Much of the original and printed material which constitutes the history of graphic design is in danger of being lost. The efforts of libraries and museums to preserve this material can be enhanced by the use of interactive videodisc to record, and to facilitate access to and exploitation of, the contents of graphic design archives. At the Rochester Institute of Technology, a project which aims to create an ‘electronic museum’ alongside an extensive archive of graphic design has achieved the production of a prototype videodisc and of accompanying software. While the Rochester Archive is focussed on American graphic design of the 1930s to 1950s, an international network of graphic design collections, and of electronic databases, is envisaged.

Literature on Finnish art can be sought via the national bibliography and periodicals indexes and a bibliography of Finnish history; these bibliographies are available as databases as well as in printed form and on microfiche. A working party on art libraries is looking into ways of widening bibliographical control of art literature. The publications themselves, and unpublished information, can be found in libraries and archives of several kinds, from the Library of Helsinki University to the libraries and archives of colleges of art and architecture, museums, and artists’ associations. Many of these organisations are active in gathering and publishing information. The Fine Arts Academy of Finland administers the Art Musum of the Ateneum, Finland’s national gallery, and maintains extensive collections of visual resources, exhibition catalogues, periodicals, and press clippings.

The All-Union State Library of Foreign Literature has been engaged, since 1976, in publishing a series of indexes to documentation on Soviet cultural relations with other countries. This material represents an important resource for research, and, a record of what has been achieved in the recent past, it is a springboard for fresh initiatives in the sharing of culture and the promotion of inter-cultural understanding.

Art bibliographies published in the USA and the UK are notable for their quantity and diversity, for the breadth of their overall scope, and for their aim to document art of the whole world. However, their selection of material tends to favour both publications from their own countries, and art which, along with associated publications, benefits from commercial promotion; their approach to art and art scholarship in socialist countries is biased and inadequate. (Originally published in Russian, in Bibliotekovedenie i Bibliografia za Rubezhom no. 109, 1986, p.41-48).

The National Library of Australia at Canberra includes a Pictorial Collection comprising paintings, drawings, prints and photographs which illustrate the history of Australia. The Collection is being actively developed, the ultimate goal being a comprehensive visual record of all aspects of Australian life. The Collection is open to the public, and is served by a photographic unit; a selection of pictures are always on display, and items are lent to exhibitions elsewhere. A publications programme is to culminate in the production of an illustrated catalogue. Data on selected items in the Collection is being entered into the Australian Bibliographic Network database.

Western Australia has the dual problem of a very large land area and a small population with its capital city, Perth, one of the most geographically isolated cities in the world. The art community is active; art organisations, collectors and academic institutions are increasingly aware of their role in the promotion of the local heritage while realising the importance of trying to overcome cultural isolation.

For librarians, isolation limits personal communication with eastern states colleagues, hinders access to larger interstate resources, and adversely affects the currency of their collections, but it also encourages a spirit of co-operation, communication and sharing of resources at the local level.

As compared to card catalogs, the content and extent of the online database is not apparent; parts of it become visible only in response to appropriate search strategies. When searches are conducted by librarians on behalf of researchers, the researcher is dependent on the librarian’s expertise and on his or her interpretation of the researcher’s requirements. Remote from the data, and at a remove from the search process, the researcher cannot be certain that the results (if any) are the product of an adequate search. Only first class performance, enabled by subject knowledge as well as technical proficiency, involving imagination and serendipity, and facilitated and sustained by sympathetic management, will inspire confidence in online reference services.

New technology is giving researchers greater independence in their use of bibliographic databases. Art librarians should promote ‘end-user services’ which provide library users with direct access to online databases, although there are a number of problems which are liable to detract from the efficiency and thoroughness associated with computer-assisted searching.

Since the 1970’s the international Exchange Programme at the Art Gallery of New South Wales has become more demanding. Consequently attention has been focussed on the strengths and weaknesses of various aspects of the programme. While some, though not all, of these weaknesses may be capable of being overcome, they are in any case outweighed by the benefits of exchange.

Art book publishers in countries remote from the main world markets have to overcome formidable problems if they are to succeed in publishing books on the art and artists of their own countries. Quality cannot be sacrificed, but the books must be economically viable. Co-publishing offers the best strategy for increasing sales of appropriate publications overseas; co-editions, featuring well known artists, may do well enough to subsidise other books which have an important contribution to make to the documentation of the nation’s art but which are less likely to sell abroad.

A book about Yena art and ceremony published in 1983 contained photographs of sculptures normally only seen by initiated Kwoma men. Art historical and anthropological publications which disregard cultural and ethical mores exploit the societies which they purport to study. Art librarians should protest against such practices, and may wish to boycott publications of this kind.