to find images created by New Zealand artists:

Images published in journals can be traced through the Index to New Zealand Art (INZART), one of the component indexes of New Zealand Index. Untick all resources except INZART, then search for the artist's name.

Online

General Images

Wikimedia Commons
A database of over 11 million freely-usable (although still subject to some conditions) domain media files contributed by individuals and institutions.

Flickr: Creative Commons
A photo management and sharing site; the 'Creative Commons' images are offered under creative commons licences.

Stock.xchng
Over 250,000 stock photos provided free of charge by amateur and professional photographers.

Google Images: Advanced Search
Very wide scope, but quality and origins are often suspect. To find images that can be legally used, from the Advanced Search select 'Only images labelled for reuse'.

Art, Photography and Architecture Images

ARTstor
A digital library of over 1 million quality images of art works and cultural objects. Has a strong historical focus, but includes selected contemporary architecture and art.

Visual Collections
Art, history and cultural images from universities and cultural institutions.

VADS: the online resource for visual arts
A large collection of art, crafts, design images free for educational use.

Advertising, Fashion, Textiles Images

Berg Fashion Library
Tick the 'Images only' button to limit to historical and contemporary fashion images.

Vogue Archive (US Edition)
Use the search options features to search for garments, accessories, ads etc. from the 1890s onward.

V&A Museum Collections
Art, craft, textile and fashion historical images available for educational use.

FirstView
A large fashion photo archive.

History and Heritage Images

Matapihi
Over 400 000 images from New Zealand libraries and museums, including Te Papa.

DigitalNZ
Heritage and contemporary images from NZ institutions and communities. Open Filters to search.

NYPL Digital Gallery
Over 700 000 freely-usable images from the New York Public Library's collection.

ARTstor
A digital library of over 1 million quality images of artworks and cultural objects. Strong historical focus.

Science, Technology, Health Images

Yale Image Finder
Open access health/medical images from Pubmed Central.

Science.gov Image Search
A wide range of U.S. public domain science and technology images.

Multimedia

Vimeo
A film/video sharing site.

ArtBabble
A portal for video art content from the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Wikimedia Commons
Includes public domain audio and video clips.

Legal and Ethical Use of Images

Use

Copyright exists for all images (photographs, paintings, cartoons, diagrams) including those made available on the Web.
Copyright laws (both New Zealand and overseas equivalents) grant certain limited rights to use (“fair use” or “fair dealing” rights) that relate to the nature of use, the material, the amount used and commercial impact.
If you want to use the whole image, not an extract, this may contravene legal use.

In general, you may download and/or make one copy of an image for research or private study (such as a course assignment or presentation), but there are grey areas with regard to other educational use.

The duration of copyright is also complex, varying with the country and type of work; it can stretch to the life of the creator plus 70 years.

Safe Options

Use images which are copyright-free, or those that offer limited-use conditions, such as non-commercial use with attribution - as with many forms of Creative Commons licenses. Always look for a statement on conditions of use in the image description or its website before downloading it.

For further information on copyright, see Massey University's Copyright website, the Intellectual Property Office's website, or the DigitalNZ's Copyright Terms and the Public Domain in New Zealand (PDF).

Attribution

Don't copy an image you intend to submit in a document or presentation without knowing its context or the details necessary to attribute it by citation or captioning. This applies whether it is scanned from hard copy (e.g. a book) or downloaded from the Web or an online repository.

At minimum you should state the: