ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

INTERNET RESOURCES: Locating public domain images: Some sites to visit to enhance your Web page

by Lorrie A. Knight

Images are part of the charm and the functionality of the Web. They serve to make sites visually attractive, to assist in site navigation, and to create logical content divisions. Backgrounds and emblems provide unifying themes. Web design for the artisti- cally challenged may therefore pose new problems for librarian Web creators.

Fortunately, the Web itself is an excellent source of images for those who do not wish to create their own. A click of a mouse button is all that is needed to save an image and use it on a Web page. Care should be taken to abide by the rules of copyright. Site authors generally provide a statement as to use of their artwork, as well as the methods by which the images should be accessed.

Surfing the Internet for images can be a time-consuming activity. The quality and relevance of many graphics archives is questionable. The following are sites that have good design standards and many freely accessible images.

Thematic image collections

Thematic image collections are plentiful on the Web. Included here are a selection of sites that offer graphics appropriate to educational Web-page design.

• The Library ClipArt Collection is provided by Janet Meyers of the Des Moines Public Library. This site is the Web weaver’s first stop for attractive and relevant Web images. There are images of books (even one with turning pages!), computers, and clip art of people using library materials. Access: http://www.netins.net/showcase/meyers/ library_clipart/clipart.html.

• Olson’s Library Clip Art is offered by Chris Olson and Associates. Although most of the images at this site are copyrighted and may not be used without permission, there are a number of free ALA symbols for use on Web pages. They ask that you credit their site when using their graphics. Access: http:/ /chrisolson. com/ALAsymbols.html.

• Music Related Graphic Images is au- thored by Shirley E. Kaiser. Music lends itself well to Web graphics, and this site offers an ex- cellent collection of them. Buttons, backgrounds, and horizontal rules all have a musical theme. There is also very well designed clip art of instruments, clefs, and single notes. Access: http:// www.skdesigns.com/internet/music/images/ index.htm.

Graphic credit: Music Related Graphic Images

• Visit the Texas Agricultural Extension Service for an enormous collection of agriculture clip art. Most of the images are in black and white and are very large. This site hosts several different collections of agriculture-related art. It is also keyword searchable. Access: http://leviathan.tamu.edu/.

• Graphic Maps is a commercial site that specializes in custom maps for Internet or Intranet applications. They also offer a wide selection of freely available maps. The categories include maps of the world, continents, countries, and states. Users may select several size and color options. In addition to maps, there are graphics of compasses and flags. The company even offers to add specific countries upon request. Access http:// www.graphicmaps.com/graphic_maps.html.

Academic sites

Many universities offer online Web construction assistance for students and faculty. As a part of that process, a number of them have image archives available.

• The Social Science Data Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder offers an excellent resource kit for Web development. There are design tutorials, brief explanations about the use of graphics in Web pages, and HTML guides. As this is an academic site, the graphics available are especially useful for educational purposes. The emphasis is on functional images, such as arrows and directional buttons, lines and bars, and colorful balls. There are modest offerings of educational and computer-related icons. The images at this site are clear and have been resized for smaller size and faster loading times. Access: http://socsci.colorado.edu/GIF/.

• The Social Sciences and Humanities Library Web Server at UCSD is designed to assist students and faculty with Web-page construction. There are many useful small directional graphics, as well as cartoons, and images of people, office workers, and signs. This site is also host to “Flags of the World,” a source of information and images for those seeking flag graphics. Access: http://gort.ucsd.edu/Graphics/.

• The University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Radiology, is host to an enormous graphics archive. Authored by William H. Anderson, the site includes backgrounds, bullets, lines, clip art, and photographs. The images are well organized by subject. The collections are eclectic with topics ranging from animal images to military photographs. The images for books and documents are especially useful. Access: http://ftpl.rad.kumc.edu/artwork.htm.

• The English Server at Carnegie Mellon University provides a one-stop shop for multimedia. Included are ASCII art, sound clips, backgrounds, and clip art. Those designing Web pages for text-only browsers will appreciate the ASCII artwork. The clip art is a bit unpredictable in size and quality, but the organizational sys- tem is superb. This is an excellent resource for academic Web pages. Be sure to check out the black-and-white image of Win- ston Churchill. Access: http://eng.hss.cmu. edu/multimedia/.

Graphic credit: The English Server

Government sites

Many agencies of the U.S. government have created useful and well-designed Web sites. While it is commonly believed that government publications are in the public domain, one should carefully read the online copyright statements. In certain cases, the government is not the producer of the information or images and the material may not be in the public domain. When in doubt, it never hurts to queiy the site author.

