Free image databases

The worldwide web is a wonderful source of information, but sometimes the sheer amount of content can be overwhelming. Where do you start looking? In each issue of Science in School, we will suggest useful websites for particular purposes.

Are you looking for a good picture to use in a worksheet, an overhead or a poster? You need it to be good quality, but you don’t want to pay to use it. Here is a selection of our favourite free image databases (you may even recognise some of the pictures).

The ECOD-BIO Picture Pool contains almost 500 varied biological images.

The Multimedia Gallery of the European Space Agency (ESA) contains over 3000 images and videos, as well as other types of visual material about space.

The image database of Interactions.org, a website designed for communicators in particle physics, has an extensive database of beautiful images.

The image database of Lightsources.org, which provides news, information and educational materials about the world’s light-source facilities, has a good variety of images.

The www.freeimages.co.uk database provides over 2500 images covering a wide range of subjects, including science.

The ESO Photo Gallery contains astronomical photos obtained with ESO
telescopes, as well as images of ESO facilities,
including the Very Large Telescope.

Wikimedia Commons is a repository of free photographs, diagrams, animations, music, spoken text, video clips, and media of all sorts.

If you use images from the databases listed above, it is advisable to check the conditions under which the images may be reproduced.

To suggest types of websites that you would like us to review, or to tell us about your own favourite websites, email editor@scienceinschool.org. In the subject field of the email, please include the text ‘Website review’.