A new course in Art and Design in Social Contexts, offered by Dartington College of Arts, is founded on the premise that the creative process is the right of everyone, and that this process is important in its own right and need not be justified by the end product. The multi-media course will relate the art and design area to social situations, such as industry and schools, and to the performing arts. The demands of the course will require students to be able to make full use of a wide-ranging library and of inter-library facilities. The library’s attempts to acquire relevant material have been made difficult by the ‘alternative’ nature of the literature, and by deficiencies in its bibliographical control and in the literature itself.