Blog Category: Platform

Artstor’s global collections span time and cultures and provide a wonderful resource for teaching and research in the humanities and social sciences. Our “Artstor Across Disciplines” LibGuide outlines how Artstor’s collections can be used in over 20 disciplines, including American studies, religious studies, the history of medicine, women’s studies, and more.

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.

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.

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.

JSTOR users at institutions that also subscribe to Artstor may encounter a colorful surprise: some search results on JSTOR are now displaying image results from the Artstor Digital Library.

Did you know that Artstor does not own the rights to the images in our collections? When you search Artstor you may be viewing images from multiple sources with differing permitted uses. Some collections might even be from your own institution’s archives and available only to you!

To help you better understand how you can use the images you find, we’ve created a guide to copyright and image use in the Digital Library. Read on to learn about the different sources of images you’ve been working with, and consult our LibGuide to learn the finer details of working with these images.

Jacobello dalle Masegne and Pier Paolo dalle Masegne; Tomb of Giovanni da Legnano; detail of Students Reading; Museo civico, Bologna. © 2006, SCALA, Florence / ART RESOURCE, N.Y.

Back at school and looking to get started working in Artstor? Here are some tips and reminders from the experts in User Services to help you get started.

1. Register for an account (if you haven’t already). Registering allows you to access Artstor from anywhere (your couch, a coffee shop, or even on-the-go). Remember to create an account ahead of time for easy access before important research deadlines.
2. Already registered? Log in to your account once while you’re on campus. This will reset your remote access and get you back to surfing Artstor in your PJs in no time.
3. Use Image Groups to compile images for papers and projects ahead of time. Tip: create groups for each of your papers or presentations so you can refer back to your images as you work.
4. Bookmark our LibGuides and support site–they’re great resources for when you need help working with Artstor. We also have quick video tutorials on our YouTube Channel.

Start off the school year with more than 2 million images! Here are some links to help you get started:

Students standing with bicycle. Colby College Special Collections

* Register for a free Artstor account – you’ll be able to download images, log in away from campus, share image groups, and more!

* Learn how easy it is to download citations! Export to your favorite reference citation management program, or save them as a text file.

* Find out how to share images and image groups! You can use them as flashcards on your mobile phone!

* Take a look at our new LibGuides at artstor.libguides.com – they have everything librarians, instructors, and students need to know to get started or become experts!

In a hurry? Download our Quick Start Guide! Having troubles? Browse through our troubleshooting articles.

Vittore Carpaccio; Vision of Saint Augustine, detail showing dog and signature; c. 1502. (c) 2006, SCALA, Florence/ART RESOURCE, N.Y. Image and original data provided by SCALA, Florence/ART RESOURCE, N.Y.; artres.com; scalarchives.com

It’s very easy to share links to images and image groups in the Artstor Digital Library. Here’s how:

1. Open the group you wish to share. This can be a Private, Institutional, Artstor-Curated, or a group that has been shared with you.
2. From the menu choose Share > Generate image group link.
3. Click Copy to Clipboard or highlight the url and copy it. You’re now ready to paste and share!

Learn more about sharing Artstor content with others at your institution on our Support site.

Updated October 2020