Skip to Main Content

Images for Designers and Art Researchers

What's In this Guide?

Finding and Evaluating Images

  • First, try to assess what types of images are appropriate for your project.  
  • Use images from reputable sources such as image databases, digital collections, books, periodicals, archives, and some websites, to increase your chances of finding accurate and complete identifying information.  
  • When searching, experiment with various keywords and different ways to expand or filter searches.  Try browsing content using the categories provided.
  • Whenever possible, try to track down the "original" source of an image.  

Captioning and Citing Images

  • Citing images is not an exact science: usually, there isn't one "correct" way to cite an image. 
  • At a minimum, a caption next to the image should identify or describe the image and include its source.
  • A citation in a note or a bibliography should contain enough information as needed to find the image.  
  • Student research papers are expected to have both captions and citations.  Other projects may require only a caption or a citation.  

Using Images 

  • Sharing images with Canvas, Google Drive, or student e-portfolios, with viewing limited to the campus community, is generally permitted under fair use guidelines.
  • Images that are published publicly are subject to greater scrutiny.  Terms of Use must be followed when using and crediting these images.  
  • When posting online, use tools to embed images, or link images back to their original sources.