Artifact, which was officially launched in November 2003, is the arts and creative industries hub of the UK’s Resource Discovery Network. Variously described as a gateway, a hub and a subject guide, Artifact offers an alternative to commercial search engines, principally for those studying, teaching or researching arts, communications and other creative subjects within UK further and higher education, but also freely available to anyone seeking quality-assured resources online. With the support of a wide spectrum of professionals from both the educational and commercial arts sectors, Artifact is now developing into a comprehensive service that can help fulfil a wide array of information needs for potential customers from many spheres.

The Bibliothèque des Arts décoratifs, founded in 1864, has been available to students, researchers and professionals from the art world as a place of reference which does not charge ever since it moved to the rue de Rivoli in 1904. Its bibliographic database of 100,000 records can be consulted on-site or over the internet. But perhaps its most distinctive feature is the extensive Maciet iconographic collection, whose loose-leaf albums cover the walls of the reading room and contain over a million images classified by subject; this is currently being digitised.

The Design Archive at Brighton University, until 2004 known as the Design History Research Centre Archives, houses a number of collections which are of great value to UK and international design historians. These include the Design Council Archive and that of ICOGRADA (the International Council of Graphic Design Associations), as well as material relating to two well-known designers, James Gardner and F. H. K. Henrion. These archives, which actually relate to one another very well, were acquired somewhat serendipitously, but future additions will be chosen as the result of a more strategic planning process.

By the 1990s, fashion studies’ relegation to the marginalia of art historical discourse had greatly diminished. During the same period, US fashion itself emerged from European domination, with the action centring on New York City. Conveniently, New York’s art, design and fashion libraries, archives and special collections were already the most wide-ranging anywhere and, propelled by multi-disciplinary-, multi-media-driven interests, they have continued to expand their collections in all areas of fashion research and design, as well as in fashion’s innumerable contiguous fields. While discussing the multiple research resources available to New York-based historians of dress, fashion designers and clothing industry affiliates, this article examines issues of choice and magical serendipity in the context of an at-times overwhelming plethora of information.

In recent years many museums and art galleries in Europe have remodelled their libraries, often funding the physical changes by means of sponsorship, while at the same time re-thinking access and the services to be provided. This article analyses some current examples in Paris, London and the Netherlands and describes a range of different approaches. But it finds most successful the British Museum’s Paul Hamlyn Library, housed in the famous circular Reading Room and open to all visitors: these will discover, that, alongside modern databases, the Library has kept its traditional links with the book.

Student graphic designers want fast, easy and cheap access to high-resolution images. As well as using the image-rich art books in their libraries, these students can now use stock photography: those images of cute children, attractive couples, active seniors, funky pets, and preternaturally fresh fruit, plants and flowers that are used to communicate, influence, and sell something, somewhere, to someone.

The artist’s multiple is difficult to define, but could be described as an original artwork produced in an edition of two or more. At Chelsea College of Art and Design, the artists’ multiples collection was developed to give students first-hand experience of original work by artists, something that is rarely included in the special collections of art libraries. This article examines the history and development of this unique collection of objects, and how it has enabled the library to play an active part in the life and work of the academic community it serves.