Student Digital Exhibit Resources: Finding and Citing Images

Tools for finding openly licensed, free to use media in digital exhibits

When creating a digital exhibit, it’s important to use images, videos, and other media legally and to provide proper attribution. Even when using openly licensed or public domain resources, citing your sources helps maintain ethical research practices and academic integrity.

Using Openly Licensed and Public Domain Images

• Public Domain: Free to use with no restrictions
• Creative Commons (CC): Free to use under specific conditions

How to Check if an Image is Free to Use:

• Look for license details on the website where you found the image

This is an example photo taken from the Smithsonian Open Access website. Circled is where you would find the licensing details of the image.

• Citation: "African Lion" by Mehgan Murphy, Smithsonian's National Zoo is licensed under CC0.
  • While you are not legally required to cite things in the public domain, it is generally considered good practice and maintains academic integrity.

How to Cite Images and Media in Your Exhibit

Use the TASL method for citing Creative Commons images:

• T: Title of the image (if available)
• A: Author/creator's name
• S: Source (where the image was found, with a link)
• L: License type (CC BY 4.0, etc. with the link to the citation deed)

Example Citation: "EGYPT" by PHOTOPHANATIC1 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.