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With nearly 2.5 million images making up 300 collections in Artstor–plus hundreds more public collections–where does one begin browsing in Artstor?

Browsing images may not seem like the best way to find an image, especially if you are looking for something specific. However, browsing allows you to serendipitously discover images you might not find with a more focused search. Next time you’re working in Artstor, try some of these techniques and see what you discover:

Maybe you’ve been searching and viewing images in Artstor, and even downloaded images from public collections, but you’d like to do more. Register for an account and you can–it’s easy!

Here’s what you get when you sign up

Registered users at subscribing institutions can download images from Artstor’s core collections of 2.5+ million images, save and organize these images into groups, export them to fully captioned PowerPoint presentations, and share the groups with students or collaborators.

It’s now easier to work with image groups in Artstor: After interviewing faculty, we implemented changes that improve searching and browsing your groups–and groups made by others at your institution.

Writing a paper? You can use Artstor to easily generate citations in APA, Chicago, or MLA styles.

Here’s how to do it:

1. View the image you would like to cite.
2. Select the “Cite this item” button to the right of the image viewer.
3. Click “Copy to clipboard” located underneath the citation style you are using.
4. Paste the citation you just copied into your paper.

That’s it! Simple image citations with the click of a button.

On Broadway, 1983 January 22. Aaron Cometbus Punk and Underground Press Collection. Image courtesy the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

The Dry House, 1988 May 06. Aaron Cometbus Punk and Underground Press Collection. Image courtesy the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Keystone Berkeley, 1981 May 14. Aaron Cometbus Punk and Underground Press Collection. Image courtesy the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Dead Kennedys, 1980's. Johan Kugelberg punk collection, circa 1974-1986. Image courtesy the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Punk flyers from the 1970s to the 1990s shared many of the qualities of the music they promoted–a DIY aesthetic, an embrace of cheap and accessible technology (i.e., photocopiers), plus a healthy dose of humor. In contrast to the often ornate Art Nouveau-inspired rock posters of the psychedelic 1960s, punk flyers typically featured dissonant collages, crude handwriting, and amateurish drawing–not to mention a strict limitation of color.

Philippe Halsman, Marilyn Monroe, 1956. Image and data courtesy the NHIA Photograph Collection, Teti Library, New Hampshire Institute of Art.

Keith Carter, Elephant + Stars, no date. Image and data courtesy the NHIA Photograph Collection, Teti Library, New Hampshire Institute of Art

Edward Weston (printed by Cole Weston), Hot Coffee, 1947. Image and data courtesy the Thomas L. Adams, Jr. Photographic Collection, Teti Library, New Hampshire Institute of Art.

An update from our friends at The New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA)

Last summer, The New Hampshire Institute of Art’s John Teti Rare Photography Book and Print Collection received a second major gift from collector and philanthropist John Teti. This gift contained original photographic prints of many leading 20th-century photographers, including Harry Callahan, Paul Caponigro, Imogen Cunningham, Lee Friedlander, Andre Kertesz, Man Ray, Minor White, and more. These works are now being added via JSTOR Forum to the NHIA Photograph Collection, which is available as a Public Collection on Artstor. The collection has now grown to nearly 600 images.

The Public Collections in Artstor are a library of freely accessible images, documents, and multimedia files generously made available by JSTOR Forum-subscribing institutions. To help users navigate the wide variety of collections available, we’ve created a Public Collections LibGuide.

Grant Wood. January, 1938. 1938. Lithograph. Image and original data provided by the Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University

Helen Frankenthaler. Out of the Blue. 1985. Acrylic on canvas. Image and data provided by The Davis Museum at Wellesley College. Art © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Auguste Rodin. Désespoir (Despair). 1893 (cast in 1902). Bronze with green patina. Image and data provided by Tufts University Art Gallery.

Punu People. Mukudj Mask. 19th or 20th Century. Wood, pigment. Image and data provided by Williams College Museum of Art.

In this second installment of our college art museum collection launch (see our post about the first installment here), the Artstor Digital Library has released 14,000+ images from four additional institutions. Between the two launches, there are now more than 29,000 new images available to Artstor participants.* Highlights from this release include American and European paintings and works on paper, and historical objects from around the world.

Did you know you can upload your own images to Artstor? You can then work with them seamlessly alongside our collections. Learn how on our support site to manage your presentations in one place and access them from anywhere.

You can also use your Personal Collection images to help your students study: Share the URL to your image groups–complete with your own images–via email or your course management software. Your students can then view the group and use Artstor’s built-in flashcard feature (also known as “quiz mode”) to study the images for exams.

Lu Chih, after. Cranes in a Landscape. Possibly 19th century. Painting on silk. Image and data provided by Williams College Museum of Art.

Govardhan (North India, Mughal). Holy Man. c. 1610-1615. Watercolor on paper, heightened with gold. Image and data provided by Williams College Museum of Art.

The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) has contributed 2,600 additional images of its permanent collection to the Artstor Digital Library, bringing their total to more than 2,750.* The selection in Artstor represents the Museum’s holdings across Western, African, Eastern, and ancient collections.