Skip to Main Content

Finding Images

This guide aims to support staff and students in sourcing and using high quality still and moving images for teaching, learning and research.

Referencing your images

Like any book or journal article, images created by someone else must be cited with a 'sufficient acknowledgment'. This means every time you use an image in an essay  you must provide a citation where the image appears and then an entry in your reference list or bibliography. You must also provide a citation to any images you use in presentations, blogs or websites.

It is vital that you keep an accurate record of everything you consult when doing your work and cite what you have used clearly so that:

  • You can find the original source  again yourself
  • Someone reading your work will be able to  find the original source
  •  You can avoid plagiarism by making clear what is your work and what is in the source

You can maintain a record of the references you using either a bibliographic software package such as EndNote or by recording the details manually on reference cards.

 For more information on quoting and managing references see the Referencing guide.

Sufficient Acknowledgment

To comply with copyright law, even within educational exceptions, you must always include a sufficient acknowledgment when using still and moving images. Think of this like referencing a text - if you did not include the reference you would be plagiarising another person's work.

 

A sufficient acknowledgement should include the following:

  • Artist/ maker/ author
  • Title of the work and date made
  • Source of the reproduction/film

For example: Julia Margaret Cameron, The Mountain Nymph Sweet Liberty, 1866, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Image databases, like Bridgeman and Artstor, often include an acknowledgement for you to use which can be directly copied and pasted into your work. 

When using an image from Flickr or Creative Commons, the name of the person who has uploaded the image can also be used. This is usually included in the details section of the image. 

Accessibility statement