Founded on the collection of the fashion magazine publisher Franz Lipperheide, the Costume Library is a reference library open to the public, comprising material in many forms documenting dress in all times and places together with such related subjects as personal appearance, textiles, and social behaviour. The collection continues to grow through the purchase of newly-published and historic items.

The loan of works of art to the public was initiated in the Netherlands in 1955 through a scheme set up by a group of artists to encourage people to purchase contemporary art. The success of this scheme attracted support from the government, which was itself acquiring works in the process of assisting artists. Works thus acquired were lent to public institutions and government bodies, but from the 1970s they were also made available for loan to the public via artotheques. These two schemes gave rise to over a hundred art lending centres including hybrid establishments owing something to both; however, direct government support of artists has recently been phased out, and as a result artotheques no longer obtain works via the government and must evolve alternative methods of acquisition.

In recent years we have noticed a substantial increase in interest in our archive collections at the E H McCormick Research Library at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. With circulation figures for print publications generally reported to be on a downward trend for libraries, unique material is being eagerly sought out.

Who are our new audiences and how do they engage with archives in varying ways? What specific approaches have contributed to achieving this positive shift? Including observations from other research librarians and archivists, this article provides a view of art archive use and users, as well as the mechanisms that are proving successful. Our aim is to increase the visibility of our special collections to facilitate the unlocking of their powerful potential for the understanding and, sometimes, making of art.

As producers and mediators of digital resources, art librarians frequently interact with the digital humanities in a broad sense. In the following brief overview of recent DH work undertaken in US art libraries, engagement with digital humanities is evidenced by the development of open access projects, the creation of linked data sets and the innovative sharing of art and archive collections to support digital pedagogy. Related activities of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), its Digital Humanities SIG and the ARLIS/NA in the Humanities Commons are also discussed.

Response to a plethora of historical forces that devalue comics, including hostile cataloging standards, led to the creation of the Best practices for cataloging comics and graphic novels using RDA and MARC21. The guide supports comics cataloging using current standards, recognizing the great diversity in this sequential art medium, as well as needs particular to public, academic and special libraries. With this, and related current and future projects, the Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table (GNCRT) hopes to promote equity in comics cataloging, and improve patron access to comics.

The Sohm Archive, until now mainly known only to specialists, a multisubject private collection of documents and art from recent decades, was purchased in 1981 for the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, and at their re-opening in Spring 1984 the Archive was for the first time made available to the public. Its present Curator here explains the origins of the collection.

Since the 19th century, a developing awareness of cultural patrimony has been accompanied by advances in conservation, by the growth of a body of literature on conservation, and by the establishment of bodies, including agencies at the international level, dedicated to conservation. But not everything can be preserved: choices have to be made of what most merits preservation. Art librarians are involved, both as conservers of the documentary heritage (which contributes to the ethos in which decisions are made) and, sometimes, as members of teams responsible for the preservation of artefacts and buildings. There is a need for specialists of all kinds who are involved in the preservation of the cultural patrimony to work closely together, to discuss priorities, and to ensure that nothing escapes attention.

A brief introduction to Norwegian art libraries and an account of the founding and early history of ARLIS/Norge precede an annotated survey of bibliographies which include or are devoted to Norwegian art.

This article provides an introduction to the use of the Creative Commons licence system, and sets it in a historical, economic and political context. It is written from the perspective of involvement in open educational projects in an arts university that has used the licences. A description of the fundamental features of the licences and their uses is given, together with an outline of how the Creative Commons organisation works and its strategic aims. An assessment of the usefulness of these licences is provided, together with a description of the challenges faced in dealing with low levels of legal awareness amongst academics. Practical advice and sources of further information and guidance are offered to help readers implement the licences locally.

