How to Describe the Source

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The precarious tradition of images as mere illustrations and decoration for texts has given rise to the fact that there are no self-evident ways of describing, referencing and quoting pictorial sources in a manner adequate for scholarship.

There are still images to be found in school textbooks without referencing captions. Such images were presumably not considered sources by the textbook editor and, as a result of the missing reference, can hardly be used as such in future.

Ideally an image should be accompanied by the following details:

Creator of the image (photographer, artist, illustrator, etc.);
The title of the image;
The period in which it was created;
Style and size;
Commissioner;
The purpose of the image;
The image’s current location (if possible with shelf mark or inventory number).

Details on the history of the image’s evolution and reproduction are also desirable. Knowledge on its distribution is of great importance when categorising an image as popular, or as an expression of the mood of the time. Scholarly integrity further requires the holder of the copyright to be named.

When presenting an image it may be helpful to use a grid in order to locate details precisely. Schematic sketches including the more significant individual elements are also useful for this purpose; here, arrows or numbers connect the image to the key.

When using images from the internet it is necessary to give the date on which the webpage was last accessed.

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