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Visual Literacy

This guide defines visual literacy, explains what visual literacy skills are, and lists resources related to this topic.

About this Page

Girl looking at a painting

This page gives tips and resources for analyzing images and visual media. It also lists resources that discuss analyzing and interpreting images. Please note that there are many ways to analyze images and the tips listed on this page are not the only right way to do this. 

Tips and Resources for Analyzing and Interpreting Images

  • Give yourself time to "take-in" the entire image before you start your research. Make sure you understand what is happening in the image and that you see all of the details. Sometimes it is easy to skip over this step but, it is really important! You can't research an image accurately if you don't understand it.
  • Read the Metadata. It is always important to read the information provided for an image. This information will allow you to cite the image probably and start to understand the context of the image.
  • Look for the citation information. If the citation information is not provided for the image, it is likely that the resource you are using is not reliable. You always want to be able to cite your images! 

Observation

Gaining Context

Finding Meaning