Creative Commons and Attribution: It's the Right Thing to Do

What do you do when you need an image for an assignment - a presentation or a paper?  If the image is one you created yourself, you’re good to go. But what about those times you can’t create your own images? Is it OK to just use that great picture you found on the internet?

It’s safest to assume that all images on the web are copyrighted with all rights reserved, unless otherwise stated. That means you need to get permission for use from the image creator, or possibly face penalties ranging from a take-down notice, to a bill requesting payment for use of the image, to legal action against you. Not to mention – asking permission is moral and ethical.

A number of artists and photographers, sometimes in an effort to generate notice for their work, have made their images available for use under Creative Commons (CC) licenses. The creator can put the image into the public domain (waiving all copyright), or retain some rights and choose from six licenses, ranging from simple attribution (permitting derivatives and commercial reuse, CC-BY), to allowing reuse as long as it is noncommercial and the work is not modified (CC-BY-NC-ND).

This work, "CC Chart", is a derivative of slide 88 of “The OER 101 Workshop at USM II” by Zaid Alsagoff used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.5. ”CC Chart” is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 by Amanda Pape

There are a number of tools available to help you find copyright-friendly images, such as Creative Commons Search and flickrCC. Recently, Google Images Search made finding such images much easier.

• Enter your search term.
• When results appear, click on Tools.
• Click on Usage rights.
• Select the appropriate license (“Not filtered by license” is the default). 

Google Images search screen shot taken and further modified by Amanda Pape, CC-BY

Images (if any) that fit the license restrictions will appear. Depending on your search terms and the license you choose, images may come from Flickr, Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons, Pixabay, or the Open Clip Art library.  Be sure to click through to the image and double-check the licensing terms, as Google Images Search doesn't always get them right. 

It’s important to note that ALL Creative Commons licenses require users to provide attribution to the creator.

What is attribution? It’s the journalistic practice of crediting information to its source (so you know where something came from), and a concept in copyright law requiring acknowledgement of the creator of a work (such as an image) which is used or appears in another work (such as your blog or Facebook post).

Why should you provide attributions? Using other's images without giving credit is plagiarism. Also, think about how you might feel if someone “borrowed” one of your images to use on a website and did not give you credit, thereby implying that the image was his/her (or another’s) creation. This has happened to me (more than once), and I wasn’t too happy about it. (Luckily, in both cases, the borrowers added or corrected the attribution when I commented on the mistake.)

When using Creative Commons images, you must credit the photographers/artists in the manner they specify (if they do so). Sometimes you can find the preferred attribution with the image, or on a profile page from the website where you found the image.

Just as there are tools to help you find copyright-friendly images to use, there are tools available to generate attributions when no specific one is provided. Unfortunately, none of the tools I’ve tried (such as flickrCC, OpenAttribute, and ImageCodr) fully and consistently meet the Creative Commons guidelines for attribution, which require that you:

• Cite the work’s title or name (and link it directly to source of the original work). 
• Cite the author’s name, screen or real (and link to the author’s profile page when available). 
• Cite the specific CC license the work is under (and link to the license deed on the CC website). 
• Keep intact any copyright notices for the work. 
• Indicate if the image has been modified or adapted by you in any way.

If you use one of the citation tools mentioned above, take what it generates and fill in the missing pieces, as much as you can. Make some effort, just as you would in citing text sources in a paper written for an assignment in school. The two images used in this blog post provide examples of proper attribution.

Here is an additional resource on proper attribution:
http://creativecommons.org.au/materials/attribution.pdf

And here is my presentation on Slideshare on Creative Commons licenses and proper attribution:
http://www.slideshare.net/CurriculumCollection/finding-and-crediting-copyrightfriendly-images-for-presentations-and-publications


[An earlier version of this post appeared originally on the Texas Social Media Research Institute blog on July 9, 2014, and is used with their permission and that of me, the author.]

New Database: APA Style CENTRAL

Do you need assistance writing and citing your papers in correct APA style? If the answer is yes, then you must check out one of our newest databases: APA Style CENTRAL. You can find it on the A-Z Database List.

*Some of the tools within this database require an APA Style CENTRAL account to access. You can create an account for free.*

This database is divided into four areas: Learn, Research, Write, and Publish.

The Learn area has:

• Quick Guides - 66 short videos  that cover topics such as: how to set up the title page, and how to properly cite a journal article. 
• Tutorials - 18 longer videos that cover more in depth topics such as: avoiding plagiarism. 
• Self-Quizzes - 10 quizzes to test your APA knowledge. 
• Samples - 17 sample papers and 148 sample references that you can use as examples of how to format your own papers. 

