LibGuides: Offsite/Online Research: Finding Online Images

Finding Online Images

The library subscribes to image databases in addition to recommending free image resources. To see the image resources navigate to the A-Z Databases list and select image database from the database types drop down menu

One database in particular worth noting is Artstor. There are over 1 million images in Artstor and images have copyright that allows them to be used in papers and presentations. For help finding images in Artstor visit their comprehensive support page.

A-Z Database List
Select "images" from the database type dropdown menu to see subscription and open access image databases

Image Resources

Arca: ECUAD's Institutional Repository This link opens in a new window
- Find scholarly research materials and other digital assets from our archives and the Wosk Master Print Collection.
Artstor This link opens in a new window
- High quality Images covering art, design, anthropology and archaeology from all time periods and cultures.
- Use for classroom instruction and handouts, presentations, student assignments, and other noncommercial educational and scholarly activities.
- This link will take you to both licensed and public collections
- Browse by geographic region or classification terms
- You must create a user account after authentication in order to download images.
- Learn more about Artstor
Grove Art Online This link opens in a new window
- Includes all aspects of world art from prehistory to the present
- Contains entries on artists, architects, craftsmen, patrons, movements, locations, and periods, as well as bibliographies for further research and thousands of searchable images
- Also provides access to the Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
- Includes 21,000 biographies, 130,000 fine art images and links to hundreds of museum and gallery web sites around the world.
askART This link opens in a new window
- AskART is an online database containing over 120,000 artists from early 16th-century through the present. Access information about artists biographies, auction records, financial graphics, magazine ads(pre-1998) and images. Over 6,000 museums and dealers are also referenced
accessCeramics This link opens in a new window
- accessCeramics is a growing collection of images of contemporary ceramics by recognized artists. It is designed for use by artists, arts educators, scholars and the general public, and is intended to fill a void in contemporary ceramics digital image collections on the web.
CCCA Canadian Art Database This link opens in a new window
- The CCCA Canadian Art Database Project is a work in progress. With the overall objective of broadening public awareness of contemporary Canadian Art in Canada and abroad, the CCCA is documenting the careers of some of Canada's leading professional artists, designers, art writers and curators, as well as some important Canadian art institutions and organizations that have helped shape the Canadian art scene since the 1960s.
Historical Images Database This link opens in a new window
- Vancouver Public Library, Special Collections. These images are from the VPL Historical Photographs Collection. The archival collection consists of more than 250,000 black and white negatives and prints covering all aspects of life in British Columbia and Yukon Territory from the 1860s onward. The online Historical Photographs Database provides access to over 30,000 images; this number continues to grow as more images are scanned and added to the website. For those images not yet digitised, access is by using a card index in the Special Collections Department Reading Room known as The Historical Photographs Card Index. Photocopies of some of these images may be viewed in albums in the reading room. However, the majority of the images are available in negative format only and will need to be viewed on the light table. Special Collections staff will assist with this.

Digital Images Collections Guide This link opens in a new window
- A curated bibliography of quality digital image collections spanning 85 subjects, including 950 digital collections. Most are free.
Flickr Commons This link opens in a new window
- The Commons was launched on January 16 2008, when it released its pilot project in partnership with The Library of Congress. You can view all the participating institutions on the site. The program has two main objectives: 1. To increase access to publicly-held photography collections, and 2. To provide a way for the general public to contribute information and knowledge.
MET Collection This link opens in a new window
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art creates, organizes, and disseminates a broad range of digital images and data that document the rich history of the Museum, its collection, exhibitions, events, people, and activities. Images of artworks in the Museum's collection fall into two categories: images of works the Museum believes to be in the public domain, or those to which the Museum waives any copyright it might have; images of works the Museum knows to be under copyright or other restrictions.
MOMA This link opens in a new window
- MoMA’s evolving collection contains almost 200,000 works of modern and contemporary art by over 10,000 artists. 65,000 works are available online.
Public Domain Review Collections This link opens in a new window
- Showcases works which are in the public domain and so are free to re-use for any purpose, even commercially. Inlcudes texts, images, audio and film.
  A curated collection from the public domain of curiosities and wonders.
- The Public Domain Review is an online not-for-profit project dedicated to promoting and celebrating the public domain in all its richness and variety.
Sources for Digital Images This link opens in a new window
- A list of basic information regarding terms and conditions of image use at institutions, with links that lead to the homepage or image resources page of the organization. Descriptions for each entry are provided by the institutions; the tags, such as “Fee for Commercial Use” or “Fee Discount for Academic Publication” are provided by CAA to guide the user in choosing resources appropriate to his or her needs.

Wikimedia Commons
a collection of 37,040,370 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute
Europeana Colletions
The material you find here comes from galleries, libraries, archives and museums from all over Europe that want to share their collections with a wider audience, whether it is for work, learning, or just to enjoy.

Digital Images for teaching and research are available from licensed digital image collections and from freely available digital collections online.

For more information, see the following resources: