Anyone who has attempted to create a website or a Powerpoint presentation has probably been overcome by the temptation to add images to it in order to make these look more eye-catching and appealing. For information professionals this has increasingly brought to mind the issue of copyright infringement. How can we ensure that we ourselves, and for academic and school librarians encourage our clients, to avoid violating copyright when we copy images? Especially since copyright law can seem somewhat unclear.
One way is to use image databases that contain images that are free to copy. When I was working at Queen’s University I directed my practicum students who I was supervising to use Flickr and choose the option to only show public domain photos, or alternatively to ask for permission in writing from the posters for using their photos. What I was unaware until recently was the wide variety of options for free photos on the web. I will not copy all of them here but About.com offers a list of 30 useful sites where free images can be obtained for your websites and presentations: http://websearch.about.com/od/bestwebsites/tp/free-images.htm
Some of the most interesting posted by about.com include:
Open Stock Photography: With over 2 million digital images covered by the creative commons license supplied through the Wikimedia Commons.
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Fotorama.no: This site is incredibly difficult to navigate and despite an option to switch from Norwegian to English one must really manage to get by in Norwegian (and if I, not knowing a word of Norwegian, can manage to navigate it I believe you can also!). Nevertheless, the quality of these photos is beyond compare. Mostly of nature scenes and with very good resolution. Covered by a creative commons license.
ONE FINAL CAVEAT: Although these photos are free for use they are still covered by some form of license. Usually this means that they cannot be used for commercial purposes for example or that one must give credit to the file’s originator. So, make sure you are aware of the rules governing a particular image. In any case an expanded list of image options gives individuals a way to spice up their presentations and web presence without falling foul of copyright law or ethical concerns.
Farming practices, especially rice cultivation as shown here, were the subject of many plant explorer photos