• The NASA Photo Gallery offers some of the most dramatic photographs and art on the Web. Most of the images are free of copyright when used for educational purposes. Topics include the range of NASA activities, including astronomy, earth science, and oceanography. Access: http://www.nasa.gov/ gallery/photo/index.html.

• The Architect of the Capitol Web site is a useful source for photographs. The images may be used freely for educational purposes. If written permission for use is needed, a letter must be sent. Of course, the image of the Capitol building itself is a familiar one. Visit the Sculpture Gallery to obtain photographs of famous figures in American history. Access: http://www.aoc.gov/.

Image archives

Many commercial Web designers offer online galleries of their graphics and informative guides to image and design issues. The quality of these sites varies considerably and there is often a large amount of duplication. The sites listed below offer an excellent selection of graphics placed in the public domain. It’s important to read the author’s statements as to how the images may be accessed and how credit for them is to be given.

• The Clip Art Connection offers a collection of pointers to graphics resources on the Web, as well as serving as an image archive. The site owners note that graphics included are believed to be in the public domain but caution users to be attentive to copyright restrictions as applicable. They appreciate a link giving credit to their site, although this is not mandatory. A huge array of backgrounds, graphics, images, and clip an may be located at this site. There is an excellent variety of horizontal rules and a galaxy of spinning and non-spinning globes. The links to other sites are well-organized, especially the section dealing with theme-specific image archives. Access: http:// www.ist.net/clipart/.

• Xoom Software offers more than 50,000 pieces of free and very stylish clip art. Animated and non-animated gifs, borders, flags, and buttons are included, as well as an amazing array of photographs. If you thought you might never see an online image of a toaster, this site is worth a visit. A sound archive is also available for the adventurous multimedia librarian. Access, http:// xoom.xoom.com/.

• PixelPlace.com is a well-planned site for quick image browsing. It is offered as a service by retired couple Glenda and Benny Berger. The images here are useful for simple page themes, such as sports, politics, or computer resources. There are nice horizontal rules and clean, crisp directional buttons. Horizontal rules include a picket fence, a traveling beer mug, and a yellow pencil. Pointers to animated gifs and a discussion of graphics tools are additional features of this site. Librarians will appreciate a “recommended reading list” of computer graphics books. Access: http://www.pixelplace.com/.

• Public Domain Images is a commercial enterprise that offers some interesting and freely available jpeg files. They also provide a thoughtful and concise explanation of copyright considerations on the Web. The photographs offered for free downloading include a variety of scholarly topics, drawing from the sciences and the humanities. If you need a picture of DNA or a portrait of Mark Twain, look here first. They ask that you include a credit link back to their site. Access: http://www.PDImages.com/.

• Icon Bazaar is a fun and jazzy site. The site owners have placed a collection of icons in the public domain for use by Web developers. They do ask that users download no more than 20 icons. A credit to the site is appreciated. The images, organized by topic, include, among other things, animals, signs, buttons and arrows, flowers, flags, and punctuation marks. Access: http:// www.iconbazaar.com/.

• The Web Developers Virtual Library is an illustrated encyclopedia of Webpage design. It provides information on virtually every topic of potential interest to Web page authors. There are papers that discuss the use of graphics and color on the Web and an archive of public domain graphics. Access: http://www.stars.com/.

• Realm Graphics is a for-profit enterprise that generously offers excellent Web art as a public service. They clearly define which sections of their Web site may be accessed for public domain graphics. Functional Web elements, such as buttons, backgrounds, and horizontal rules, are available here. The images are arranged in a table format for easy browsing. Access: http://www.enderdesign.com/rg/.

Image search systems

Still haven’t found the perfect image for your Web page? Here are a few ways to navigate the graphics on the Web.

• The Icon Browser is maintained by Gioacchino La Vecchia, Computer Science Department, Pisa University in Italy. This useful site is a searchable archive of icons. Enter a search term and an assortment of icons is returned. Choose the most literal search term possible. Multiple forms of a word will be searched. The icons, usually black and white, are without attribution; however, most of them appear frequently in other public domain sources. Access: http:// www.cli.di.unipi.it/iconbrowser/.

• Clip Art Searcher provides search forms optimized to find graphics. There are forms for Hot Bot, Lycos, Filez, and 1-Click search engines. Search hints and tips are displayed for each search engine. Access-, http:// www.webplaces.com/search/.

• Yahoo offers structured searching by category. Select Computers and the Internet, WWW and Web Page Design. Within this area is a section called Graphics, along with a list of more than 200 image archives and metasites. Access: http://www.yahoo.com. ■