Library Research Guides: Visual Literacy: Finding and accessing images/visual media

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This page lists some of the Image/visual media databases that are offered through IU Libraries. But please note, these are not ALL of the databases! There is a full list of the image related databases offered through the IU Libraries in this research guide. If you don't see a database listed here that would work for you, I highly recommend that you check out that guide.

In addition to the IU Libraries image related databases on this page, there are also open access resources to find visual media and images as well as, advice on how to tell if a book has illustrations in the online library catalogue.

Resources for Image Research

ARTstor Images
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A digital image library of over 1.6 million digital images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences. PLEASE NOTE: to save or download images, users must register for an individual account.
Bridgeman Education
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Online digital library of unique images sourced from the world's leading museums, galleries, contemporary artists and private collections, with unlimited access to over 530,000 images, all copyright cleared for educational use.
Oxford Art Online
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Encyclopedia articles about artists, architects, and artistic movements & periods, as well as bibliographies for further research. Also includes thousands of searchable images.

Provides access to Oxford’s art reference works, including the Grove Art Online, the Benezit Dictionary of Artists, the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and the Oxford Companion to Western Art.
Material Connexion
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A unique and comprehensive resource comprised of more than 4,500 materials and processes, and growing at a rate of more than 30 materials per month. Resource for designers of all disciplines - industrial, furniture, packaging, graphics, fashion, interior design, landscape architecture, and transportation.
Art & Architecture Archive
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Full-text archive of magazines comprising research material in the fields of art and architecture, dating from the late-nineteenth century to the twenty-first. Access is for Art & Architecture Archive Collection 1 and 2.

Subjects covered include fine art, decorative arts, architecture, interior design, industrial design, and photography. Includes full-color page images.
Art and Architecture In Video
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500 hours of documentaries and interviews illustrating the theory and practice of a variety of art forms and providing the context necessary for critical analysis.

Covers Renaissance, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Modern, and Contemporary art. Also includes video on applied topics such as architectural and graphic design.
American History in Video
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American History in Video provides a collection of documentaries, newsreels and archival and public affairs footage.

Historical coverage in the collection ranges from the early history of Native Americans, to the lost colony of Roanoke, to the 1988 Vicennes Affair in the Persian Gulf. Biographical coverage ranges from eighteenth century figures such as Benedict Arnold and Daniel Boone to modern day figures such as Thurgood Marshall and Helen Thomas. You may sign in to create, edit and share playlists or clips.
Associated Press Images Collection (EBSCO)
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An electronic library containing the AP's current photos and a selection of pictures from their 50 million image print and negative library. International in scope with images dating back as early as 1826.

Visual Literacy

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Resources for Image Research

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