Since the 1960s AICA, the Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art, has been increasingly concerned with the primary resources on which research depends. In particular, access to archival material was felt to be necessary in order to counter a dominant, highly selective, ‘modernist’ interpretation of 20th century art, with a more objective, comprehensive, and thoroughly researched history of the period covering all countries. The AICARC-Bulletin, founded in 1974, is devoted to primary sources, archives and documentation centres, archival techniques, and the ‘documentary’ approach to art, in relation to the art of this century.

‘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.

Universal Availability of Publications - and of art publications - can only be achieved by efficient national exercise of certain functions: publishing, distribution - and, by libraries, acquisition, retention, and interlibrary supply. Improved availability is needed in most countries if availability in general is not to decline, and, especially when resources are in short supply, this is most likely to be achieved by combining the best or most appropriate elements of different systems but also through either centralization and/or strong coordination.

An appreciation of the diversity of art library users and their information I needs, and of the literature of art, is a necessary prerequisite to consideration I of the objectives of cooperative collection development and resource sharing I among art libraries. The idea of cooperation gathered momentum after World I War 1, after it had become clear that no art library could ever be I comprehensive, and was put into practice after the Second World War, at I local and national levels. Local cooperative schemes were implemented at I Vienna and in Ohio State (ARLO); the Farmington Plan was by contrast an I example of a national programme. In the Federal Republic of Germany the I libraries belonging to the AKB operate a cooperative acquisitions scheme and I receive extra funding to allow them to specialise in particular subject areas in I addition to their normal acquisitions. The Fine Arts Library of Harvard I University participates in the Research Libraries Group Art and Architecture I Program. The concept of assigning different subjects and collection I responsibilities to different libraries in order to achieve comprehensive I coverage makes a lot of sense especially if in academic institutions links can be I developed between the library’s specialisation and the institution’s academic programme.

The Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum originated in the mid-19th century as the library of a School of Design, and adopted the title ‘The National Art Library’ later in the century following publication of the Universal Catalogue of Books on Art. Decades of steady growth and of low usage ended in the late 1960s, when sudden growth of art publishing, and of interest in art history, generated demands the Library was not equipped to meet. The Library possesses one of the world’s outstanding collections of art publications but is still funded, staffed, and administered as if its role was merely that of a Department of the Museum. Currently all aspects of the Library’s procedures and policies are under review; government funding is to be sought for a programme of computerisation, and it is hoped to redefine the Library’s role in national and international contexts and to re-establish it as the ‘heart and core’ of art library provision in the U.K., as an active participant in cooperative schemes and projects, and as a training centre for art librarianship, or in other words, as an active and truly national art library.

The Library of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe dates from the 1950s. Its acquisition policies mirror those of the Gallery itself, which since Independence in 1980 have concentrated on traditional culture and contemporary art in Zimbabwe; the library also includes a collection of books on architecture. Due to insufficient funds and lack of foreign currency, Library acquisitions are heavily dependent on donations. A slide collection includes specially photographed slides of Zimbabwean art. The Library is open to the public and is well used by students but not by local artists who are often content to continue traditions without seeking to innovate or to respond to other works of art. Both Gallery and Library have accepted and are developing an active educational role.

Since 1950, and increasingly through the 1960s, designers from developed countries tried to help with the design problems of developing societies. They were usually more successful when they lived in the country in question for an extended period and worked closely with local people. During the 1970s developing countries became more independent and able to design for themselves. Little has been written about design in the Third World other than official and conference reports. A seminar in 1975 demonstrated that cooperation between countries, leading to self-help, should replace reliance on ‘international experts’. The most urgent need now is for a breakthrough in alternative energy technology, and this is most likely to come from the Third World.