Over the last decade, most libraries, archives and museums have undertaken some form of digitisation project, making digital surrogates of their collections available for users. We are now at a stage where we must ask: how are these resources being used? Why are they used, and by whom? Does digitisation live up to its rhetoric of improving scholarship, and improving access?

This article explores how our understanding of the materiality of knowledge has changed during the 20th century and how these meanings got incorporated into the concept of information. Special attention is given to Paul Otlet, the founding father of documentation, and to Norbert Wiener, the founding father of cybernetics. Furthermore, there is the question of what these changes that surround the notion of information imply for the architectural conception of the library. If the current discourse treats the library no longer as a space of books but as an information space, what implications does this evolution have for the architecture of the contemporary library? What is this information space that architects are required to articulate and to interpret?

Born-digital design records are among the most interesting and challenging digital objects that archivists have to preserve. Currently transitioning from 2-D to 3-D computer-aided design imaging applications in proprietary file formats, design firms and their future archivists face real obstacles in preserving and making these materials accessible in the long term. This article examines three recent web projects/resources in Europe and North America that have attempted to establish guidelines and standards for archiving these objects, and discusses upcoming projects at the British Architectural Library’s Drawings & Archives Collections to tackle collecting born-digital design records.

The libraries of the national museums in Spain were established during the 19th and 20th centuries. Their holdings are the result of a long tradition of collecting, and together constitute an invaluable bibliographic legacy. With the objective of bringing to light and publicising this rich heritage, these libraries have developed an art libraries network, BIMUS, whose first achievement has been to create an online union catalogue. The project will continue to develop in stages, and its eventual aim is to help the Spanish museum libraries become a reference point for research into art history and the cultural heritage.

The librarians of two important theatre libraries in the Russian Federation – the Russian State Art Library and the St. Petersburg State Theatre Library – here outline the histories of their institutions and give an idea of the coverage and use of their collections. They discuss how they are tackling the problems of preserving their unique material, much of it iconographic, and the principles by which they select contemporary acquisitions. They also consider the challenges and benefits posed by digital material.

The planning and design of library spaces is changing radically in the light of increased expectations, developments in teaching and learning, and the growth of electronic resources. The need for physical space in the age of the virtual library has been questioned, but in recent years there has been a plethora of bigger and better library buildings. This paper considers the drivers for change in library building design, the importance of good communication between librarians and architects, and the underpinning criteria for good design both of the building as a whole and of the fixtures and fittings within. Modern libraries must respond to social, pedagogical and technological changes, and librarians, in collaboration with architects and institutional administrators, must design inspirational and practical buildings fit for 21st-century use.

Libraries can easily be integrated into a museum’s activities, since museums too have functions that require the processing of information, such as preservation, research and communication. However museums in Turkey were not notable for developing efficient art libraries until Istanbul Museum of Modern Art opened. The distinctiveness of this museum’s library results from a change in the museum environment in Turkey, and the introduction of a number of features that are new in art libraries in this country.

Showcasing work has always been at the heart of the arts community, whether it be through an exhibition, site-specific installation or performance. Representation of the original work has also been important and use of print-based options like exhibition catalogues is now complemented by websites and multimedia friendly services like Flickr and YouTube and Vimeo. These services also provide options for sharing born-digital material. For those working in higher education there is a need to profile both the personal and the institutional aspects of creative outputs. The KULTUR project created a model for arts-based institutional repositories and it is hoped that this approach will be useful for other arts institutions.

Italy is celebrated for its outstanding patrimony in art and architecture. Less known are its equally rich libraries and archives. English researchers are sometimes daunted by the perceived barriers of language, cataloguing and access when they contemplate exploring these collections, scattered throughout the country in state, academic and ecclesiastical institutions. Steven Miller, acting Head Librarian of Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales, shares his experience of using a wide range of Italian libraries and archives over the last ten years.

Wider social, cultural and technological changes are precipitating transformations in higher education. There is increasing need for universities and specialist colleges to operate effectively in a global online environment. The development of accessible and re-usable online teaching and learning materials has provided challenges to staff and institutions. This article explores aspects of the UK Open Educational Resources Programme and, in particular, the Art Design and Media Open Educational Resources (ADM-OER) Project which has sought to examine the processes, challenges and opportunities open educational resources (OERs) present to these ‘creative’ disciplines. Part of the project has explored art, design and media tutors’ perceptions of the shift to ‘teaching in public’ and we share some preliminary findings.

The author of this article set up one of the first materials libraries in the UK, and here discusses her work in researching and sourcing materials and products for use in design disciplines, both in academic institutions and in private practice. The article describes the practical and changing tools of materials research, recommending trade fairs and journals, commercial materials libraries, specialist books on materials and electronic sources including blogs. It lists industries at the cutting edge in developing innovative materials, and gives advice about the best way to approach companies for information as well as the practical aspects of keeping samples and literature.

This article describes some unusual ways of working with the special collections in the University of Southampton Library of Winchester School of Art. Two of these collections have proved particularly fruitful: numerous successful activities centred on the Knitting Reference Library have aroused great interest, and there is now a strategic aim of making it the primary research resource for knitting for artists, students, and researchers in the University, and also for the wider community locally, nationally and globally. The contents of the Artists’ Books Collection too are being shared with a new audience, through exhibitions, events and participation at artists’ books fairs.

The author describes a librarian’s effort in community-building in an academic setting, through the development of a podcast radio interview program. The paper addresses the professional rationale for this type of outreach endeavor, the communities served, types of content, the labor involved, tools employed and technical requirements, as well as the question of audience.

The Victoria and Albert Museum has been running an illustration awards competition for nearly 40 years. This aims to recognise and reward the best quality illustration in books, newspapers, magazines and comics. However, the awards have suffered from being extremely labour-intensive, had a very low level of awareness in the industry amongst publishers and artists and produced minimal permanent records of the quality and range of their annual output. Recently the museum has begun addressing these issues.