How To Use ARTstor: Home

ARTstor is a database of images, including fine art, photography, architecture, sculpture, jewels and other artifacts, ancient art and indigenous art and artisanal works.

Please keep in mind that some of the images in ARTstor are copyrighted, and all of them are made available under a Terms of Service that prohibits certain kinds of use even if the original artworks themselves are in the public domain. For more information, see Permitted & Prohibited uses. 

Permissible uses include educational uses:

• In a face-to-face classroom
• In a Learning Management System
• In an E-Portfolio
• In a student assignment (but not a published thesis or dissertation)
• In a non-commercial conference, seminar or workshop (but remove the images if you archive your slides publicly afterwards)

Always cite your source! 

Access

Pay attention to instructions on cookies, setting screen resolution and disabling pop-up blockers.

1. Go to the Empire Library at www.esc.edu/library
2. Click on Multimedia.
3. Click the Images tab.
4. Click ARTstor.
5. Enter your Empire login and password.

Search and Results

There is a search box on the ARTstor main page.

1. Type in words or phrases that describe the image you wish to locate. 
2. Click Search.

At the top of the results page are several functions:

• Number of results found, and Sort and Number of results to display per page (just above first result)
• Arrows to go to other pages of results (above and to the right of first result)
• Limit options (date limit option is further down the page on left)

Advanced Search

To get to Advanced Search: Go to the ARTstor main page and then select Advanced Search (just under the search box).

Enter your keywords in the search boxes just as you do in Basic Search. More Advanced Search features:

1. Use the pull-down menus to the left of the later search boxes to select whether to join the keywords in the windows with AND, OR or NOT.
2. Use the pull-down menus to the right of the search boxes to select whether you want to search those keywords in a variety of fields such as: Creator (artist, photographer, etc.), Title (of the work), or Location.
3. Underneath the search boxes, you can limit your search by date or time period.
4. On the right side of the Advanced Search window, you can choose geographical areas and subject classifications within which to search.

Viewing an Image

To view the full-sized image and image information, click on it.

There are a number of tools on the image display page:

• Go back to the results page (upper left)
• Icons to Zoom or Fit to page (you'll see these in the upper left when you hover your cursor over the image)
• Options to Add to Group (save to a folder for later use or sharing), Download, Cite, Print and get a Permalink for the image. Note: Add to Group and Download require you to first have a free, personal Artstor account. When you click either option, a pop-up box will show you options to sign in or register for an account.