A time traveller visiting a British art school library in the 1840s, the 1970s, and the 1990s, would recognise a significant degree of continuity linking the library of the 1840s with that of the 1970s, but would be startled by the changes which have taken place in the last 20 years. Rapid change has resulted from several factors: increasing numbers of students; a growth in the demand from the public for art information; changes in the content and delivery of the curriculum; and not least, new technologies. This rapid pace of change is destined to continue into the foreseeable future, so much so that, instead of adapting to change bit by bit, librarians need to envisage and plan the new art libraries of tomorrow.

The Frances L. Loeb Library at the Harvard Graduate School of Design has served the needs of the teaching faculty and students of the University, and of architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning design scholars worldwide, since the beginning of the architecture program in 1900. During that period the library has had two different homes, and the collections have grown through a combination of purchased acquisitions and gifts from faculty and alumni of the School. The library has been an integral part of the School throughout its history, working closely with faculty and students to support design education.

Access to original works of art is a human right which cannot be adequately provided for by art galleries. Loan collections of original works of art should be thought of as a logical extension of the lending, by libraries, of books and media. In Sweden over sixty libraries include collections of this kind. (A translation of an article which first appeared in Biblioteksbladet 1976, volume 61 no.4 pp. 56-60).

Given the complexity and diversity of resources in art history, the research student needs a thorough and systematic programme to guide him through the range of information sources from catalogues and indexes to esoteric and elusive art works and individuals. Such a programme is described in detail and also a survey made of the literature on bibliographic instruction in art history.

Special thanks are extended to Phillip Heagy for bibliographic assistance and manuscript preparation and to Sue Ramage for manuscript review.

In Japan, many different organisations have played a part in creating the digital content that we now see being shared on the internet. Starting in the 1980s, developments in digital cultural heritage took place mainly in five kinds of institution: museums, libraries, archives, university and research institutes, plus the world of business. Museums and libraries played a leading role in the 1980s, and they were joined in the 1990s by universities and commercial enterprises, which developed digital content in a variety of ways. In the 2000s archival institutions became involved, and museums, libraries and archives began to form networks to enable seamless retrieval of digital cultural heritage. In the 2010s, the focus moved to the sharing of data and specifically the need to establish a common approach for the exchange of metadata for the ‘Semantic Web’. Creating content for tablet devices also became important, as did the question of standardising technology. The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 brought a keen awareness of the need to create digital records to preserve and share memories of disasters.

Picture lending has, at different times and in different places, been championed by individuals who have regarded it — with some difference of emphasis and interpretation — as a means both of helping artists and of bringing art into people’s lives. Ten such individuals are profiled: Heinrich Schulz; the more radical Otto Nagel, and Rudolf Bosselt, who were active in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s; Franz Roh and Eva Pietzsch, whose work continued into the post-War period in West Germany; Pieter Kooistra, founder of the SBK network in the Netherlands; Knud Pedersen in Denmark; Karl-Heinz Bolay, who became a leading librarian in Sweden; and Heinz Werner and Isolde PreiBler, who championed the cause of picture lending in East Germany, in circumstances which imposed severe limitations on what could be achieved until German unification opened up new possibilities. (An English version follows the German original).

Early users of the internet and the World Wide Web soon realised that there was a need to gather together links to sites of interest to art and design researchers. The Art, Design, Architecture and Media (ADAM) information gateway attempted to satisfy this demand, whilst also helping to develop appropriate methodologies and standards. One of ADAM’s successors, Artifact, adopted an expanded role and provided additional services. Artifact subsequently became part of Intute: Arts and Humanities, which covers a broader range of subjects. Surveys, usage figures and social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us suggest that some – but not all – users and potential users appreciate the services that gateways, portals and hubs can provide.

