Images

Databases / Search Engines / Internet Resources

The following databases, websites, and course handouts may be helpful in beginning or continuing research to locate images.  For further assistance with finding resources or information, please contact Benjamin Harris, liaison librarian for the interdisciplinary degree in Film, or Diane J. Graves, library director and liaison to Art and Art History.

Databases

ARTstor
ARTstor provides an impressive database of over 500,000 searchable images. Tools within the database enable  viewing (or displaying) slides side-by-side and collecting "folders" of images for classroom use, research, or assignments. These works are copyright cleared for educational and research purposes by Trinity students, faculty, and staff.

Global NewsBank
This database includes full text for newspapers from Texas and from around the world.  On the opening search page, a "Special Reports" section focuses on issues of current or recent interest.  Former special reports pages have been archived.  These reports are accompanied by an image gallery.  To find images, select one of the special reports and "Images" link in the top toolbar.

Grove Art Online
This electronic version of the print reference resource is fairly new to Trinity's collections.  Here, you may find brief biographical material on artists as well as other types of entries. Note that most of these entries include a brief bibliography at the end and many include image galleries as well.

MasterFILE Premier
This database includes a collection of images from a number of resources, including the Motion Picture and Television Archive, Getty Images, United Press International, and other collections. MasterFILE also includes maps and flags of all nations from Mapquest. To search this database for visual texts, click on the "Images" button at the top of the screen.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Including full text for historical editions of the New York Times and the Washington Post, the ProQuest database offers a search function for standalone photos.  Images published without matching text can be found by clicking on the "More Search Options" tab and then limiting the search to "Photo Standalone."  A great number of historical images can be located in this fashion.  Note that comic strips can also be found through this feature.
 

Search Engines

AllTheWeb Pictures Search
While the search process and results are similar, the linking to images is unique at AllTheWeb Pictures Search. Searchers who click on the thumbnail will be directed to a full size version of the image.  Searchers who click on the title below the thumbnail will be directed to the web page where the image is located. The option is a positive feature, but not obvious on first using this resource.  To search for images at AllTheWeb, click on the "Pictures" tab and then search.

AltaVista Image Search
Similar to the popular Google Image Search, AltaVista suggests limiting options early in the search process. For example, if you wish to locate only black and white images, the initial search screen allows you to limit results to this type of image.

Ditto
A partner of PicSearch, Ditto is popular with some users due to its clean interface.  Click on the thumbnail and the webpage where a selected image is located will open in a new window.  There are no top toolbars to contend with and the results pages are clear of much of the usual explanatory text.  Users will want to familiarize themselves with Ditto's ad placement strategies, as the location of ads may change with each results page (it may appear on the bottom of the first page and at the top of the second page).

Flickr
Photo management site allows you to link to other people's images and upload your own personal images. However, members are asked to refrain from saving, cutting and pasting, or using images offered by other community members.

Google Image Search
Searches for images and offers results in thumbnail galleries.  Refers researcher to the page on the web where the image is located.

PicSearch
The PicSearch image search engine organizes results by relevance as opposed to popularity.  When selecting an image from the results gallery, searchers are given information about the image. For example, a results page for an image gives the Image URL so that a searcher can go directly to the image instead of attempting to locate the image on the webpage itself. 

Yahoo! Images Search
The Yahoo! search interface and results screens are similar to Google. However, different indexing methods will lead to different ordering of results (and at times, different results completely). To use the image search function, just click on the image tab at the top of the screen before searching.

Yotophoto
This resource searches for images available from creative commons sites and public domain resources. New in 2007: Search based on color, using a search palette of over 16,000 shades.

Internet Resources

Trinity University's Coates Library: Digital Images Collections
The Coates Library provides two digital image collections.  The Historical Images Archive includes visual texts from the library's Special Collections department.  The Theatre Arts Image Archive includes images of productions from Trinity's Department of Drama.

ArchNet
According to the website, "ArchNet is an international online community for architects, planners, urban designers, landscape architects, conservationists, and scholars, with a focus on Muslim cultures and civilizations."  The digital image gallery focuses on international monuments, architecture, and landscapes.

Art Images for College Teaching (AICT)
This collection of public domain images was collected to specifically aid art and art history instructors.  Much of the collection includes classical or prehistoric works.

Cornell University Library
Cornell's library offers links to online image databases or websites with image galleries organized by topic.

Digital Librarian: Images
This collection of links offers an eclectic assortment of smaller image collections available online.  Note, some of these links are not in working order and restrictions on the use of images from the sites will differ from site to site.

Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web
Sponsored by the Smithsonian, this site allows visitors to search online exhibitions created by librarians, museums, and other similar institutions.

Library of Congress: American Memory Collection
The American Memory Collection acts as an online archive and gallery space on topical subjects.  Searchers may locate images by conducting keyword searches or browsing collections organized by topic.

Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Reading Room
The Print and Photographs Catalog from the Library of Congress includes an index of prints and photographs held in the Library of Congress.  Many of these are provided online for researchers and students.  Images that are not available online may be ordered from the LOC.

NASA Image Exchange
All of the images at the NASA Image Exchange are available for use (except for NASA logos).  The search interface will allow searchers to retrieve only 100 results per search, so the use of specific terms or a selection of keywords is advisable.

National Archives: Catalog
This link will direct you to the Archival Research Catalog page at the U.S. National Archives website. Here you can find information about the archives, as well as tips for searching the collections.  "ARC" is the name of the National Archives catalog.  Click on the yellow "Search" button on the left hand side of the screen.  You can then use keywords to search the archives. For images only, select the "Photographs and Other Graphic Materials" option under "Type of Archival Materials." 

NYPL Digital Image Collection
Offered by the New York Public Library, this collection of close to 500,000 digital images.  Searchers can download and use low-resolution images available online.  High-resolution images are available for licensing for personal use and for professional reproduction.

Online Archive of California (OAC)
Site provides access to tens of thousands of historic images archived by museums, libraries, archives, and other online resources in California.  Searchers may browse by topic or search for specific images.

PD Photo
Site offers searching for "thousands" of public domain images.  Most of the photos are of natural settings or are seasonal in scope.

Smithsonian Images
Browse and collect selected images from the Office of Images and Photographing Services of the Smithsonian.

Stock.xchng
Searchable website includes free stock images of many types and styles.  Some of these require permission for use or publication, and others are available without restriction. The above search engine, YotoPhoto, includes Stock.xchng search results.

Wikipedia
Online encyclopedia "that anyone can edit" (so use caution) offers image galleries as well as encyclopedia entries.

World Art Kiosk: California State University
This database includes over 50,000 images of people and locations from around the world.  Visitors to the site can search for images by keyword or view images organized into topical portfolios.