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Nursing Education and Career Development: Images

Classroom Use of Images

Please note that all the material presented here is for informational use only and does not constitute legal advice.

Like any other creative work, images are protected by copyright law. However, for use in educational contexts, the concept of Fair Use often applies. For more information on Copyright and Fair Use exceptions see the Copyright page of this guide.

When using an image acquired from an online resource for your WCC classroom, either face-to-face or in Moodle:

  • Always cite the image's source, so that, even in an educational context, you give credit to its creators
  • Moodle use is fine, but posting the image to a freely available online site is not; images used in a presentation or project should not be posted online unless they are password protected so the viewers are limited
  • Face-to-face classroom presentation use of an image in a PowerPoint may be fine, as long as the presentation is not made freely available online; for example, post it only in a Moodle, password protected class page
  • Check each database resource for their specific copyright statements or rules for the use of images from that database; rules may be different for different providers, and we provide a few in this Research Guide for databases to which the Erwin Library subscribes for faculty and student use

For a more detailed overview of Fair Use and Copyright Law, consult the Purdue Online Writing Lab Strategies for Fair Use section, a brief, one-page overview with links to more comprehensive resources.

Use images from OVID

To find, retrieve and cite an image from Ovid:

  • Access Ovid
  • Click the All Resources checkbox
  • Click the OK button at the bottom of the window

  • Enter your search term or terms into the search box
  • Click the Search button to complete the search

  • Select an item to view from the Results list
  • Click the Ovid Full Text link to the right of the entry title to open the full work

  • Scroll to the bottom of the full text of the item to the Image Gallery tab area
  • Click to view each image
  • Select one or more images by clicking inside the checkbox below each image, then click the Export Selected to PowerPoint link at the top of the Image Gallery
  • Or, choose all of the images by clicking the Select All link at the top of the Image Gallery

  • When prompted open the new PowerPoint file that Ovid had created for you
  • Or, Save the newly generated PowerPoint file to your computer or flash drive
  • You will have a Powerpoint file containing:
    • Slide one with an Ovid Copyright Notice
    • Subsequent slides, each containing an image you selected, with the image caption, and an automatically generated bibliographic citation for the image

EBSCO Databases

EBSCO's general copyright statement for images can be found by clicking Help to the right on the top toolbar of your search results page. In the pop-up EBSCO Help window that appears, under Citation Styles, select "Image Usage Permission."

For help with citing images you find in EBSCO databases, click on Help to the right on the top toolbar of your search results page. In the pop-up EBSCO Help window that appears, under Citation Styles, select "How to Cite Images."

Use Copyright Free Resources

It's always a good idea to use copyright free resources, which require no licensing and, sometimes, do not require attribution (i.e. a citation). 

These materials can be found online in creative commons sites, such as:

Here is an example of refining a Google search to locate materials with various levels of usage rights, including those you may reuse with no licensing or attribution required:

  • Enter a search term into the Google search box and click to Search

  • Click the Images category

  • Click the Tools button to open a list of options
  • Click the arrow to open the Usage rights drop-down menu

  • Click one of the Usage rights options

  • Click an image in the results display
  • Follow the instructions on the image site to copy or download and attribute the image

Use images from STATRef!

To find, retrieve and cite an image from STAT!Ref:

  • Access STAT!Ref (click the I ACCEPT button if prompted)
  • Click the Advanced Search Page option
  • Enter your search term or terms into the search box
  • Check the Images checkbox under the Filter by Text Type heading
  • Find and click the Dentistry option in the Search by Discipline drop-down menu
  • Click the Go button to complete the search

  • Hover over search results entries to preview the images available to you

 

  • Click an entry in the results list to open a Full Text tab area displaying the images availabe from that article or book
  • Right click with your mouse on the image you want to use
  • Click Copy in the menu box to retrieve the image to paste into your PowerPoint, etc.

  • Click the Download Citations button to view the citation
  • Use your mouse to highlight, Copy and later Paste the bibliographic citation into your presentation

Use Images From ProQuest Databases

If you conduct a WCC Single Search and:

  • Click on a Full Text from Proquest link in the Search Results list

  • To search ProQuest directly for more images about a specific topic:
    • Mouse over Advanced in the top toolbar above the open full text article you have already selected
    • Select Figures & Tables from the drop-down menu

  • Enter your search term(s), here "dental implants"
  • Click the Search button
  • Click the Full Size Images checkbox and click on the Search button

  • Select the image you want to export
  • Click the Save to presentation link

  • Select the image you want to export
  • Click the Save to presentation link
  • Choose a Citation Style from the drop-down menu and click the OK button

  • Choose to Save the automatically generated PowerPoint slide containing your image, its caption, and APA citation to your computer or flash drive