Wikipedia:Public Domain Image Resources - Governmental Resources

Governmental Resources

  • Google repository of LIFE images hosts a large repository of LIFE images; Time Warner, Inc. claims blanket copyright to everything but this is simply untrue. (see here and also see here) Anything more than 120 years old (i.e. - before 1892) is generally safe. (exception is if the original author died less than 75 years ago--45 years after these PD pictures have been taken--, the author lived in a state with Common law copyright, and the name of the author is known---and in that case Time itself is most likely in copyright violation.) You must remove the watermark if you use the larger image.
  • TotallyFreeImages.com - Totally free public-domain images - This is the largest archive on the Internet with over 494,000 hi-res professional-grade royalty-free images, 100% public-domain and acceptable for use with Wikipedia. (collection from government sources)
  • The Best Copyright-Free Photo Libraries -search for images on government sites
  • http://www.unclesamsphotos.com a detailed directory of the US Government's public domain image galleries
  • USCITES.gov - Endangered species photos, illustrations and video provided by the U.S. Delegation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (commonly referred to as CITES)
  • http://www.archive.org/details/USGovernmentDocuments Government Documents scanned by the Internet Archive
  • NPS Historic Photograph Collection - National Park Service
  • http://images.fws.gov/ - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imagery
  • images.google.com - use the advanced search feature to return images from the site or domain ".gov". {{PD-USGov}} may apply to such images.
  • http://images.usace.army.mil/main.html - United States Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library
  • U.S. Library of Congress digital image archive. (Some images are still under copyright, so caveat emptor.)
  • http://nationalatlas.gov Lots of .GIF image maps, such as Congressional District maps, all in the public domain.
  • USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Photo Gallery
  • U.S. Antarctic Program Photo Library
  • http://terraserver-usa.com/default.aspx - free public access to a vast data store of maps and aerial photographs of the United States originating from USGS. {{PD-USGov-USGS}} may apply to such images.
  • http://visualsonline.cancer.gov/ -Great resource for electron microscopy and histological images. Includes general biomedical and science-related images, cancer-specific scientific and patient care-related images, and portraits of directors and staff of the National Cancer Institute.
  • USDA Agriculture Research Service Image gallery A "complimentary source of high quality digital photographs available from the Agricultural Research Service Information Staff."
  • U.S. Census Bureau Photo Services - media "are free to use in news media and public information products" but are not in the public domain. Photo credit is requested, commercial use not allowed; see site for licence terms.
  • http://www.defenselink.mil/multimedia/ - Current DoD publicly released image
  • http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/ - DoD Defense Visual Information Center (High-resolution US military imagery; use with {{PD-USGov-Military-DVIC}} license template.)
  • The Congressional Pictorial Directory - also available in book form.
  • Department of the Navy - Naval Historical Center Photographic Section
  • History of Medicine at the National Library of Medicine. Most but not all of the exhibitions are PD. Clicking on "Metadata" near the bottom of the page will generate a popup window with information that includes Rights usage for each page.
  • NOAA Photo Library
  • http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov - Congressional sites have a broad variety of public domain images, especially photographs of representatives and senators.
  • http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml - A portal to US Government images and photos. "Most of these images and graphics are available for use in the public domain"
  • USDA Online Photography Center
  • Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Pathology and histology slides made by the US Government.
  • MedPix Medical Image Database Hosting by Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. The terms of use of the site state that the original submitter may retain copyright. Nearly all of the submitters are US Government physicians. The status of the submitter is available to verify that an individual image is in the public domain.
  • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
  • Oakland Public Library. Not all are PD! The image detail page will state the status, PD images will be clearly marked "Public domain".
  • http://srufaculty.sru.edu/david.dailey/public/public_domain.htm - Scanned and colorised etchings claimed to be PD images.
If any page or image seems missing, replace http://www.sru.edu/depts/cisba/compsci/dailey in its URI with http://srufaculty.sru.edu/david.dailey/
  • http://content.lib.washington.edu/costumehistweb/index.html - This collection includes 417 fashion plates from 1806-1914 from some of the leading fashion journals of the time.

Read more about this topic:  Wikipedia:Public Domain Image Resources

Famous quotes containing the words governmental and/or resources:

    “As a Tax-Paying Citizen of the United States I am entitled to a voice in Governmental affairs.... Having paid this unlawful Tax under written Protest for forty years, I am entitled to receive from the Treasury of “Uncle Sam” the full amount of both Principal and Interest.”
    —Susan Pecker Fowler (1823–1911)

    “Your children don’t have equal talents now and they won’t have equal opportunities later in life. You may be able to divide resources equally in childhood, but your best efforts won’t succeed in shielding them from personal or physical crises. . . . Your heart will be broken a thousand times if you really expect to equalize your children’s happiness by striving to love them equally.”
    —Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)