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Visual Resources Guide: Image and Video Sources

Find Images and Video

Interested in finding still and moving images? This guide includes:  Metropolitan Transportation Authority - New Artwork in Bensonhurst Subway

  • Examples of high-quality image collections, for general "royalty-free" images, Open Access Images, Subscription Databases, and notable Digital Collections. 

  • Visual Media collections include films, virtual reality, and 3D Image and Point Cloud collections

  • Tips for effective image search, evaluation, and interpretation in subscription databases and on the open web.

  • Image Citation Examples

  • Information on Maps/GIS and Data Visualization

  • Learn more about the foundations of Visual Literacy

  • Virtual Reality Workstation

Metropolitan Transportation Authority. (2012). A detailed photograph of Entitled “Tree of Life,” by Xin Song. The artwork is a combination of a contemporary photo collages and traditional Chinese paper cuts to evoke the historic status of the Bay Parkway Station. (https://flic.kr/p/cJP8SY) Accessed October, 2023. 

Recommended Image Collections by Topic

Digital Art History Directories

These high-quality collections are examples of questions where searchers can "assess sources of visual material and choose relevant artworks and images based on need (ARLIS/NA Information Competencies, p.18)

Art & Art History

Architecture & Interior Design

Museums and Institutional Collections

PRIMARY SOURCES: Museums support digitial access to exhibitions, digital collection images, primary sources of museum records, and ephemera. These are some exceptional examples. Contact a Librarian to further your search. 

Image of Sensoji Temple, famous for its giant red lanterns.
An image of the sky line of New York City, on the water with boats on the foreground. 1896.
An image of Greenwood Cemetery, a large building set in fields with trees around it
An image of the Acropolis, an ancient white building against a blue sky.
An image of a Craftsman house with white siding and a red tile roof.
An image. In the foreground are several boats in water. In the background is a Russian Orthodox Church atop a green hill.
An image of the Pachyderm House from the Chicago Zoo. Stone blocks formed into the shape of a house.
An image of a circular building with a question mark and animal sculptures on top. Inside is a man, he is talking to a man, a woman, and a boy outside of the cart.
An image of the Empire State Building from about halfway up the tower and up.
An image of the Empire State Building from farther back in the city

Searching for Images

Interpreting Images

Visual Literacy

The Association of College Research Libraries (ACRL) Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education defines 'Visuals to include but are not limited to charts, drawings, graphs, icons, maps, memes, paintings, photographs, symbols, or other visualizations, as well as multimodal texts with visual elements.' 

"ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education", American Library Association, October 27, 2011. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy (Accessed October 31, 2023) Document ID: 4d02961f-23ff-b874-7d6d-9f8d0b87e7c2

Visual Literacy

Virtual Reality Workstation

Art and Architecture Library Virtual Reality Workstation. Rm. 101, Education Hall

  •  HTC Vive Pro and software for design, collaboration, and development.
  • STEAM platform hosts programs including  Arkio, Google Earth, Wander, Open Brush, and virtual exhibitions from museums worldwide.
  • Read more in the manual, 
  • Stop by the Library or email askalibrarian@nyit.edu to reserve time to use this workstation.

Virtual Reality Workstation User's Manual

Virtual Reality and Enscape Tutorial:

(Now available on the Virtual Reality Workstation)

General Stock Images

Subscription Databases

Multi- media & Images

Film and Video for Design

3D Model Collections (OA)

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