Open Content

This guide brings together information about Open Access Resources and Open Educational Resources. It aims to make Open Access resources easier to find and use for study, teaching and research.

Images

There are many different sources available that allow you to download freely available and reusable image resources which are openly licensed for reuse under certain conditions. You can use the resources in this guide to help you find and identify open licensed reusable images.

Open content image searches

Attribution and why it matters

 

CC licence cupcakes

"Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco" by tvol is licensed under CC BY 2.0

You can use CC-licensed materials as long as you follow the license conditions. One condition of all CC licenses is attribution.

Art gallery, library and museum open image collections

 

Nathan Coley, The Basic Material is Not the Word b

Nathan Coley, The Basic Material is Not the Word but the Letter. Main Library, University of Edinburgh. © University of Edinburgh Art Collections

Check your copyright!

All images are covered by copyright whether they are from print or electronic sources. To avoid the copyright trap : 

  • Use image collections (like those identified in this guide) which are licensed for educational use or search for licensed Creative Commons images
  • Acknowledge and attribute the source of any image you decide to use
  • Using a reverse image search engine can be helpful in identifying commercial images for which payment to re-use is required or ownership is unclear

Photographic open content collections

Medicine and science open image collections

Image of ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses.

"#23311 [Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses]" by Alissa Eckert, MSMI; Dan Higgins, MAMS.  This image is in the public domain and free of any copyright restrictions.