Quick Links

Find Images

Google Image Search
Works the same way as a standard Google search, but will retrieve different types of images. A good way to find images quickly, but be aware that some will be under copyright.
Academic Search Premier
After entering the database, select "Images" from the "More" option on the blue bar at the top of the page. Contains over 180,000 images from Getty Images, UPI, Motion Picture and Television Photo Archive and more. A good place to find historical and natural science photos.
iStockphoto
More professional than Flickr or Google, this site allows graphic artists and designers to share samples of their work. Features a somewhat random selection of paintings, photography, and graphic design but the overall quality is high. Many selections are annotated by the artist.
Yahoo! Image Search
Similar to Google Image Search. Results will vary from commercial to personal images, but be aware that some may be under copyright.
Flickr
An online source for storing and sharing primarily non-commercial photos. Quality varies, but covers a wide range of areas & interests, and photos posted to the Commons are available for public use.
ARTstor
A database with over 400,000 images licensed for educational and scholarly purposes. A detailed guide is available for user instructions.
CARLI Digital Collections
Links to collections of digital images from Illinois academic libraries that belong to the CARLI consortium

Art Images for College Teaching (AICT)
A database of high-quality art images from all over the world. The site is organized by era and searchable by region and includes everything from painting to photography, architecture, sculpture, etc. Images are for education and non-profit purposes only.
Art Resource
Contains over 100,000 images from various time periods and geographic areas. It's not as easy to browse as other databases, but is a good place to go if you're looking for a specific image.
Image Resources for Art and Architecture
Hosted by the Ricker Library of Art and Architecture, this site provides links to many resources for online images in the arts, architecture, and selected museum online collections.
WorldImages Kiosk
Maintained by California State University, this collection includes 35,000 images of paintings, photography, sculpture, artifacts etc.

Historical Maps Online
A collaboration between the UIUC Library and University of Illinois Press, this collection of digitized maps spans 400 years of Illinois and Northwest Territory history.
Historical Map Web Sites
Hosted by the University of Texas Libraries, this is an extensive page of links to online map collections from around the world. Most of these collections feature digital reproductions of their maps.
Library of Congress American Memory
A national archive project that collects all sorts of historical materials including digital reproductions of photographs, maps, prints as well as sound and video recordings.
New York Public Library Digital Gallery
An image database of over 300,000 items taken directly from primary sources at the New York Public Library. Browse by general topic area or search by keyword.

Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
A highly interactive website from one of the most renowned museums in the world. You can browse through their digital collection or take a virtual tour of the library, which features beautiful panoramic pictures of both the interior and exterior of the museum. Digital collection features reproductions of paintings, armor, costumes, jewelry, archeological artifacts, etc.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Features highlights of their permanent collection and special exhibits, but the digital collection is very interactive and allows you to isolate and zoom in on certain parts of the picture. Collection includes paintings, photography, costumes, armor, sculpture, etc.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Contains annotated, high-quality digital reproductions of the gallery's paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, architecture, etc.
National Gallery, London
View the entire collection of the National Gallery online. The zoom feature allows you to examine the works so closely that you can count the brushstrokes on certain paintings.

European Space Agency (ESA)
Includes lots of satellite photos, which can be sorted by type (i.e. volcanoes, fires, hurricanes, space, etc.).
Visible Earth
A database of NASA images covering a wide-range of science-related fields and features many original satellite photos. Browse by topic or geographic region.
National Museum of American History
Website features a database of high-quality photographs related mostly to the history of science, although much of the collection is of general historical interest.

University of Illinois Digital Image Collections
This pages links to more than a dozen digitized collections held by UIUC. Organized by collection name, maps, photos, and scanned memorabilia from many subjects and disciplines are available.
PIXELS Blog
Brings to the campus community announcements, technical tips, and explorations of new and existing multi-disciplinary web-based image collections.
UIHistories Phantasm Photographic Preservation Project
Serving as a "photographic time capsule," this site contains photos of every building on campus since 2004, capturing them every season to document their evolution. Most photos are available for student and faculty use, but check the copyright permissions.

For more help, check out our Finding and Using Images guide or Ask A Librarian.