ARLIS/ANZ Art Libraries Society, Australia New Zealand was formed in August 1976. Since then, ARLIS/ANZ has arranged a number of seminars and workshops for art librarians in both countries; found finance to bring three noted art librarians to the antipodes to give talks and workshops which stimulated both members and other interested professionals; and has published thirteen issues of ARLIS/ANZ News. ARLIS has served as a valuable support for art librarians working in isolation, at great distance from international centres of publishing and art activity. Distance between ARLIS/ANZ centres led to the formation of local interest groups and cooperation between art libraries in art galleries and museums, universities, schools of art, and national resource libraries.

This article provides an overview of the status quo with regard to collecting and preserving born-digital cultural heritage objects in the Netherlands. Since there, as elsewhere, the cultural heritage sector is still grappling with the realities of web 2.0, the article also offers some more speculative thoughts on where web 2.0 may take us, as well as some practical suggestions for the next steps cultural heritage organisations could take.

The New Brunswick illustration index is an index to the illustrations in the Legislative Library’s New Brunswick Collection. The illustrations include photographs, engravings, woodcuts, etc. and each is described in a database entry comprised of ten distinct fields. The project, begun in 1989, is not yet complete. The Index is designed to make the unique New Brunswick Collection more accessible.

Picture libraries exist in many shapes and sizes, within the broad categories of public collections, private and usually specialised collections, and photoagencies. Users of picture libraries range from students to professional picture researchers, though even the latter may need guidance. The picture librarian combines the roles of collectors and custodian while also making the collection available for use. The Mary Evans Picture Library, which comprises some two million prints mounted and filed under subject headings, provides ‘visual documentation of the past’ up to the late 1920s, with an emphasis on social conditions. Cross-references and photographic duplicates (retained for permanent reference) are interfiled with the prints, most of which are available for loan and any of which may be copied. The organisation of the library corresponds to its users’ needs rather than to a rigid system.

User education is a field of activity in which there are a number of problems that would benefit from detailed study, particularly because of its multidisciplinary nature. Such research must be initiated, reported upon, and not least communicated to librarians in the field who may subsequently be able to implement it.

(The text of a paper presented at the ARLIS Seminar on User Education held at Leeds Polytechnic, 7 – 8 April, 1978.)

‘Universal availability’ of art publications, which depends on effective national coverage, cannot be left to chance; within particular countries much depends on co-ordinated or complementary acquisitions by art libraries and other libraries too, while at national, regional, and international levels there is need to ensure that no areas or categories of art are neglected, and to provide for the redressing of imbalances.

The renovation project of the Forney Decorative and Applied Arts Library in Paris, belonging to the Paris Specialized Libraries' Network, not only concerns the modernization, restructuring and security of the building, an historical monument, but also the library usage, with an ambitious cultural project underpinning the rooms' refurbishment aimed at providing greater public access to the library, the building, and the spectacular visual collections. New visitors, alongside established readers, are welcomed in the heart of the tourist centre of Paris.

A number of sources of inspiration and information, in addition to books on costume history, are invaluable to the fashion designer and the historian of fashion. They include predictions of style and market trends, visual sources of creative inspiration, and a variety of forms of historical evidence. Sources of information on style and market trends include forecasting services, trade magazines, newspapers, advertising material, and fashion magazines. Sources from which the designer can draw inspiration include paintings and visual imagery from the theatre, cinema, and popular culture. Historical evidence includes portrait paintings, fashion plates and magazines, photographs, literary sources, pattern books, and trade catalogues. Above all, magazines and serial-type publications are crucially important, for the sake of their currency, and later from a historical perspective; access to magazines is facilitated by indexing services.

This article contemplates how cataloguing ethics might be taught within knowledge organization (KO). This exploration of cataloguing education considers the teaching of cataloguing ethics within an example Library and Information Studies programme. The first part focuses on how cataloguing ethics fits into the structure of KO teaching, including questions about whether it is a standalone topic or an integral part of the whole curriculum. The second part outlines three example activities with cataloguing ethics contents. Six pedagogical points are elicited, including ideas around the power held by the cataloguer, the relationship of cataloguing ethics to the wider library ecosystem and beyond, and the competing needs of library user/librarian/knowledge creator.