These sources include not just image reproductions but also information about them, such as creator, title, image location, description, analysis, etc., that can be used for citing.
Books are an important source for images, which have been well identified and described. To find books, search through the USC Libraries discovery page. You can change "Everything" on the left of the search box to search the "catalog."
- Journal and Newspaper Articles
Like books, journals and newspapers are a good source for identifiable images. Disciplinary databases of journal articles, as well as historic newspaper databases, are listed in the USC Libraries database resources.
- Institutional Image Databases
Libraries, museums, and cultural organizations provide access to print and digital collections of images.
Below is a list of select digital USC Image Databases, available through the USC Libraries:
- USC Digital Library –provides a wealth of historic resources such as photographs, oral histories, recordings, etc., located in the USC specialized collections and in the collections of collaborating institutions.
- ARTSTOR – an important and growing collection of over a million images in the visual disciplines.
- David Rumsey Historical Map Collection – contains over 20,000 digitized maps, focusing on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the world, Europe, Asia, and Africa are also represented.
- Museums and libraries often make high resolution images from their unique collections available online. A few examples include: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the USC Libraries digital image collection, the Los Angeles Public Library's digital image collection, the Library of Congress, the various national libraries in other countries, etc.
- Photojournalistic Sources
Examples of photojournalistic sites that have large image archives and manage reproduction rights are Getty Images or Magnum Photos. These and other photojournalistic sites may provide students with usable images without charging a fee.