The Research area has: 

• eBooks - 2 APA dictionaries and 17 additional reference books. 
• My References - allows you to create, import, and organize your references. *This tool requires an account with APA Style CENTRAL to access.* 

The Write area has:

• My Papers - allows you to write, edit, and save working papers. *This tool requires an account with APA Style CENTRAL to access.* 

The Publish area has: 

• Information on over 2000 journals to help you determine which ones to target for publishing your own work. 

Check it out and let use know what you think. If you need assistance with this database or any other resource contact us at (254) 968-9249 or reference@tarleton.edu. 

Attribution: It's the Right Thing to Do

What do you do when you need an image for an assignment - a presentation or a paper?  If the image is one you created yourself, you’re good to go. But what about those times you can’t create your own images? Is it OK to just use that great picture you found on the internet?

It’s safest to assume that all images on the web are copyrighted with all rights reserved, unless otherwise stated. That means you need to get permission for use from the image creator, or possibly face penalties ranging from a take-down notice, to a bill requesting payment for use of the image, to legal action against you. Not to mention – asking permission is moral and ethical.

A number of artists and photographers, sometimes in an effort to generate notice for their work, have made their images available for use under Creative Commons (CC) licenses. The creator can put the image into the public domain (waiving all copyright), or retain some rights and choose from six licenses, ranging from simple attribution (permitting derivatives and commercial reuse, CC-BY), to allowing reuse as long as it is noncommercial and the work is not modified (CC-BY-NC-ND).

This work, "CC Chart", is a derivative of slide 88 of “The OER 101 Workshop at USM II” by Zaid Alsagoff used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.5. ”CC Chart” is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 by Amanda Pape

There are a number of tools available to help you find copyright-friendly images, such as Creative Commons Search and flickrCC. Recently, Google Image Search made finding such images much easier.

• Enter your search term.
• Click on Search tools.
• Click on Usage rights.
• Select the appropriate license (“Not filtered by license” is the default). 

Google image search screen shot taken and further modified by Amanda Pape, CC-BY

Images (if any) that fit the license restrictions will appear. Depending on your search terms and the license you choose, images may come from Flickr, Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons, Pixabay, or the Open Clip Art library.

It’s important to note that ALL Creative Commons licenses require users to provide attribution to the creator.

What is attribution? It’s the journalistic practice of crediting information to its source (so you know where something came from), and a concept in copyright law requiring acknowledgement of the creator of a work (such as an image) which is used or appears in another work (such as your blog or Facebook post).

Why should you provide attributions? Using other's images without giving credit is plagiarism. Also, think about how you might feel if someone “borrowed” one of your images to use on a website and did not give you credit, thereby implying that the image was their (or another’s) creation. This has happened to me (more than once), and I wasn’t too happy about it. (Luckily, in both cases, the borrowers added or corrected the attribution when I commented on the mistake.)

When using Creative Commons images, you must credit the photographers/artists in the manner they specify (if they do so). Sometimes you can find the preferred attribution with the image, or on a profile page from the website where you found the image.

Just as there are tools to help you find copyright-friendly images to use, there are tools available to generate attributions when no specific one is provided. Unfortunately, none of the tools I’ve tried (such as flickrCC, OpenAttribute, and ImageCodr) fully and consistently meet the Creative Commons guidelines for attribution, which require that you:

• Cite the work’s title or name (and link it directly to source of the original work). 
• Cite the author’s name, screen or real (and link to the author’s profile page when available). 
• Cite the specific CC license the work is under (and link to the license deed on the CC website). 
• Keep intact any copyright notices for the work. 
• Indicate if the image has been modified or adapted by you in any way.

If you use one of the citation tools mentioned above, take what it generates and fill in the missing pieces, as much as you can. Make some effort, just as you would in citing text sources in a paper written for an assignment in school. The two images used in this blog post provide examples of proper attribution.

Here are some additional resources on proper attribution:
http://foter.com/blog/how-to-attribute-creative-commons-photos/ (has a great infographic), and http://creativecommons.org.au/materials/attribution.pdf

And here is my presentation on Slideshare on Creative Commons licenses and proper attribution:
http://www.slideshare.net/CurriculumCollection/finding-and-crediting-copyrightfriendly-images-for-presentations-and-publications

[A slight variation on this post appeared originally on the Texas Social Media Research Institute blog on July 9, 2014, and is used with their permission and that of me, the author.]

