ENGL 415 - Written Communication for Engineers

Google Images: after running a search, click on the option for Search tools and from the menu that appears, click on Usage rights.  From there you will be able to filter your search results by permitted use.

Remember to:

• As with text-based information, always cite the images that you use.

• You must cite images even if an image comes from the public domain, is licensed by Creative Commons, or if you have determined that it is a fair use.  If you did not make the image, you must cite it and properly credit the artist/designer.\

• You must also cite images of your own making to rule out questions of their origin (to give yourself credit, in anticipation of the question, "Is this your work?").

• When pondering whether or not you should use an image in your project, complete the fair use checklist (linked below under Scholarly Communications) to help you assess whether or not your intended use could be considered a fair use.

• Look for a copyright notice (even for government resources).  Look for such phrases as: 

  • Copyright
  • License restrictions
  • More details
  • Permitted use
  • Some rights reserved

For photographs you take: 

• Taking a photo of a place?  
  • Ask permission before you photograph within a place of business or within a campus building.
• Taking a photo of a person/people? -- secure their permission (in writing), even for friends
  • Consider posing for your own photos (as an individual or group)
  • Consider asking friends or classmates to assist in staging photos
  • For people who are recognizable in the photos you take, let them know: 
    • that they are being photographed, 
    • why they're being photographed,
    • and for what purpose(s),
    • and how their image will be used
• Create citations for images you make citing yourself as the artist/creator

Requesting permissions from others:

When making a request it is important to include:

• What you are requesting to use (be specific; include URLs when relevant),
• How you propose to use it,
• For what audience (include the course name, instructor name and basic assignment parameters),
• An indication of time (i.e. will it be used only for this one assignment, for this one semester, or for multiple assignments?)
• Be as specific as possible in your request and document both the request you send and any reply you receive

K-State Libraries' experts in Scholarly Communications co-authored this section.  Feel free to use the Copyright Consultation Service with questions related to copyright at copyright@k-state.edu.

Additional Resources:

• Fair Use Evaluator from the Copyright Advisory Network (American Library Assocation's Office for Information Technology Policy)   
• Fair Use Checklist
• K-State, Copyright 
• K-State, Copyright Basics 
• K-State, Copyright, Copyright Resources (great list of additional sources of information)
• K-State, Copyright, Using Copyrighted Works (includes information on public domain, fair use, requesting permissions, and Creative Commons licenses)
• K-State Libraries, Scholarly Communications 

Wikimedia Commons is a database of freely usable media files. 

Note: When you click on an image, this may take you to a different website such as Flickr or Wikipedia-- while some images are hosted on Wikimedia Commons, it is also a tool for discovering images hosted on other websites.

"Unlike traditional media repositories, Wikimedia Commons is free. Everyone is allowed to copy, use and modify any files here freely as long as they follow the terms specified by the author; this often means crediting the source and author(s) appropriately and releasing copies/improvements under the same freedom to others. The license conditions of each individual media file can be found on their description page. The Wikimedia Commons database itself and the texts in it are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. More information on re-use can be found at Commons:Reusing content outside Wikimedia and Commons:First steps/Reuse."

Source

Each of the following examples is presented in a pair:

• The first (the "Fig." ) is the sample image caption -- these are brief and provide enough information that the reader would easily be able to match the caption to the full citation.  
  • 2 caption samples are provided for each because you might wish to make some captions longer and more descriptive.  
    • You also have the option to keep them very brief and only acknowledge the name of the photographer and date.  
    • What you do depends on what best suits your purposes.  
  • The captions are integrated into the design of the brochure and each caption should be placed near the image that it references.  
  • The caption is also an opportunity to explain something about a photograph that is not captured by the citation information (see the "Fig. 5." and "Figure 5." examples).  
  • If the date of image creation is not provided, you can use "n.d." in place of a date (meaning "no date"). 
• The second, the "Figure" is the sample citation that appears in the bibliography.  
  • The citations fully describe the image and provide all of the detail necessary for the reader to find exactly where you found the image.  
  • For all of the following examples, you can follow the link provided to see the original image and how the details provided on each website came together to create the caption and citation.

Images from Flickr

Fig. 1. Indigo Bunting photo by Dawn Scranton (2012).
or
Fig. 1. Photo by Scranton (2012).

Figure 1. Scranton, Dawn. (2012, April 4). Indigo Bunting [digital photograph]. Personal collection, made available under an Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license. Retrieved September 30, 2015 from flickr: https://flic.kr/p/bvMEQL.

Fig. 2. Photo of Bill Snyder Family Stadium by Wesley Fryer (2008).
or
Fig. 2. Photo by Fryer (2008).

Figure 2. Fryer, Wesley. (2008, September  28). DSC01442 [digital photograph].  Personal collection, made available under an Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons License.  Retrieved September 30, 2015 from flickr: https://flic.kr/p/5pLTQj/.

Fig. 3. "Jolly Hallowe'en" from the NYPL Mid-Manhattan Library. Picture collection.
or
Fig. 3. "Jolly Hallowe'en" from the NYPL.

Figure 3.  Unknown artist. (n.d.) Jolly Hallowe'en [postcard]. The New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan Library, Picture Collection. Retrieved September 30, 2015 from Flickr Commons: https://flic.kr/p/7boniR.

Image from Flickr (with alterations)

Fig. 4. Indigo Bunting photo by Dawn Scranton (2012).
or
Fig. 4. Photo by Scranton (2012).

Figure 4. Scranton, Dawn. (2012, April 4). Indigo Bunting [digital photograph]. Personal collection, made available under an Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license. Retrieved September 30, 2015 from flickr: https://flic.kr/p/bvMEQL. Edited by Urton, E. 2016.

Images from Wikimedia Commons

Fig. 5. Konza Prairie Preserve by Edwin Olson (2005).
or
Fig. 5. Photo by Olson (2005).

Figure 5. Olson, Edwin.  (2005).  Konza Prairie Preserve [digital photograph]. Personal collection, made available in the public domain. Retrieved September 30, 2015 from Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Konza2.jpg.

Fig. 6. Skywalk in Wichita, KS by Eric Whittman (2006).
or
Fig. 6. Photo by Whittman (2006).

Figure 6. Wittman, Eric. (2006, September 29). skywalk [digital photograph]. Personal collection, made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Retrieved September 30, 2015 from Wikimedia Commons:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skywalk_between_Sutton_Place_ and_parking_garage.jpg.

Image from a Website

Fig. 7. The track to Bluegrass near North Stainmore, Cumbria, Great Britain (by Karl and Ali, 2010).
or
Fig. 7. Photo by Karl and Ali (2010).

Figure 7. Karl and Ali. (2010). NY8314: The track to Bluegrass near to North Stainmore, Cumbria, Great Britain [digital photograph]. Personal collection, made available under an Attribution-ShareAlice 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license.  Retrieved September  30, 2015 from geograph: http://www.geograph.org.uk/ photo/1780362. 

Original work

Fig. 8. Sunset view from Hale Library by Ellen Urton (2015).  
or
Fig. 8. Photo by Urton (2015).

Figure 8. Urton, Ellen. (2015, September 28). Sunset view from Hale Library, Manhattan, KS [digital photograph]. Personal collection.