Creative Commons Attributions

Best Practices for Creative Commons Attributions

  • Creators often have a note attached to work that specifies how they should be attributed
  • Follow the format, unless none exists
  • Keep any copyright notices intact
  • You may need to right-click or control-click (Mac) to get image info
  • Check creator’s profile, if no note
  • Hyperlink creator’s name directly to their profile
  • Hyperlink back to original work
  • If license applies to website rather than individual, attribute the website
  • Add appropriate CC abbreviations
  • Link to the CC license
  • Note any alterations you made to original

General rule:  Attribute TASL

  • Title (full)
  • Author
  • Source
  • License type

Foter Blog. March 4, 2015.
https://foter.com/blog/how-to-attribute-creative-commons-photos/
License: CC Attribution-ShareAlike License
Foter (CC-BY-SA)

https://www.newmediarights.org/guide/how_to/creative_commons/best_practices_creative_commons_attributions

https://www.wikihow.com/Attribute-a-Creative-Commons-Licensed-Work 

Chicago Manual of Style: Image Citation: Notes and Bibliography

Chicago Manual of Style eBook 

Chicago Style for Notes and Bibliography

Painting:

Last name, First name. Title of work. Date. Medium. Dimensions, Location. If found online, add the URL.
Bib example:
van Gogh, Vincent. Wheat Field with Cypresses. 1889. Oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 36 3/4 in. The Met Museum Collection, New York. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535.

Footnote example:
1. Vincent van Gogh, Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889, oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 36 3/4, The Met Museum Collection, New York, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535.

Photo from a website:

Bib example:
Bamin, Pierre. Golden Girls. Unsplash, December 25, 2020. https://unsplash.com/photos/WYoByjRH0qE.

Footnote example:
Pierre Bamin, Golden Girls, Unsplash, December 25, 2020, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535.

Adapted image:

Caption: Source: Adapted from Vincent van Gogh. Title of work. Date. Medium. Dimensions, Location. If found online, add the URL. 

Bib example:
YourLastName, FirstName. Adapted from Vincent van Gogh. Wheat Field with Cypresses. 1889. Oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 36 3/4 in. The Met Museum Collection, New York. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535.

Footnote example:
1. Adapted from Vincent van Gogh, Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889, oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 36 3/4, The Met Museum Collection, New York, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535.

Chicago Style for Author-Date (parenthetical in-text)

Chicago Style for Author-Date (parenthetical in-text)

Last name, First name. Date. Title of work. Medium. Dimensions, Location. If found online, add the URL.

Bibliography:
van Gogh, Vincent. 
1889. Wheat Field with Cypresses. Oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 36 3/4 in. The Met Museum Collection, New York. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535.

In-text:
(van Gogh 1889)

APA Image Citation

APA Citations for References

Cite all artwork forms from museums like this, including paintings, sculptures, photos, prints, and drawings. Include a description of the medium or format in square brackets after the title.

Paintings:
van Gogh, Vincent. (1853-1890). Wheat Field with Cypresses [Painting]. 1889. The Met Museum Collection, New York. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535.

Photos:
Stowers, C. (2011). Tibetan monks, from the thriving local exile community, walk through the city on their way to hold a hunger strike in protest at communist China's aggression in their home country [Photograph]. Panos Pictures. https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/APANOSIG_10313569575.

MLA Image Citation

MLA Citations for Works Cited

MLA citations should be constructed with a work's bibliographic elements in this order:

  1. Intellectual contributors: Creator (Author, Composer, Photographer, etc.), Editor, Arranger, Compiler, Translator, etc.
  2. Title, Title of Journal, etc. 
  3. Edition, Volume
  4. Publisher
  5. Place of Publication
  6. Year of Publication
  7. Location
  8. Pagination
  9. URL address or doi (digital object identifier)

Painting:
Start with the artist, then italicize the title of the work. Since you viewed the work online, give just the date. Add the website title and URL. You don't need to include a work's medium or dimensions when you view it online. (If you had viewed the work in person, you would have added other elements, such as where you viewed it and the medium).

van Gogh, Vincent. Wheat Field with Cypresses. 1889. The Met Museum Collection, New York. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535.

Photo:
Start with the artist, then italicize the title of the work. Date of photo. Add the collection the photo is from. Add the website title and URL.

Eppridge, Bill. Woodstock. 1969. The LIFE Picture Collection, Getty Images. History. https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/woodstock.

Fine Arts Librarian

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