During October, 1987, Nicole Picot, arts librarian of the Bibliothèque Publique d’Information at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, worked at the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She also visited several other British art libraries in order to gain a wider view. Her report is printed below. As part of the same arrangement, Gillian Varley from the National Art Library spent two weeks, in June, 1988, at the Bibliothèque Publique d’Information; her report, and extracts from the diary of her visit, are also published in this issue of the Arts Libraries Journal.

Following Nicole Picot’s visit to England, the subject of the report printed above, Gillian Varley from the National Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London spent two weeks at the Bibliothèque Publique d’Information at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, during the summer of 1988. She also visited a number of other art libraries in Paris. The text of her report is followed by extracts from her diary of her trip.

In March 1988 the author travelled to Madrid to visit Spanish art libraries, museums, and bookdealers. The trip was funded by the Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft. This report stresses the value of personal visits and of direct contact in fostering working relationships.

The momentum which it is hoped will lead to the launch of an Italian art libraries’ association began with the IFLA conferences at Tokyo and Brighton. Subsequently, librarians in Florence joined together to organise the 3rd European Conference of the IFLA Section of Art Libraries which was held in Florence in November 1988. Meetings of Italian art librarians, called to discuss the formation of a national association, were held at Florence and, one month later, in Rome; as a result, a working group has been set up to consider a constitution. In spite of the lack of a strong tradition of cooperation, the progress which has already been made seems certain to continue.

A study undertaken by art librarians in Florence demonstrates that catalogues of exhibitions held in Florence during the decade culminating in the city’s designation as the European Capital of Culture offer clear evidence of the development of art exhibitions into a cultural phenomenon attracting considerable interest, supported by (and promoting the interests of) public and commercial bodies. In the same period, restoration has continued its rise to prominence, both as an added dimension to art exhibitions and as a subject of exhibitions in its own right; this trend reflects not only a high level of activity in the field of restoration but also an awakening of public interest in the process of restoration. Museums, sometimes in close collaboration with publishers, have learned how to use exhibitions and catalogues both to publicise and to further continuing study of their collections. The catalogue has become a substantial vehicle of art documentation and scholarship, an autonomous publication, no longer simply a guide to the exhibition.

The acquisition of exhibition catalogues is in many cases problematic, involving the expenditure of much staff time in addition to the cost of the catalogue itself. This is especially so when catalogues have to be ordered individually, whether from museum or bookseller; standing orders, including wide-ranging standing order arrangements negotiated with specialist suppliers, offer a partial solution; libraries attached to museums and galleries can also acquire catalogues by exchange. In the Federal Republic of Germany, exhibition catalogues are acquired by the seven major art libraries constituting the AKB as an integral element of their cooperative acquisitions programme, but documentation of contemporary art is not acquired comprehensively.

Exhibition catalogues, in spite of being an important aspect of art documentation, too often escape the notice of both libraries and bibliographies; their existence may be unsuspected and they may disappear without trace. With support from the British Library, ARLIS/UK & Eire is currently conducting a comprehensive survey of exhibition catalogue production and acquisition in England over a period of twelve months; the survey involves the active participation of art librarians throughout the country as regional co-ordinators and local collectors, and it constitutes a study of the feasibility of a permanent collecting network. Such a network is desirable, not least to supplement the national system of legal deposit and to provide data for inclusion in the British National Bibliography.