Introduced in 1947 as an event during Charities Week, the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) Fashion Show provided an opportunity to present student designs and fundraise around the City of Glasgow. Over the years, the format, location and emphasis of the event have changed, although creativity, collaboration, team working and the Students Union remain central to organization. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the fashion show, the development of this event has recently been re-visited and an exhibition developed. This project posed the questions: What GSA Archives and Collections’ holdings relate to the event? Are there gaps within the collection and if so can items be accessioned? What can be understood about the evolution of the GSA fashion show from this material? Is there potential for further research from this local event? These questions form the basis of this article.

The Materials Library at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar is the only one of its kind in the Arab Gulf region. The library's mission is to provide students and faculty with access to various industries’ most innovative materials and products. But collection efforts are frequently challenged by the school's geographical location. How can a diverse and eclectic materials collection develop and expand in the face of strict customs regulations, exorbitant shipping costs, and, most recently, a political crisis that has severely restricted the country's airspace and shipping routes? A supportive administration and a creative approach to materials procurement have helped the library become an academic and community hub for the research and creative productivity of students, faculty, and local artists and designers.

How to answer this question? I guess I began my career as a librarian at a party. Newly possessing what I already knew was a useless (in capitalist terms, at least) MA in Art History, I had moved to New York City to be closer to my family, and to stay up all night at MisShapes parties and eat pizza at dawn. I was working in marketing for Forbes Magazine, as you do when you're 24 and need to pay the bills and have no idea what you want to do with your life. It wasn't long after the financial collapse of 2008, when job prospects were very low, that a friend of a friend who had just finished library school at Pratt handed me a drink at a party and said, ‘you like writing and researching, if you don't want to be a teacher, why don't you become a librarian?’

The PHAROS online search platform is now open and free to use by researchers of all types. The online portal at artresearch.net has been developed using ResearchSpace software and funded through grants from the Andrew W. Mellon and the Samuel H. Kress Foundations. This initial version of the portal includes the holdings of seven Pharos institutions, numbering over 2.8 million images. In the coming months, additional PHAROS members will add their holdings to the online portal, bringing the number of images represented to over 25 million.

The overall problem of professional education for Italian librarians arises from the lack of specific schools of librarianship. Librarians must learn ‘on the job’. However, the inauguration of BiArte, the Italian Art Libraries Association, in 1988, has provided a forum through which art librarians can share their experience, knowledge and enthusiasm, and further their professional education … even if it cannot of itself win for librarians the professional image which only a sound, basic training in librarianship can provide.

When we define society today as a ‘global society’ we are saying that we are, or at least we strive to be, an interconnected society, even more than if we were to say society is ‘worldwide’. In a global society, borders are crossed, and the phrase implies interaction, participation and inclusiveness. Artists and designers, as both a product of a global society and in response to the resulting all-inclusiveness, or ‘globality’, of their respective fields, are prompted to cross two kinds of border: physical and methodological. This paper focuses on the crossing of methodological boundaries and, in addition, recognizes the highly individualized nature of art and design research. This serves as a launch pad to explore the question of how librarians can shape their practice in order to respond better to the needs of contemporary artists and designers.

The modern image library, with its large collections in a multiplicity of formats, requires sophisticated systems of classification, indexing and information retrieval. Alongside the traditional art historical approach to the reproductions it contains, iconographic indexes are being developed which treat art as a language and analyse signs, symbols and meanings. Given the increase in iconographic and iconological research there is a need for the co-ordination and standardisation of indexing techniques at an international level.

New Zealanders like to think of themselves as high users of the latest technology. Does this extend to digital imagery in the workplace? Curators at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki were surveyed regarding digital image sources, their use and the problems and opportunities they presented. They were found to be keen, adept users, satisfied with their technical and retrieval capabilities, and aware of issues relating to copyright and image storage. Happy with thumbnails in many instances, they employed the skills of the Gallery’s professional photographers when higher quality images were required. Looking at the move from analogue to digital, slide use was found to be negligible but reproductions in books and journals were still a favoured source. Disadvantages were downplayed and the positive impact of digital imagery was stressed.