CNX 151: When Black Lives Matter

Artstor is a great image database, with over 2 million high-quality images that you can access anywhere through the Library's subscription. In order to take full advantage of the collections and features of Artstor, you do need to sign up for an account. 

Sign up for an Account

1. Access the Artstor Digital Library by using your institution’s proxy link, or by typing library.artstor.org into your web browser while on the campus network.
2. In the Log In area at the upper right side of the screen, click Register. If you do not see the Register link, it means you are seeing the Artstor public page and need to either go to campus, or authenticate to your campus network.
3. On the registration page enter a valid email address, password (passwords are case sensitive), your role at your institution, and the academic department you are affiliated with. Use the check boxes to opt-in or out of mailings. You must agree to our Terms and Conditions of Use. You can also register using your JSTOR registered user credentials. Simply register using the same email address and password you used when you set up your JSTOR account.
4. Click Register and you’ll be automatically logged in to your new account. The Log In area will display a welcome message and your email address.

Instructions from Artstor registration page

When you login to Artstor, either at http://library.artstor.org or through the F&M Library homepage, this is the home screen you will see: 

From here, you can search the Artstor database by keyword, or advanced search, and navigate your own collections. To add images from a search to your collections, see the "Creating an Image Group" section below! 

Creating image groups is a great feature that you can use in Artstor to organize your images for class and other project work. 

From your search, select the images that you would like to save to your image group. Then go to the Organize tab, and select "Save Selections to New Image Group." If you already have an image group that you would like to use, you can simply select "Save Images to Existing Image Group" instead. 

Then, the screen will prompt you to fill out information for your new image group. You must at least select a title, but I also recommend creating some tags for your group. These can be anything that you wish, and can really help with further organization of your images. You can even create a tag specifically for this class if you'd like. 

If you wish to keep your image collection to yourself, select "Only Me" under Who Should See This Image Group?. If you select "This Institution," anyone at F&M will be able to search for and see your image collections. Under either option, you can create a link to your collection that you can share with anyone - though they do need to have an Arstor account to view the collection. 

And now, you can see your image collection in its complete state! From here you can download the entire group, share it with friends or classmates, and access the metadata for each image in your collection. 

...visit the Finding Images Online Annotated Guide, which has a thorough listing of image resources around the Internet. 

Remember that it's just as necessary to cite your images as it is to cite scholarly papers and books in your academic work. Always check the particular citation style that you're using to ensure you're giving proper credit to the image creator. 

In most academic work that is released to a global audience, i.e. a published book or article, the author(s) must obtain the rights to any photographs or images featured. This can be as simple as obtaining written permission from the copyright holder, or can often mean paying a fee to use the image. For your own work here at F&M, your use of images generally falls under Fair Use, as long as it's for your classwork or a closed class presentation. Always check in with your librarian to make sure you're using images ethically!