Wikimedia Commons: Great resource for images

Just last week I was talking with my students about copyright issues and how they apply (or not!) to educators. I have a difficult time with copyright, since the Fair Use laws are so difficult and arbitrary and actual copyright laws are not that interesting or understandable.

The problem is, of course, is that materials of all kinds are now freely available and very easy to insert and yes, copy and paste, such as others’ writing. It’s easier than ever to plagiarize and quite frankly, sometimes students may not even know they are doing it.

How can we help our students use great resources online while helping them learn ethical and legal protocols?

One way we can at least HELP our students avoid using copyrighted materials without knowing is to PROVIDE them with a place to obtain these resources. One very good and comprehensive online resource for finding and using images that are in the public domain is Wikimedia Commons. This site includes images and other resources that can be freely reused. When you go to this website, you’ll see a picture and video of the day and be able to choose pictures from categories or of course, do searches.

Yes, Google images is a great resource, but your students MIGHT find images that demand permissions before being used. For the most part, it appears that Wikimedia Commons has eliminated this issue and can provide a rich resource of materials that can be resused.

How about this image of a micro-fossil?