Illuminated manuscripts, Islamic books, rare maps and first editions are amongst the many items registered on the Art Loss Register database of stolen art, antiques and collectibles. Once they have catalogued and recorded an object the company’s experienced art historians are able to search the database as part of the process of recovering missing goods. But to maximize the chance of recovery it is essential that each item is carefully and accurately described, and preferably accompanied by an image of the object, and to be most effective this of course needs to be done in advance of theft or other loss.

Leaving a 200-year-old building that was never meant to house a library for a 21st-century facility that strives to address the library’s future needs for 25 years doesn’t seem like a daunting task. But mix together sentimental attachments, institutional idiosyncrasies, federal government review of a private building, historic landmark status, and the administrative merger of four library collections into a single library, and life gets interesting – especially when your architect is Robert Venturi, Mr. ‘Learning from Las Vegas’.

Because artists’ books can be expensive to buy and to keep, institutions need to have a clearly articulated rationale for collecting them. This could range from documenting the history of art, and contemporary art in particular, to a survey of how artists have used the book format to explore their ideas. This latter approach would support the use of artists’ books in practical workshops leading to the creation of yet further artists’ books.

The Internet is a worldwide network of electronic networks which is growing rapidly. Access to resources is facilitated by a number of ‘systems’, including Gopher and World Wide Web. Improvements in the organisation of and access to Internet resources are certain to be developed, and librarians may have a rok to play. Meanwhile libraries are involved in introducing users to different kinds of information resources including those available on the Internet. Art librarians should be aware in particular of five sites which are useful starting points foi looking at art resources in the Internet: ArtSource, Art Navigator, ArtWorlc Online, World Arts Resources, and Fine Art Forum Online.

Art libraries have a vital role to play in documenting and disseminating the dynamic cultural identities of Latin American and Caribbean peoples. In Havana, some eight libraries and information centres share the task of documenting the art of Cuba itself, and of other Latin American and Caribbean countries. However, their collections are under-resourced and, in most cases, out-of-date; automation is overdue, and there is an urgent need to create a union catalogue and to develop a network of cooperation. (The text of a paper presented to the IFLA Section of Art Libraries at the IFLA General Conference at Havana, August 1994).

A selection of ‘avant-garde’ journals, from the early 20th century onwards, which have included architectural material. The journals are grouped into countries (which appear in alphabetical order), and are then arranged chronologically by date first published. Part 1 covers journals from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and Italy. The journals are described by a number of contributors denoted by their initials: A.B. (Antoine Baudin); J.G. (Jacques Gubler); M.D.G. (Manolo De Giorgi); B.H. (Brian Henson); I.P. (Isabella Pezzini); F.R. (Franco Raggi); P.G.T. (Piero G. Tanca).

The article is the translation of a survey ‘La rete delle riviste’ which first appeared in Rassegna, no. 12, December 1982 - a special issue entitled ‘Architettura nelle riviste d’avanguardia’.

The historic site of the French national library is currently being renovated in order to become a major centre for art documentation and special collections. It will incorporate three separate institutions: the specialist departments of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the library of the Institut national d’histoire de l’art, and the library of the Ecole nationale des Chartes. Completion of the project is scheduled for 2017.

Why do significant parts of our art libraries collections remain undiscovered and unused? Seemingly invisible to students and staff, the university archive strong room creates a barrier, preventing our students and researchers from accessing and browsing materials, as they would with our open shelf collections. What happens when archive materials are freed from their confines, brought out into the studio and explored and used by arts students? Better still, what happens when librarian, archivist and academic collaborate to make this happen, enabling increased awareness of these resources and facilitating information literacy skills learning? Conclude this with an artistic response to this method of teaching and learning and you have the Animation Archive Day at the University for the Creative Arts. The day formed part of a longer term initiative put together by the archivist and librarian to raise awareness among students and staff of the opportunities to utilize archives in their subject specific creative arts learning and education. The project recognizes the importance of allowing students to steer and interact creatively with archive use in a library context.

If I'm being honest I still feel as though I am a bit of an imposter in the world of art librarianship. I often feel as though I have a very conservative, corporate and conformist approach to librarianship within the art library environments in which I work. I also often feel naïve when it comes to discussing and affirming ‘what makes art librarianship different?’ Acknowledging such naivety, I will also openly admit that until last year I had not heard of ‘critical librarianship’ as a concept, let alone ‘critical (art) librarianship’, which is how I was introduced to it at a day-long conference held by colleagues from the University of the Arts London in 2018 at Chelsea College of Arts.

