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Media Lab Guide: Find media: Video, images, music

Access to resources, tutorials, and other information relevant to the services provided in the Media Lab

Start with Creative Commons

Finding media

screen capture of Tool
Figure - The Creative Commons search page showing
all the different websites to search.

Discover: Creative Commons Search

What is it?
Creative Commons is an alternative to copyright that allows creators to give their work away for students to use for education. For free! All these generous artists ask for is a little credit.


Best used for?
Creative Commons is an umbrella for many different services including: Flickr, Google Images, YouTube, SoundCloud. You can get videos, music, sound effects and images through this page without worrying about copyright, lawsuits and un-fun things like that.


Searching Creative Commons
Capture of the ccMixter search results page
Figure - An example of ccMixter search results.

Discover: ccMixter

What is it?
ccMixter is a open repository of audio and music with many high quality Creative Commons-licensed objects.


Best used for?
ccMixter has many high quality audio files for use in mashups.


Select a video guide

ccMixter overview
Capture of the flickr search results page
Figure - An example of Flickr search results.

Discover: Flickr

What is it?
Flickr is a open repository of images and photography with many high quality Creative Commons pictures.


Best used for?
Flickr has many high quality photographs for use in mashups, PowerPoints, papers and anywhere else to add visual interest. It may not be the best source for graphics.


Select a video guide

Flickr overview
Fast Flickr overview (for savvy computer users)
Free Music Archive categories
Figure - Free Music Archive music categories.

Discover: Free Music Archive

What is it?
Free Music Archive is a repository of music free for educational uses based in a freeform radio station.


Best used for?
Use this site to find background music for mashups. Good for songs, but no sound effects.


Free Music Archive overview
Google images results
Figure - Sample Google Images results page.

Discover: Google Images

What is it?
Search images from all over the web.


Best used for?
Google Images is more of a mix between graphics and photographic of various qualities. Not as high quality, in general, as Flickr, but with more icons and graphics.


Google images overview
YouTube uplaod screen
Figure - The YouTube upload screen.

Discover: YouTube

What is it?
YouTube is the largest video sharing site.


Best used for?
Best used for clips in mashup videos or to add another viewpoint to any media project


YouTube overview