Citing Sources--Help and More

Citing your sources for a research paper can be a daunting prospect. 
There are so many questions.

• Is your book an e-book or a print book?
• Is that internet source an article, a blog post, a web page, or an online newsletter?
• Is it possible  (or even desirable) to cite a tweet?

Perhaps you've felt something like this:

Gif obtained at giphy.com http://giphy.com/gifs/cz314BBYiCkiA

Don't worry. We're here to help.

Our Citing Sources page is an excellent resource.

It has the following:

• Link to a sample APA paper carefully crafted by two of our librarians.
• Information for print copies of citation manuals in the library.
• Links to Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL), which has dozens of examples of how to cite different resources in APA, Chicago, and MLA style.

A screenshot of our Citing Sources page.

You can also get citation help...

• in person at the Information Desk on any floor.
• by phone at (254) 968-9249 during library hours.
• by using our online Ask A Librarian form.

Discovery Search has citation help

Did you know that our Discovery search tool can help you with citations?
Here's how.

Citation Help in Discovery
1. Do an article search.
2.   Click on a hyperlinked title in your results for the article you'd like to use (see below).

Screenshot from a Discovery search results page.

2.  Click the yellow icon labeled "Cite" on the next screen and a drop down menu will appear.

The next screen gives you details about the article.

3. Click on your desired citation format from the drop down menu.

Styles include AMA, APA, and MLA.

Citation Saving

From here, you can either:
a) copy and paste your citation into Word or
b) click on the e-mail icon to the right to e-mail yourself the citation (be sure to select the correct format on your e-mail screen). 

If you subscribe to bibliographic management software, such as EndNote, you can c), export the citation to your account.

Citation Errors
Be sure to check your citation for mistakes. 

Reliable sources to use include our manuals at the reference desk, or the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) site  or  our Citing Sources page.

By the way, did you notice that the APA citation pictured above is incorrect?  It requires a hanging indent. Can you spot any other mistakes?

How to create a hanging indent in Word 2010

Both MLA and APA citation styles require a hanging indent--that is, the indentation of all lines, except the first, in your citation. 

Here's how to create hanging indents for your Works Cited or Reference page.

1. Open your Word 2010 document (it should default to the Home tab).
2.  Highlight the text you'd like to convert.
4.  Click the small arrow next to Paragraph (click on picture for larger view).
5.  The Paragraph box should default to Indents and Spacing.
Underneath the Special section, click on the drop down menu.
6.  Select Hanging.

Under the Home tab in Word 2010, click on the Paragraph arrow.
Under Indents and Spacing click the Special drop down menu and select Hanging.

7.  The result should look something like the image below.

This citation has a hanging indent.

Ask a Librarian???

Need Help, like yesterday? You can call the reference desk during library hours at (254) 968-9249 or send an email via web form.


Ask A Librarian QR code

• Can't find the article you need in the databases?
• Frustrated with citations?
• Lose a book and not sure what fines you'll have?
• Not certain where to begin with your research?
• Need help resetting your NTNET password?
• Want to make a suggestion or request an item?

"Ask A Librarian" is the key to your success with any of these issues and more. Our Librarians will get you started in the right direction and help clear up any uncertainties. Feel free to email, call, come in person, or use the "Ask A Librarian" web form, it's that easy and convenient.

Top 10 Tuesday: Tips for E-Research

Research can be pretty daunting -- so many possible starting places, so little time. Online resources can help us locate useful, quality information, as well as meet deadlines if used systematically. The following list presents one possible strategy: begin with general resources and progress to more specialized resources.

10. Start with Wikipedia for topic overviews.
While not considered appropriate for most academic papers, encyclopedias like Wikipedia are good starting spots because they can help us understand a topic well enough to begin researching it.

9. Read the library's e-books (and print books, too).
Books offer in-depth discussions, have indexes for locating specific information, provide recommended reading lists, and can help you obtain a lot of information in a short time.

8. Use Google Scholar to begin locating materials.
Use this tool to locate article citations and, perhaps, links to articles in Tarleton Libraries' databases via SFX. It's a handy way to get a sampling of the research materials available on your topic.

7. Advance to the Tarleton Libraries' web site.
When you're ready to locate scholarly sources (i.e. when your instructor says "use peer-reviewed resources" or "locate some credible books on this subject"), go to your library -- either online or in person. Check out the resources, tips, and services available to you as part of the Tarleton community. You may be surprised at the resources that await you.

