Multimedia Search
How to find and use images (pictures), audio (sound), and video files on the Web.
See also WebCams
This page:
Multimedia, generally |
Images |
Audio |
Video |
Plug-Ins
Multimedia, generally
- GoFish - Audio, video, mobile ringtones, games
- IceRocket Multi Media - Songs, movies, music videos
- Lycos Multimedia Search
- SingingFish - Audio/video search engine
- See also:
- Audio Search Engines
- Video Search Engines
- Creative Commons: Content Directories - Audio, video, image, text, and other content that can be reused under certain circumstances
- Digital Librarian: Audio, Video, Multimedia - Extensive directory of media collections
- Wikimedia Commons - Copyright-free images, audio, and video; however, you should check the license restrictions of any file you want to reuse elsewhere.
Audio/Video Search Engines:
Collections of Images, Audio and Video Files:
Images
- Google Image Search
- Yahoo Images
- IceRocket Images
- Lycos Multimedia Search
- Ditto
- Picsearch
- Corbis - Large collection of images available to license (for a fee mostly)
- Getty Images - Another large collection of images available to license
- David Rumsey Visual Collections - Links to collections of fine arts, cartography, and other images
- Smithsonian Images - Images from the Smithsonian's collections
- Fotosearch - Stock photography
- FreeFoto.com
- Free Images, Free Stock Photos [freeimages.co.uk]
- Stock.xchng - Free stock photos
- Yahoo Picture Gallery - Offering pictures from Corbis and elsewhere
- See also Art Museums
- New York Times Photo Archives
- News in Pictures - From many sources
- Yahoo News Photos
- Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index
- American Memory: Photos and Prints - American history (Library of Congress)
- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog - Not all works in the catalog are in the public domain
- Flickr:
Photos from the Library of Congress - LC is posting some of its
photos to this popular site
- NYPL Digital Gallery - Images from "illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more"; just a part of New York Public Library's digital library
- Images of History on the Web - Article listing sources by David Mattison, Searcher, May 2002
- Barry's Clip Art Server
- Free Graphics
- Yahoo: Clip Art
- Flickr
- Picasa
- Big Search Engine: Image Search Engines
- Digital Librarian: Images
- Finding Images Online - Links in various subjects (Paula Berinstein)
- FreeImages.com - Directory of free and paid image sites
- Images Collections (BUBL)
Image Search Engines:
Collections of Images:
News Photos and Illustrations:
Historic Images:
Library of Congress
New York Public Library
Directory
Clip Art:
Photo Sharing:
Web Directories:
Audio
- FindSounds
- Yahoo Audio Search
- See also Audio/Video Search Engines
- Internet Archive: Audio Archive - Includes audio books, live music, news and public affairs, podcasts, radio programs
- Odeo - Music, podcasts, etc.
- See also Music Downloads and Audio E-books
- Pluggd - Audio and video podcasts
- Podcast Alley
- Podcast Directory
- Podscope - This search engine actually indexes spoken words in podcasts, rather than just descriptions of the podcasts
- Internet Archive: News and Public Affairs
- Yahoo News Audio/Video
- See also News and Radio
- American Memory: Sound Recordings (Library of Congress)
- Historical Voices - "Galleries," or collections, of audio material
- History Channel: Speeches
- Speechbot - Search engine for audio and video files available from news and government sites
- Presidential Recordings - Both public speeches and private recordings (Internet Archive)
- White House Tapes - Listen to tapes made by presidents Roosevelt through Nixon (1940-1973)
- See also Oratory for texts of speeches
- WAV Central - Sound effects and clips from movies and TV
- World Wide Web Virtual Library: Audio
Audio Search Engines:
Collections of Audio Files:
Podcasts:
A podcast is a series of spoken-word programs available for download, often in the form of mp3 files. Many podcasters announce new installments by RSS feeds. Use these sites to find podcasts you might like. See also Curricula and Courseware and Radio (many programs are available as podcasts).
News Audio:
Historic Audio:
Presidents on Tape:
Other Sounds:
Web Directory:
Video
- Google Video
- Search for Video
- Yahoo Video Search
- See also:
- Audio/Video Search Engines (above)
- Short Films (below)
- Yahoo News Audio/Video
- Vanderbilt Television News Archive - Index of TV news back to the 1960s. If you want to see the broadcasts, you'll need to order videotapes.
- See also News
- Blinkx TV Video Search
- ShadowTV - Subscription service to monitor broadcast television
- TVEyes - Monitors broadcast television; searchable
- See also Television for specific networks and shows
- American Memory: Motion Pictures (Library of Congress)
- Atom Films - Short films and animations viewable with Shockwave
- IFilm
- Internet Archive: Moving Image Archive - Includes the Prelinger Archive of "ephemeral" films from 1927-1987 and other collections, such as artists' videos and documentaries on war
- YouTube - Users upload their videos here
- Video - Directory of sites with video files (BUBL)
Video Search Engines:
News Video:
Video from Television Shows:
Historic Video:
Short Films:
Web Directory:
Plug-Ins
You will need plug-in software in order to use most of the audio and video files you find at the sites above. Most of this software is available in free and full-featured versions. See also other browser plug-ins.
- Flash Player - Multimedia (Macromedia)
- Musicmatch - Works like a jukebox
- QuickTime - Audio and Video (Apple, but it works on Windows, too)
- Real Player - Audio and Video; be sure to look for the free version if you're not ready to pay for the full version yet
- SVG Viewer - Data-driven graphics (Adobe)
- Shockwave Player - Multimedia (Macromedia)
- Winamp Player - Plays MP3s and videos
- Windows Media Player