In 2011, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc purchased a fashion photography archive with over 750,000 images from runway photographer Niall McInerney, with the aim of digitizing it for the educational market. The archive spans the period from the late 1970s through to 2000, before the rise of digital photography. It includes many rare images – backstage and street style as well as runway. Bloomsbury recently completed the three-and-a-half-year digitization project, and is in the process of indexing the images for digital deployment as part of Bloomsbury Fashion Central, which will also include the Berg Fashion Library and Fairchild Books content. This article looks at the drivers behind the purchase of the archive, the challenges it presented and the logic of partnerships with other possible content providers.

Art history in the Netherlands is supported by a number of art libraries in addition to museum libraries, among them the Royal Library at The Hague, the libraries of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science, both at Amsterdam, university libraries, and libraries of Dutch establishments abroad. The combined art collections of these libraries are considerable; access, however, may be facilitated by the Project for Integrated Catalogue Automation (PICA) which aims to improve on the diversity of existing catalogues.

“Informkultura” is an information system, for art and culture, based on the Lenin State Library, but involving other major libraries in the U.S.S.R. as well as national libraries and information centres in Eastern Europe, Cuba, and Vietnam. “Informkultura” disseminates information through regular publications, including bibliographic indexes and information bulletins, and a variety of information services. Currently, “Informkultura” is responding to the impact of “perestroika” and the ensuing demand, for, and democratisation of, information.

The Archives des Musées Nationaux in the Palais du Louvre comprise the archives of the Louvre itself, and of the Direction des Musées de France including the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. The archives of the Louvre include both ‘les registres de copistes’, a record of artists who sought entry to the Louvre, to visit and to make copies, during 1821-1850, and ‘les registres des salons’, covering the years 1824-1853 when the salons were still held in the Louvre. Together these comprise an invaluable source of information on artists in the first half of the 19th century, including as they do details of particular works, and artists’ addresses. A detailed analysis of this documentation was scheduled to begin at the start of 1990.

The quality of the library of the future will be measured not only in terms of its collections, but also in terms of the diversity and efficiency of its electronic services. Therefore, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek at The Hague is building an Advanced Information Workstation for the humanities. With this multimedia workstation, users can easily locate and consult sources on the local network (OPAC, CD-ROMs, databases on several collections) and services and databases on national and international networks. Facilities for downloading and processing information will also be offered. Care has been taken to ensure that the Advanced Information Workstation facilitates access, through full bibliographic descriptions and selected keywords, to sources of art history information on the Internet, as well as to specialised on-line bibliographies such as Art Index.

The Union list of art, architecture and design serials, an online database of periodicals on fine and applied arts, film and television held by academic, public, national and special libraries throughout the UK and Ireland, has been some ten years in the making and work is still progressing. In autumn 2000 funding was obtained to allow for greater progress on this critical research tool, extending the coverage of participating libraries and enhancing the bibliographical records. However the work of increasing the level of participation in the Union list has largely been taken forward by direct approaches to individual institutions and by July 2002 there will be over 60 participating libraries as well as fuller bibliographic citations.

In 2014 the RKD launched RKD Explore, a new interface for searching the collection databases. This state-of-the-art search engine provides a multitude of search possibilities. And although most of the art-historical information is still in analogue form in The Hague, RKD Explore lets users really explore the richness of the ever-growing digital content of the databases.

What is ephemera? How do we catalogue it? Every library’s ephemera collection differs greatly from others in its content and cataloguing needs. Does one dictate the other? Is there a right way and a wrong way? Or just a way that is right for the library and material in hand? A look at how these things were approached at the Wellcome Library gives an example of how a successfully ordered collection can be created out of the initial chaos with just a little forethought and a lot of hard work.

From the moment Gutenberg's Bible was set to print, books have played a role in shaping society. The enduring legacy of the book as a powerful vehicle for social transformation is just as significant today as it was over five hundred years ago. Contemporary artists’ books can serve as powerful catalysts within the classroom and in the community to foster conversations that address social justice issues and to generate dialog that can lead to greater understanding. This article will focus on how one liberal arts college library has promoted artists’ books in conversations to explore cultural competency and to encourage understanding.

This article explores issues of developing individual and collective professional identities within art librarianship, with an emphasis on art librarians’ relationship to art and art-making. By having more honest conversations around what art does, what artists do and how they function in society, we can challenge deeply held assumptions about art librarianship; in particular, that our work is somehow removed from the political and social contexts in which we perform it. Through critical interventions within our profession we can develop a better understanding and definition of our relationship to art and artists in order to situate ourselves within current art practices. We can then build impactful relationships and social justice-oriented solidarity with creative practitioners and artists who are actively challenging structural oppression and promoting social justice through their work.