Best practices for crediting digital images online:
- Always use open source or public domain images, or get permission in writing from the creator/owner/subjects to publish the image
- Always provide a caption for the image as close to the image as possible (ideally, immediately below the image)
- Caption credit should include these core elements: Creators’ name(s); Title of source; Medium (if relevant), Title of Container; Volume (if relevant), Publisher (if relevant), Publication Date, location. Public Domain or Permission/License.
- Note that the creator(s)’s name(s) are in regular order, because there is no need for alphabetization in a caption.
- At the end of your online publication, include the following copyright statement: “Images in this online exhibit are either in the public domain or being used under fair dealing for the purpose of research and are provided solely for the purposes of research, private study, or education.”
- Remember: “fair dealing” means you should restrict the number of images to ONE from a single source; if you use more than one image from a single source, be sure you analyze the images so that they are clearly part of your argument and evidence.