Coventry University London: Multimedia Sources
Multimedia Sources Overview
Welcome to the Multimedia Sources Subject Guide
This Subject Guide provides you with key guidance around finding multimedia for your assignments.
Click the 
icon to find more information about a resource and how to access it.
We also recommend you visit our Business Subject Guide, where you can find additional resources - click here to visit it.
If you need any help, speak to a member of the Library Team!
How do I find Multimedia Sources?
Using the Internet to source your images or audio will open up millions of resources for you to use. With so many images and audio available on the Internet, finding the right one can be difficult if you are not sure what web sites to use. Below are some suggestions.
Any image or audio you find online will belong to an individual or an organisation. You cannot use any resource within your university assignments without crediting the creator. Credit is given through correct citation and referencing (see the Coventry University London reference guide for help with referencing).
Outside of the education environment you have to seek the permission of the owner. It is important that you seek permission before making use of images or audio.
Many images are made available for use. With websites such as Flickr you can contact the owner directly. More commonly people only use images which are available under a Creative Commons licence which essentially states you are free to use the image as long as you stick within the rules outlined in that particular licence.
Remember - always check each site for licence or conditions of use!
Alphabetical List of Resources
- Internet for Image Searching The Virtual Training Suite is a set of free Internet tutorials to help students develop Internet research skills for their university course. All the tutorials written and reviewed by a national team of lecturers and librarians from universities across the UK. These interactive, teach-yourself tutorials take around an hour to complete. Simply work through the material in your own time at your own pace.
- Introduction to Finding Video Resources on the Internet This tutorial will help you find online video resources that are free for you to use to support your learning, teaching or research.
- Introduction to Finding Images on the Internet This tutorial will help you find online image resources that are free for you to use to support your learning, teaching or research.
- Introduction to Finding Audio Resources on the Internet This tutorial will help you find online audio resources that are free for you to use to support your learning, teaching or research.
- BBC Sound Effects These 16,016 BBC Sound Effects are made available by the BBC in WAV format to download for use under the terms of the RemArc Licence. The Sound Effects are BBC copyright, but they may be used for personal, educational or research purposes, as detailed in the license.
- British Library - Sounds British Library Sounds allows you to listen to a selection from the Library’s collections of unique sound and moving image recordings. They come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds.
- Europeana Sounds Europe's sound heritage.
- Helix Media Library Henry Stewart Talks – Business & Management Collection provides access to hundreds of online, audio-visual lectures, presentations and case studies delivered by leading experts from academia and industry. HST covers six main subject areas, including Global Business Management; Finance, Accounting & Economics; and Marketing & Sales. Login: Once selected, follow the instructions to 'Login via organization' to access full content.
- Artcyclopedia This resource allows you to search for individual artists, works of art and subject terms. The materials are arranged by artistic movements and it enables you to search either by browsing the subject categories or by using the search box and typing in a relevant search term.
- Art Images for College Teaching (AICT) AICT is intended primarily to disseminate images of art and architectural works in the public domain on a free-access, free-use basis to all levels of the educational community, as well as to the public at large. The images displayed on this site have been photographed on location by the author, (Allan Kohl) who consents to their use in any application that is both educational and non-commercial in nature.
- Flickr : Explore / Creative Commons Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Show off your favorite photos and videos to the world, securely and privately show content to your friends and family, or blog the photos and videos you take with a cameraphone.
- The John Johnson Collection This collection provides access to thousands of items selected from the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera. The material selected for conservation, cataloguing and digitisation comprises a wide array of different types of printed document, including posters and handbills for theatrical and non-theatrical entertainments, broadsides relating to murders and executions, book and journal prospectuses, popular topographical prints, and a wealth of different kinds of printed advertising material. Together they offer unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Search hints: For off-campus access to this resource click on 'login via your home organisation', select 'United Kingdom' and 'Coventry University' then login with your Coventry University username & password.
- The Noun Project The Noun Project is a website that aggregates and catalogs symbols that are created and uploaded by graphic designers around the world. The Noun Project community is building a visual language that anyone can use and understand.
- Pixabay: Free high quality images you can use anywhere Over 410,000 high quality photos, illustrations, and vector graphics. Free for commercial use. No attribution required.
- Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian collection has a large range of image resources that are available to use for teaching and learning purposes. Search millions of objects in the collections including photographs, artworks, artifacts, scientific specimens, manuscripts, sound records, and transcripts. These represent Art, Design, History, Culture, Science and Technology. The resource has the option to either browse a list of subject headings or alternatively search the collections using the basic or advanced tools.
- VADS VADS service provides a searchable database of 100,000 images covering many areas of late 20th century design. These include, the Design Council Slide Collection and images from the London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins. All images are freely available and copyright cleared for teaching, learning and research in the UK.
- Wellcome Images Wellcome Images covers a broad range of subject areas, ranging from medical and social history to comntemporary healthcare and biomedical science. Images on the site are freely available to download for personal, academic teaching or study use. They can be retrieved using the search function. However, users are required to register on the site prior to accessing the light box facility.
- British Council Film: The Films British Council Film links UK films and filmmakers to international audiences, profiling innovation, diversity and excellence and seeking opportunities for creative exchange between UK and international film communities.
- British Pathé British Pathe, the world's leading multimedia resource with a history stretching back over a century. The finest and most comprehensive archive of fabulous footage and stunning stills.
- Communication & Mass Media Complete CMMC incorporates CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association) and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Penn State) along with numerous other journals to create a research and reference resource of unprecedented scope and depth in the communication
- The National Archives | Public Information Films For the first time view complete Public Information films on the National Archives website, featuring a selection some of the most memorable and influential Central Office of Information films from the last 60 years to celebrate the 60th Aniversary of the COI.
Database Searching Tips
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Coventry University London
University House
109-117 Middlesex Street Lane
London, United Kingdom
E1 7JF
Telephone:+44 (0) 24 7765 1016
Email: libanswers.culc@coventry.ac.uk