6. Check out the library's subject research guides.
These guides offer "starter" lists of databases and selected Internet sites, which are organized by subject to help "jumpstart" your research.

5. Search the library databases.
Using the library's databases gives you access to 1000s of electronic journals, trade magazines, and newspaper, as well as article citations, research reports, and online reference works.

4. Use interlibrary loan to get more materials.
If what you want/need isn't available via your Tarleton library (either electronically or in print), ask us to get it for you via your ILLiad account.

3. Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate.
Use evaluation criteria like authority, currency, reliability, etc. to help you choose resources worthy of being in your papers/projects.

2. Use the University Writing Center's citation resources.
The Writing Center staff can help you organize, develop, and document all types of research papers -- in person and online.

1. Confused? Ask for assistance.
Use Dick Smith Library's Ask a Librarian email reference, call the library's Information Desk (254-968-9249), or stop by during library hours. We can help you locate resources, give you tips for searching the library's database/catalog, and assist you in figuring out how to cite sources.

An information mystery

Although I don't own an e-reader, I like to read about them and keep track of what's going on in the e-book world, just in case I ever decide to break down and buy one. Recently, I read about a report by Alloy Media + Marketing that found that 2 percent of college students currently own an e-reader and 50 percent say they plan to buy one in the next year.

I was going to write about college students and e-book readers, something along the lines of "What do you think about these statistics? Do you own an e-reader? Which one do you own or plan to get, and why did you choose that particular one?" However, I decided to try to track down Alloy Media + Marketing's original report and check it first, just in case, and that's when things got interesting.

The full report is available on Alloy Media + Marketing's New Releases page (choose the July 7, 2010 title). Although I found some of the other statistics the article I read had cited, I could not find anything in the report about college students and e-readers. The e-reader statistics have been mentioned in multiple blog posts and online news articles (for example, this, this, and this), all of which say they came from Alloy Media + Marketing's report. That doesn't necessarily mean that the additional findings scheduled for release later this month won't include the college students and e-readers statistics that so many have mentioned, but I don't see those numbers mentioned in this particular report. I haven't even been able to figure out exactly where these numbers really came from, because everything I've found that mentioned them refers to either a "recent report" from Alloy Media + Marketing or the exact report that I already found.

This, by the way, is a nice example of why it's a good idea to hunt down the original version of whatever it is you're citing, rather than just trusting that the information from a secondary source is correct and/or complete.

Have you ever had something like this happen to you before? Have you ever tried to confirm information that seemed to be quoted everywhere but couldn't find the original source of that information? Please comment and share - I'd love to hear about it.

Re-Issue of APA Publication Manual 6th ed.

If you bought the first printing of the 2009 Publication Manual of the American Psychology Association (6th edition), you need this information.

The first printing of APA's 2009 Publication Manual (6th ed.) contained many errors. APA has agreed to replace the error-ridden first printing with a corrected edition -- at no charge to the purchaser.

To determine if your copy is the first or second printing, look at the copyright page and note the publication date.

• July 2009 means you have the first printing. Send it back for a replacement.
• Second Printing: August 2009 means you have the corrected hardback or spiral version. Do not send it back
• Second Printing: October 2009 means you have the correct paperback version. Do not send it back.

Use these steps to obtain a corrected printing of the APA Publication Manual 6th edition:

• Before you call the APA Service Center, have the following information available
• Number of copies purchased.
• Date copies were purchased.
• Vendor or bookstore each copy was purchased from.
• Cost of each copy.
• Call the APA Service Center at 1-800-374-2721 (9 am - 6 pm Eastern time).
• Select option 4.
• Be prepared to be on hold for a while due to high call volume.
• Give APA the above information, your full name, phone number, e-mail address and complete mailing address.
• If you use a campus building T-Box number, give your building's name and your T-Box number (Example: Dick Smith Library, T-0450). Otherwise, UPS may not deliver your package.
• After your phone request, you should receive an e-mail with two PDF attachments:
• A UPS shipping label to use when sending the manual back.
• Print out the label and save the tracking number.
• A sheet labeled “Replacement Copy Information.”
• Include a copy of this second form with your package.

NOTE: The free APA Publication Manual replacement offer

• is only good between November 2 and December 16, 2009
• does not apply to desk/complementary copies
• applies only to the first printing of the 6th edition of the publication manual
• does not apply to related materials such as Concise Rules of APA Style or the Mastering APA Style: Instructor's Resource Guide.

For more information, check out this Chronicle of Higher Education article and the Boycott the APA Manual blog.