Finding images at Cornell  Tags: images image_searching art photography multimedia photo  

Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., ca. 1910. Source: New York Public Library

There are three basic types of image searches:

• Quick searches
• Single collection searches
• Multiple collection searches

Start by disabling any pop-up blockers that your browser or browser toolbars may have activated. For help in disabling pop-up blockers, see:

http://www.artstor.org/webhelp/ARTstor_Help.htm

http://images.library.cornell.edu/help.html#luna

If you’re using a PC with Internet Explorer, you can hold down the control key while you click to launch a collection, which will override the pop-up blocker.

Google Images is a quick and easy way to find lots of images from web pages across the globe. But it only searches free content, and it does not search many databases. When you look at the search results, do you know which image will meet your needs? Will any of the images be high enough in resolution? Are they described accurately? Fortunately, Cornell has built or subscribes to a number of image databases that give Cornell community members access to millions of images, most with high resolution and rich descriptions.

Look for Image Collections by Subject

To browse a list of image databases, go to the Images search tab on the library home page, then follow the link to Browse Image Collections.The Visual Resources link will take you to a web site that includes tools and information for advanced digital image use.

If you click on the more info link, you’ll get a description of the entire collection and a list of copyright restrictions that govern the re-use of images in each collection. After you’ve read the collection description and think you might find what you need in the image database, you’re ready to launch the collection by clicking on the collection name. Once you launch the database, you’ll be brought either to the collection web site or to the database’s native interface.

You can also go the Library home page and click on the Database Names to browse databases by subject. To learn more about the collection, click on the description link or click on the name of the collection to launch it. The icon identifies image-rich collections. If you already know the name of the database you want to search, go back to the Database Names button and enter the the collection name in the search box.

Cornell has built or subscribes to a number of image databases that give Cornell community members access to millions of images, most with high resolution and rich descriptions.

• New York Public Library Digital Collection
• ARTstor
• Associated Press Images
• CAMIO (Catalog of Art Museum Images Online)
• American Memory (Library of Congress)

If you click on the images tab, then follow the link to Browse Image Collections, you'll find a list of image databases, five of which are pre-selected for simultaneous (multi-collection) searching. You can check or uncheck any of the boxes to broaden or narrow the range of collections you search, or try your search in individual databases for more targeted searching. Just click on the name of the database to launch it.

Oxford art online

Oxford Art Online (OAO) enables access and cross-search functionality to Grove and Oxford reference content in one location. Provides access to Grove Art Online, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Includes image partnerships with ARTstor, the British Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Images for College Teaching, Art Resource, Artists Rights Society and numerous international art galleries and artists. Includes a digital image search.

Gillray. "Maniac's Ravings, or Little Boney in a Strong Fit," 1803.

Source: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, Cartoon Collection.

Interested in finding images in non-image databases? Try our “Unexpected Images” guide!