Finding Pictures for Your Library’s Website

I’m presenting at the SWKLS Tech Day today on Google Apps with Liz and also giving a quick presentation on locating free-to-use (and not breaking copyright!) pictures for your library’s website and other places. Here’s my presentation in outline form, along with all the links and resources I’ll be mentioning. I’m hoping to do a webinar or lab session at NEKLS in the common months on this topic, but until then, I hope you find these tips useful!

Guidelines/Rules/Best Practices

When it comes to using images on library websites, I see four rules that must be followed. I am not a copyright expert by any means but generally speaking, here’s the best practices:

1. Must have permission to use the photo on your website if the photo is copyrighted (especially all rights reserved, licensed, or unknown status).
2. If there’s a licensing fee, you must pay it to use the photo.

OR

1. The photo must be in the public domain
2. The photo must be licensed for reuse under Creative Commons licensing.

In all situations, you MUST correctly attribute photograph and identify original artist and permission/license to use the photo.

Scenarios

1. Downloading and saving image and using an image on your website. Is this legal?
2. Using an image from Google Image Search, then adding it to your website. Is this legal?
3. Using an image that is copyrighted. You indicate you’re using it with permission, and cite the original artist.
4. Using an image that is in the public domain or under Creative Commons license, and cite the original artist and the license.

Answers: 1-No; 2-No; 3-Yes; 4-Yes

It’s all so complicated! How can you actually be legal, remain within copyright law, be respectful to the artists/photographers, yet still find good images without spending much time or money gathering the images?

Impossible, right?

No! Public Domain and Creative Commons images are the easiest licensed images to find and use to follow the guidelines.

Public Domain Images

A list of Public Domain images is maintained through Wikipedia.

Creative Commons

(see the Creative Commons website for more information about this licensing; Flickr also has a great explanation of Creative Commons)

Where to get CC licensed photos?

1. Flickr CC Image Search
2. Compfight
3. Google Image Advanced Search
4. Flickr Advanced Search
5. Wikimedia Commons
6. Search Creative Commons
7. Playing with Images, list of more image sources
8. More Image Resources

Steps to add to your website

Once you have the photo:

1. Download it to your computer. Make a note of the website address, the title of the photo (if available) and the photographer (if available)
   • Why is downloading it to your computer important?
2. Check the license so you know how you can use the photo
   • The Vocabulary for Creative Commons:
     • Attribution means: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if they give you credit.
     • Noncommercial means: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work – and derivative works based upon it – but for noncommercial purposes only.
     • No Derivative Works means: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
     • Share Alike means: You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.
   • The Licenses for Creative Commons:
     • Attribution License
     • Attribution-NoDerivs License
     • Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
     • Attribution-NonCommercial License
     • Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License
     • Attribution-ShareAlike License
   • (information from Flickr’s page on Creative Commons)
3. Edit the photo, if necessary; check the license to see if this is allowed (for editing, use www.picnik.com or desktop image editing software)
4. Add the image to your website.
5. On the page where the image is being added, make sure you cite it close by in the caption or at the end of the page; use your best judgment.
   • Different ways to cite. Seen it done several ways.
   • One option to use, if getting from Flickr: ImageCodr
   • A discussion on Citing Images by Bobbi Newman, Librarian by Day
6. Way we cite at NEKLS.
   • Ex. Photo Credit: “Windmills in Kansas” by Flickr user mastahanky under a Creative Commons license
7. You’re done!

Photo Credit: “Windmills in Kansas” by Flickr user mastahanky under a Creative Commons license