Picture Australia have recently announced that their new site is up and running. This site allows you to search for both contemporary and historical pictures and includes photographs, objects and works of art. It draws together images from CSIRO to the Australian War Memorial, from the National Portrait Gallery to the National Library.
There is information on the site with regards to copyright, using the pictures and requesting copies. There seems to be good scope to use them for educational and research purposes, but you can also usually contact the relevant owning institution directly if you have any queries.
A new ‘research tips’ page provides information for teachers and students on activities that build research and observational skills. They also mention that you can develop illustration lists using Endnote.
We have included Picture Australia in our listing of databases via Searchit, where you will find other image resources, both public access and subscribed resources, that allow you to download images. Look for messages and information on these that allow their use for educational purposes.
Some of the other changes to the site announced by Picture Australia include:
- improvements and more prominence to the search function
- juxtaposing of historical and contemporary images
- a navigational toolbar with commonly used functions
- improvements in the display of results with relevance ranking
- information for organisations and individuals about contributing to Picture Australia
