1. Picturing heaven : online image
resources for religious art
CHRISTINE LOVE-RODGERS
NEW COLLEGE LIBRARIAN
&
ACADEMIC LIAISON LIBRARIAN, DIVINITY
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Innovative Learning Week

2. Picturing heaven : online image resources for
religious art at the University of Edinburgh
 Library Essentials
 How do I find
online image
collections?
 How can I use the
images I find?
Song School St Mary, 1897, f.13r. Phoebe Anna
Traquair, (b.1852, d.1936) . Edinburgh University Library

4. A-Z of Library Databases

6. Databases by subject
• Images
• History of
Art

7. What is an image database?
University of Edinburgh Image
Collections
Chronology of Ancient Nations, Or.Ms 161
 a self-contained, searchable
collection of images made
available online for either a
limited group of users (e.g.
University of Edinburgh
students) or the general
public.
 museum and gallery
collections
 commercial image libraries,
 subscription-only services
 Many invisible to Google
because of password-
protection or technical issues.

8. Why use an image database?
University of Edinburgh Image
Collections
Biblia (German) Inc.45.2
 Made by human
beings!
 Added value research
information
 Findability
 Quality
 Copyright

9. Image database copyright
University of Edinburgh Image
Collections
Charles de Croy. Book of Hours, c. 1500.
 Permitted use varies from collection
to collection.
 Usually allows one copy of an image
to be downloaded or printed for
personal use or private study
 Some collections will allow further
educational use such as reproduction
in essays or teaching materials.
 Some are public domain and can be
freely used for any purpose
 Watch out for restrictions on
electronic use e.g. publication on
blog
 Check help pages or contents – look
for a link to “copyright information”
or “terms and conditions”.

10. Image databases to try :
Princeton Index of Christian Art
 Thematic / iconographic
index of Early Christian and
medieval art objects, from
early apostolic times up to
A.D. 1550.
 120,000 images in the
database.
 Copyright permits use for
private study, scholarship, or
research only
 For copyright reasons
approximately 35,000 of
these are restricted access

11. Image databases to try :
University of Edinburgh Image Collections
 All use Luna Insight
browser software
 Password access to
subscription collections
 Permits downloading
 Register for additional
functions

12. Image databases to try :
Oxford Art Online
 6000+ images and
links to 4000+ image
links
 Choose Advanced
Search - Images
 Copyright for
educational use

13. Image databases to try: ArtStor
 One million plus digital
images
 Rich search options to
explore by
period, media or
geographical location
 Copyright for
educational use but
check restrictions

14. Christine Love-Rodgers
New College Librarian
Academic Liaison Librarian -Divinity
Christine.Love-Rodgers@ed.ac.uk
Twitter :
NewCollegeLibrarian@cloverodgers
http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/new-college-library
http://newcollegelibrarian.wordpress.com/