Help / Search Help and Tips
Search Help and Tips
The more specific you can be the better your chance of finding the pictures you need.
You can search for images by entering:
- a single word (tricorn)
- phrase (labor movement)
- string of words (monk and Middle Ages and France)
- a century (9th century)
- a decade (1890s)
- a specific year (1911)
- medium (painting or photograph)
- seven-digit image number beginning with zero (0102552)
Spelling & Punctuation
While our search engine allows for multiple spellings of many terms, please use the word prompter as you type in the search box to find the spellings available in our keyword database.
Please do not use punctuation in your search.
Time Periods & Dynasties
You may further limit your search within a century by including the terms early, mid, or late (example: early 20th century).
For images from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, you may search for the phrase 'turn of the century.'
You may also search by historical time periods and dynasties (examples: Edo period, Pre Columbian, The Great Depression, Qing Dynasty).
Using 'AND'
You can use as many keywords as you like to define the limits of a search.
For example, if you want to search for temples in Cambodia enter the keywords 'temple AND Cambodia' in the search box .
The resulting search will find images that have both of these keywords associated with them and, therefore, show only those temples that are located in Cambodia.
If your search includes phrases or compound terms (example: 18th Century), please be sure to use AND between each compound term and other keywords (example: 18th Century AND map AND North America).
Using 'OR' and 'NOT'
You can also use OR or NOT to expand or limit your search.
For example, if you are looking for images of the Revolutionary War, but not images depicting the Continental Army, enter 'Revolutionary War NOT Continental Army' in the search box.
The resulting search will find images that have the keyword Revolutionary War, but not Continental Army.
You can also use 'OR' to expand your search. For example, if you are looking for images of African art or art in Africa, enter 'African OR Africa AND Art' in the search box.
Search Within
Upon clicking the Search Within check-box, the cursor will move to the Search field where you may enter additional search terms to narrow results.
For example, if you search for 'Eskimo and daily life' but only want to see interiors, click Search Within and enter 'interior' in the search box to filter those pictures from the first set of results.
Filter by Color
Use the check-boxes to select Color, Black and White (B&W), or both to return more precise or more broad results.
Filter by Orientation
Use the check-boxes to select Horizontal, Vertical, or both to return more precise or more broad results.
Search Options
The Search Options tab allows you to control the display of search results by selecting or deselecting Captions and Pop up Preview and increasing or decreasing the Results per Page and Thumbnail size. You may also select from your Search History to search again or rephrase your query.
Browse Images
The Browse Images tab allows you to browse by Category, Century, Region, or Country or by any combination of those.
Keyword Index
The Keyword Index can help you if you are looking for a particular spelling or compound term such as a title. Clicking on a term will take you to the search results page for that term.
More Search Examples
Woman and 1860s
Baseball and America or American
Fine Art and 18th century
World War II not battle