JISC has published a free online tutorial called Internet for Image Searching. The tutorial is designed to help staff and students in universities and colleges to find digital images for their learning and teaching.

It is bound to be useful for others as well — anyone who is in need of high quality copyright cleared images.

JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) is a British independent advisory body that works with further and higher education by providing strategic guidance, advice and opportunities use to use ICT to support learning, teaching, research and administration.

The tutorial aims at facilitating quick, hassle-free access to a vast range of online photographs and other visual resources, all copyright cleared and available for free.

It contains links, FAQs and how-to’s for students, teachers, researchers and administrators on:

• the pros and cons of using search engines to find images,
• financial and legal implications of using digital images,
• some key online image sites and collections,
• success stories to inspire creative use of images.

It has been created by TASI - the JISC Advisory Service for digital media, and Intute as part of the Virtual Training Suite, with funding from the Higher Education Academy/JISC Collaboration Initiative.

Sharon Waller of the Higher Education Academy says:

“This tutorial is an excellent resource for anyone needing to know more about where and how to find images online. The fact that it concentrates on copyright cleared images will make it even more valuable for busy learning and teaching professionals, researchers and students alike. It will also serve to inspire confidence in those needing to use images from the web in their work.”