Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library: ART 100W: Images and Multimedia

Image Databases

A digital library of 550,000+ images for art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences. Includes a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes. Help guides available.

Visual Resources Library Image Database
Electronic image database maintained by the Visual Resources Library in the Department of Art and Art History at SJSU.

AP Images

An archive of photos, images and audio files from the Associated Press.

Art & Architecture Source
This art research database covers a broad range of subjects from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. It features full-text articles, indexing and abstracts for an array of journals, books and more. It also has a collection of over 63,000 images provided by Picture Desk and other sources
DAAI: Design and Applied Arts Index
Covers both new designers and the development of design and the applied arts. Disciplines covered include ceramics, glass, jewelry, wood, metalsmithing, graphic design, fashion and clothing, textiles, furniture, interior design, architecture, computer aided design, Web design, computer-generated graphics, animation, product design, industrial design, garden design, and landscape architecture. Period covered: Mid-19th century to present Dates of publications: 1973 to present.

Streaming Video

Kanopy Streaming
Distributes online educational videos including documentaries, films, interviews plus a range of short video series. The videos are arranged by collections: Arts, Business, Communication/Media, Education (K-12), Health, Humanities, Science. Note: SJSU students, staff, and faculty: You will be asked to authenticate on and off campus. Kanopy uses copyright protection and DRM technology to block video streaming over platforms like Zoom. As a result, screen sharing is not permitted for restricted titles—viewers must watch individually, either outside of class or on their own devices during class. When screen sharing via Zoom, only the presenter is authenticated, so others will see a blank screen.

Online Image Resources and Digital Collections

Many museums have searchable databases of their collections. Below are some museums and libraries with rich collections. If you know a museum has holdings of artwork you are researching, find the website and look for the "collections" feature on the website.

Museums

Cooper Hewitt
The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design museum is located in New York City. You can browse the collection by many facets, including by color!
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Images and information about art in the de Young and Legion of Honor museums.
Getty Museum Collections
Searchable image database of artwork at the Getty Museum.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Search the Collection Database and the Timeline of Art History
Images from the Smithsonian
Images from the Smithsonian Institution.
Winterthur Museum
The Winterthur Museum has an extensive furniture and decorative arts collection.
SFMOMA
Explore digital copies of art at SFMOMA
MOMA Collection
Virtually explore the Museum of Modern Art's collection.

Libraries

SJSU Digital Collections
A collections of rare and unique materials held by Special Collections & Archives and the Beethoven and Steinbeck Centers.
DPLA Images
DPLA Images lets you search the Digital Public Library of America, a collection of millions of cultural heritage objects from libraries, archives, and museums across the country, for images.
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Over 700,000 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections. A living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.