Free Public Domain Images

The use of media, such as images, can significantly enhance the reader's understanding of written text. One of the challenges in writing is the ethical use of images.  For example, any image that I used for our Informatics and Nursing textbook must be either one that I create or one that is in the public domain.  The ethical use of images holds true for student submitted work.  The reason is that everything is copyrighted automatically after the creation, whether or not there is a copyright icon. That is the reason that many of the figures and images in our textbook were created by Linda and myself.

However, there are many resources to public domain images that are free of copyright restrictions.  Wikipedia has many of the resources listed at
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resources

One resource not noted in the Wikipedia site is Unsplash at http://unsplash.com/

Popplet

Popplet (http://popplet.com/)%20is a concept mapping app available for the personal computer (PC) and iPad.  It really is amazingly simple to use.  It allows you to use color, text, drawing, images, and video into linked concepts or popplets.  After you have created the concept map you can share it with others.  The PC version allows you to copy and embed code or share using email.  The iPad version allows you to share the concept map as a PDF (have to purchase the full version of the app) or email the file as a jpg image.

It could be used to create a concept map related to patient care.  I especially like the ability to incorporate media so easily!