UPDATED: June 7, 2024
It can be challenging to find medical images that are technical and specific to a certain discipline. You may be looking for a medical image to add to a patient education pamphlet, LMS module, or staff training presentation. While some resources are great for finding general images and icons, ClinicalKey® is a valuable tool for finding medical images that are derived from full-text information sources such as journal articles and ebooks. Read on to learn how to find images in ClinicalKey® and use them in accordance with copyright.
ClinicalKey® is a biomedical database that contains a wealth of content in a variety of formats. In addition to medical images, ClinicalKey® also contains journal articles, ebooks, clinical overviews, drug information, and procedural videos. Library Services subscribes to ClinicalKey®—you can access it from our Databases A-Z list.
Note: When accessing ClinicalKey® offsite or on a computer not connected to the Nova Scotia Health network, you may be prompted to enter your Nova Scotia Health username and password.
On the ClinicalKey® homepage, type a keyword (e.g. suturing) into the search bar (1), select “Multimedia” from the drop-down menu (2), and click on the icon (3).
Note: In ClinicalKey®, “Multimedia” refers to both images and videos, so your search may return results in both formats. To limit your search results to images only, deselect the “Videos” filter from the menu on the left (4) by unchecking the box.
You can change the view between “Grid” and “List” using the View drop-down menu (5), and sort your results by “Relevance” or “Date Published” using the Sort by drop-down menu (6). You can also further refine your search results using the Specialties or Date filters (7) from the menu on the left-hand side.
Another way to search for images in ClinicalKey® is to browse by broader specialty. On the homepage, under Deepen your specialty and medical knowledge, select “Multimedia”. On the results page, you can then select a specialty (such as anatomy) from the menu on the left (8), or click on “More Specialties” (9) to expand the list, if needed.
When searching for a medical image, it’s important to think about how you intend to use the image. Images in ClinicalKey® can be used in presentations for non-commercial purposes, but the presentation slides cannot be posted anywhere. To use an image for a purpose other than a presentation (e.g. in a patient education pamphlet or an LMS module), you must find out the specific terms of use, which will reflect the terms for the larger body of work in which the image is found (e.g. a journal article). Find out what an image’s terms of use are by clicking on “View in source” (10), scrolling to the top of the page, and clicking on “Get rights and content” (11). The Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink® page will open and list any applicable copyright restrictions, allowing you to request permission to use an image, if needed.
When searching ClinicalKey® for images to include in a presentation, the Add to Presentation feature may be helpful. It lets you add images to a presentation folder, then export the folder as a PowerPoint file. Simply click on the 
“Add to Presentation” icon (12) for any image. You can then create a new presentation folder or add the image to an existing folder.
To view and export your presentations, open the menu in the top-right corner of the screen and click on “Presentations”. On the Presentation Maker page, click on “Export”. Your PowerPoint presentation should now be in your downloads folder. Image details such as citations, captions, and copyright statements are automatically added to the PowerPoint slides and cannot be edited.
Note: To use the Add to Presentation feature, you must be logged in to a personal ClinicalKey® account. You can create an account by clicking on “Register” in the top-right corner of the page. If you already have a personal account in another Elsevier product (e.g. Mendeley), you can use the same username and password to log into ClinicalKey® without creating a new account.
Remember: Images from ClinicalKey® can be used in presentations for non-commercial purposes. You do not need to request permission to use images in this way, but you cannot post the presentation slides anywhere. For any other use, you must adhere to the image’s terms of use, and request permission to use the image, if necessary.
For more support with finding and using images, visit our Copyright subject guide or reach out to us at Copyright@nshealth.ca.
Librarian Educator
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