Finding Images

Hello! Welcome to duPont-Ball Library's guide to finding images. There are many places you can go to access photos and visual resources, but this guide is divided by subject to help you find content-specific images to support your research. 

Things to Note: 

• Always give proper attribution for any image you include in your scholarly work.
• If an image is available in the public domain, be aware that most repositories and museums require attribution if an image is taken from their website.
• As a good practice, always check with your professor for citation style appropriate to the course and to the assignment.
• If you need research assistance, consider scheduling a one-on-one consultation with a librarian. 

Featured Image of James Dean and Tuck, Courtesy of Vintage Pics.

@60spics. "James Dean with his dog Tuck, 1955." Twitter, 28 Feb. 2021, 2:05pm.

Modern Language Association (MLA) is a citation style used within humanities disciplines. 

Items viewed firsthand (painting, sculpture, or photograph), include the following information in your citation: 

• Artist's name (last, first)
• Title of the artwork in italics
• Date of creation
• Name of the institution that houses the artwork, followed by the location of the institution

Example

Fig. 1. Boucher, François. Madame de Pompadour. 1756. Alte Pinakothek Art Museum, Munich, Germany. 

Items viewed online, include the following in your citation:

• Artist's name (last, first)
• Title of the artwork in italics (photograph- use quotations instead of italics)
• Date of creation (if available)
• Image format
• Name of the institution that houses the artwork, followed by the location of the institution
• URL link to the web page
• Date retrieved (not required, but suggested when no date of publication is available)

Example

Fig. 2. Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Canterbury Tales." Late 14th century. Photograph. British Library, London, England. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-canterbury-tales-by-geoffrey-chaucer. 11 May 2022.

Given the creative freedom that design tools such as Photoshop provide, it is very common to see altered or manipulated photos. The ability to differentiate real images from altered images can be very difficult. It is always best to cross check the information that the image is related to.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Can you find an article from a different site about the same topic?

2. Are there multiple images of the topic, or are you seeing the same image repeated?

Take a look at this photo of Venice and Lake Baikal, Russia. Do you see the hoax?