Alan’s Box of Image Search Tricks

The Box of Tricks has new stuff in it!

I’m adamant in my digital work about using only open licensed images and fully attributing them (regardless of the license terms). Because it offers the ability of the most advanced set of search modifiers, yes I cast my search spins with Google Images. The challenges I find are that even with search options set to Creative Commons only, you find spurious results, and also, any second change to a search, flips Google back to all images.

In 2022 I provided s summary of a few web browser bookmarklet tools and a backdoor method to make Google Images deliver only CC licensed image results.

But Google search is problematic. Often its results for items licensed creative commons are not. The results are weighted towards certain providers. And as I found out in 2023, for weeks it was completely broken. 

In 2023 I strongly suggest you use and send other educators to use Openverse, the successor and expansion of the original CC Search now managed and maintained by the company that runs WordPress. Look for new content in the "box" fior using Openverse, see how it is now integrated into core WordPress, and see some new bookmarklet tools for searching it, and as well, a new tool for searching the Flickr Commons.