LSBU Library: Digital Design: Web Resources

Copyright Free Images

Always check that the creator of the image has given permission to re-use their work

Always correctly reference where you got the image from - even if it is copyright free!

Creative Commons
Access to a multitude of copyright free photos which are shared freely, including Flickr.
Free Images
18,000+ Free Stock Photos.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Over 400,000 downloadable high-resolution digital images of the Museum’s collection.
Morguefile
All photos found in the Morguefile archive are free for you to download and re-use in your work
NASA
Some of the best images from the NASA National Space Science Data Center. All the images are public domain, however you must acknowledge NASA and the NSSDC as the supplier of the images/data
Pixabay
Over 1.4 million royalty free stock photos and videos.
Pxhere
Collection of over 1 million high quality photos for commercial use.
Stocksnap
Archive of high-quality photos of diverse subjects.

Wikipedia

Can you use Wikipedia in your assignments?

The short answer is no!

Wikipedia can be a good starting point, BUT you should not use it as a source for your assignments.

Anyone can edit Wikipedia. Wikipedia itself has compiled data on its contributors.

The advice on Wikipedia itself is that it is not a reliable source, because:

Anyone can edit pages
Pages have been subject to vandalism in the past - this is often caught quickly, but some vandalisations have stayed on Wikipedia for years.
Wikipedia is a dynamic site; no article is ever "finished" - they are constantly being edited/added to.
Articles can vary wildly in quality and comprehensiveness. For example, on the English Wikipedia there will likely be entries on every small town in the United States, but some large towns in the Sahara will not have an entry.
There is no systematic process to make sure that "obviously important" topics are written about, so at any given time Wikipedia may be wildly out of balance in the relative attention paid to two different topics.
Many contributors do not cite their sources—something that makes it hard for the reader to judge the credibility of what is written.

Researching with Wikipedia

There is an excellent article on Wikipedia itself about using the database for research - pay particular attention to the Special research considerations concerning Wikipedia, which sets out the pros and cons of using Wikipedia articles, and the Citing Wikipedia section, which lays out the reasons you should not reference Wikipedia.

Studies into the reliability of Wikipedia

Wikipedia has carried out numerous research studies and tests into the reliability of the articles on their site, including independent studies. They have also consulted with many experts to gather expert opinion on Wikipedia, including academics, health and science professionals, journalists and, of course librarians! The results of all of this evidence gathering can be found here.

Digital Design websites

ABC Typography
A virtual museum of typography.
Creative Bloq
Keep up to date with the latest trends and developments in global design with this daily mix of advice and inspiration for digital and traditional artists, web designers, graphic designers, 3D and VFX artists.
DazedDigital
Dazed magazine continues to champion radical fashion and youth culture, defining the times with a vanguard of next generation writers, stylists and image makers.
A List Apart
Explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on web standards and best practices.
Smashing Magazine
Delivers reliable, useful, and practical articles to web designers and developers.
Wired
A magazine covering up-to-date technology and cultural news.
Cartoon archive
The British Cartoon Archive is dedicated to the history of British cartooning over the last two hundred years. The BCA holds the artwork for over 200,000 British editorial, socio-political, and pocket cartoons, supported by large collections of comic strips, newspaper cuttings, books and magazines.