Most image sources will include information about the copyright status. Many sources will allow you to reproduce images for teaching or other non-commercial uses, though for publication you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. Always remember to attribute the source of the image when incorporating it into your own presentations.
Some image search engines or websites allow you to limit your search to images licensed with Creative Commons licenses that may allow re-use. Often this is on the 'Advanced Search' screen. See the specific license to see if you can modify the image (make derivative works), use it for commercial purposes, or need to make attribution to the creator. When you use a Creative Commons image, you will need to link to the terms of the license on the CC website.
Major search engines link Google and Bing have image searches as well. Other major sources of images include Flickr and Wikipedia. Use these sites to effectively search these sites, and limit to images that are free to reuse.
Do you have an image already and want to find similar images? Or do you want to see where an image has been shared or used on the Internet? These sites will allow you to upload or link to an image and see similar images.
It can be difficult to find a specific image in a book, or even to find books that will have images or illustrations. Most library catalogs will note in the Description (found beneath the location information in our catalog) whether the book has illustrations, sometimes noting if they are chiefly black and white or color. However, these descriptions cannot be searches with a keyword search.
If a book is chiefly illustrations or photographs, or about the illustrations or photographs themselves, the terms 'Illustrations' or 'Photographs' may be searched as part of the Subject or Keyword. Exhibit catalogs will have the subject heading 'Exhibitions'.
Finally, you may want to browse our books in particular areas. If you are looking for images from a particular artist, look up books about that artist and browse nearby (books by and about an artist are generally found together). Important call numbers for browsing include:
| Call Number Range | Topic |
| N | Visual Arts |
| NA | Architecture |
| NC | Drawing & Illustration |
| ND | Painting |
| NE | Print Media |
| NK | Decorative Arts |
| TR | Photography |
The United States government publishes many images from its different agencies. Many (thought not all) of these photographs are in the public domain. Photos recently shared on the government's Flickr pool will display here as well: