While it’s easy to find images online, those you find through the library are often higher quality, more complete, and easier to cite or reuse. Exhibition catalogs, artist monographs, and digital collections often include works not available elsewhere.
Searching for images is different from searching for books or articles. Most library tools are built around words—but images don’t always have much text or description attached.
Instead, images are usually described with basic details (called metadata) like:
Title
Creator
Format
Date
A few keywords
Because of that, it helps to search a little differently. Here are some tips to improve your results:
Most image databases let you narrow your results by subject, creator, time period, media type, or license. Using filters early in your search helps you find more relevant results quickly.
Be flexible with your search terms. Think of synonyms, broader or narrower terms, or alternate spellings.
For example:
Use "portrait" instead of "selfie"
Try "cityscape" instead of "urban scene"
Are you using it for a class project? A presentation? Publication?
Make sure you check the usage rights. Some image databases are open access, while others have restrictions on how images can be reused.
The following are a selection of image collections, libraries, and archives that are generally intended to be used for study, though some may be in the public domain or licensed for reuse. For images explicitly licensed for reuse and modification, check the next tab.
Note that many image databases linked elsewhere might include open access and/or public domain images and often are able to be filtered accordingly. The following are resources that primarily feature images licensed for reuse and/or that are in the public domain.