Since its foundation by Frits Lugt the Fondation Custodia/Institut Néerlandais has been a well-known institution on the Paris scene. It is one of many foreign cultural institutes in Paris, some of which - and specifically their libraries - are described in this article. The unique character of the Dutch library is highlighted, as well as the way in which it is adapting to new techniques. Of particular interest are the plans for the development of special links with other art libraries, such as the Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA) in Paris and the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD) in the Hague.

According to a survey by Esther Bierbaum, museum libraries have poor status within their parent institutions, where they are often isolated entities. Yet current electronic developments as part of the information service model are resulting in a repositioning of such libraries within the organisational structure, as well as making them the best locations for museum information centres. Museum librarians are natural guardians of knowledge, and need to focus on supporting the development of information about the museum collections and taking on a leading role as information strategists.

The Archive and Library’s move to Carlton House Terrace, the areas of material held by the Archive, and its organisation are described. The role and scope of the Library complements that of the Archive. The Archive and Library are research tools for both staff and other researchers. The move has presented the opportunity to re-organise the Library so that it is more accessible. Through several publishing ventures information in the Archive has become more widely available.

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’.

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.

“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 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.

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.

As project manager of the Art Discovery Group Catalogue project, and on behalf of the artlibraries.net committee, Geert-Jan Koot explains the development of the Art Discovery Group Catalogue. This discovery service powered by WorldCat is a new, separate project developed by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) in Europe for art libraries, which became officially available on May 1st 2014. The project has been accepted within the international Future of Art Bibliography (FAB) initiative of the Getty Research Institute as its bibliographic component. The fact that the system is being developed in Europe provides an excellent equilibrium between Europe and America within the project. Following the invitation to participate, over 80 libraries have so far expressed interest, of which 60 have joined the catalogue. This project is a major step in one of the FAB goals of making art bibliographical information available worldwide through collaboration.

The Art of Costume Design: The Work of Dunya Ramicova is an on-going project by the University of California, Merced Library to digitize, preserve, and promote the work of costume designer and UC Merced Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Dunya Ramicova. This article talks about the collection itself and the various projects undertaken in support of its preservation and promotion.

The ABBA (Asociación de Bibliotecarios y Bibliotecas de Arquitectura, Construcción y Urbanismo) brings together about 50 librarians and 40 libraries of quite different types. There are university libraries, government libraries, and the libraries of associations of architects; there are large libraries with extensive resources, and small libraries with very small budgets. The only thing they have in common is their speciality (architecture, building and town and country planning) and the kind of user they serve (architects and architecture students.

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.

Changes in the format, design and content of museum and art gallery exhibition catalogues can be traced to the visibility and popularity of these souvenirs for the block-buster exhibitions of the 1970s. The increased museum revenue from these book sales and the need, perceived by the publishers recruited to museum staff from a trade background, to address the interests of a more diverse audience are identified as the two main instigators of these changes. The resulting exhibition catalogues play down the scholarly apparatus, offer more images particularly to enhance the reader’s contextual understanding and, in some cases, ameliorate the academic register of the writing. The uses made of exhibition books by institutions, their associated sponsors and museum visitors is commented on.

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.

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.