Week 4: Images, Part 1

Images and Copyright
 
There are millions of digital images online. Finding them is easy. Trying to figure out whether or not you can reuse them can be challenging. Like books, images are protected by copyright law. Artists of all mediums generate income from their works and copyright helps them control how people use their works. Some artists grant people permission to use their images with Creative Commons licenses.

There are different types of Creative Commons licenses, read about them here. You should always give credit to the author when you reuse their image.

There are also image banks of copyright-free images. Some of them are free (Wikimedia Commons, morgueFile) and with others you pay per image (iStockphoto, Dreamstime). Another option, sometimes the quickest, is to create your own images! Get creative with your digital camera or mobile device. Put your design skills to work in Microsoft Word or Paint to create a custom logo.

 
This video offers a few more hints for finding digital images:
 


THING 11 – Find a Creative Commons image and add it to your next blog post.


Image by raider of gin via Wikimedia Commons

Need a hint? Search Wikimedia Commons for “animals reading.” Don’t forget to follow any Creative Commons guidelines (attribute work to the author). Staff members can review NBPLS image use guidelines here.










Image Generators 
Image generators let you easily create fun images without the extra work of tracking down copyright permissions. Why use them? To engage patrons, as marketing tools, or just to impress your friends and family! You’ve probably seen the results from image generators all over Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr and other social media sites. People love them!

Image from: http://coccinellevoyage.tumblr.com/post/15400512684

Image generators can be great tools for promoting library events and services. Studies have shown that photos on social media have more views and are shared more often than plain text.

THING 12 – Use the Wordle image generator to create a word cloud. Share the image on your blog.

Go to www.wordle.net. Click on Create and follow directions to create your world cloud image. This video has some pointers.

 

Cool Extra Thing – Get on the meme wagon and create your own hilarious image! Read about the meme movement and see some examples here. The sites below are used to generate memes. Warning! Some memes will be offensive. Just look away.

• http://memegenerator.net
• http://m.quickmeme.com/make
• http://cheezburger.com/Builder

Here’s a couple we made! These images are known as “Success Kid” and “One Does Not Simply.”

Want to learn more?

• How to create a meme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWdWXSDb0FU
• Memes as art: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Zyswk07vg
• All about the Philosoraptor meme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucoU0c5kvZw