Finding openly licensed resources is not difficult, and with the help of Washington’s Open Attribution Builder it is very easy to correctly attribute the work to its’ author.

In Google Images, use the “Tools” button after you run a simple search to limit your results to openly licensed images. Choose a license from the drop down menu. If you might add, edit, or crop the image, choose one of the licenses “with modification.” Choose “noncommercial” if you are not planning to profit from the product you are making. Flickr has a similar drop down menu, and Pixabay is entirely free images.

Once you have found the perfect image, you should credit its creator. There is an easy way to do this through the Open Attribution Builder sponsored by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. You type key information in the supplied fields, leaving fields that you don’t know blank, and the attribution appears in a box at the bottom of the screen. You can then copy and paste the attribution in the caption of the image.

If you want to explore more ways to find and use openly licensed resources, Open Washington has resources under the “Find OER” tab. on their website. They also have instructional modules on many aspects of OER.

Using and attributing OER shows you care about intellectual property and support legal, free sharing of ideas and resources. It’s not difficult, and it’s a positive habit you can begin developing today.