Art libraries are cultural treasure-houses, responsible for the preservation and organisation of materials which document art in all its variety. Art librarians should be able to adopt a broad view, capable of appreciating different cultural traditions and able to stand aside from current fashions; at the same time, those responsible for specialised libraries should commit themselves with enthusiasm and dedication to the particular traditions represented by their collections. Cooperation and networking is essential to link art libraries and their representation of different aspects of human culture, nationally and worldwide. While art libraries enable research, they also have a much wider educational role and should ideally be accessible to all. However, the provision of access to the library’s cultural wealth, which (legal considerations permitting) can be facilitated by such new technologies as videodiscs, has financial implications which may suggest that some services should be charged for or that libraries must seek sponsorship.

Museums, archives and libraries comprise a spectrum of collecting institutions whose interests range from unique objects to published information. Libraries have pioneered the application of both co-operative and automated systems to their collections; museums are following their example, and are innovating in the provision of interactive information technology. Dialogue between museum and library professionals is to be encouraged, not least at an international level.

In the United States, as elsewhere, cultural history represents, and is itself shaped by, many points of view. The existence of differing views of cultural history is reflected, in the United States, by the variety and independence of cultural institutions. Such a diversity of approaches does not facilitate the development of a nation-wide overview or of a national databank or national methodologies; however, progress is now being made in terms of cooperation and coordination, especially through the development and acceptance of standards which make different data systems compatible with one another.

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.

La Direction du Patrimoine is the successor of the Commission des Monuments historiques, which from its inception in 1837 was responsible for identifying, compiling an inventory of, and restoring, historic buildings. During the 19th century, this meant, in effect, medieval ecclesiastical structures and sites. From the beginning the Commission was careful to safeguard its papers, including drawings and plans of specific buildings; a number of volumes illustrating the nation’s architectural heritage were published in the second half of the 19th century; drawings, and photographs, were commissioned, and a library was assembled. From the 1860s the Commission employed photographers on its staff and efforts were made to record those buildings for which the state was responsible. The documentary resources which accumulated became known as the Bibliothèque des Monuments historiques. Recent decades have witnessed the devolution of the management of historical monuments, while the documentary collections are being cared for, exploited, and developed in a wider context, embracing secular, industrial, vernacular, and modern architecture, as well as art, photography itself, and artefacts from everyday life, to provide the broadest possible documentation of the French cultural heritage. A computer system is used, and many photographic images are being transferred to videodisc.

The architectural heritage of the 20th century is peculiarly vulnerable; partly because modern architecture broke with tradition, it is less easily recognised as being historic and worthy of preservation. Furthermore, efforts to secure public appreciation of contemporary architecture have concentrated too narrowly on the ‘International Modern’ style at the expense of the actual diversity of this century, on certain architects at the expense of others, and on the individual building, seen by itself, at the expense of the larger environment of which it is part. To see twentieth century architecture whole, it is necessary to depend on not only buildings themselves (insofar as they survive in something like their original condition), and not only on publications (which have tended to reflect the promotion of Modernism), but also on archival sources and above all, on the private archives of architects. The value of such archives derives not only from handsome architectural drawings, which institutions are always eager to acquire, but also from account books, publicity material, models, photographs, and notebooks, and from the integrity and coherence of all this material which belongs together; it is probably the challenge represented by such a range of material which accounts for the paucity of architectural archives in the public sphere. Fortunately, a new climate of interest in architecture, which has seen the establishment of several museums of architecture and the emergence of ‘l’archivisme’ – a re-interpreting of architectural styles of the past, drawing on archival sources and influencing contemporary architectural practice via exhibition design in particular – augurs well for the future of architectural archives. In France, the Institut Français d’Architecture has been responsible for archives of 20th century architecture since 1980, and since 1988 has operated an information centre for private architectural archives in Paris and the surrounding area. Other regional architectural archives are being set up; it is to be hoped that the resulting network will help to foment a spirit which will lead to the establishment of a museum of architecture in Paris, while at the same time providing a safety-net to ensure the well-being of private architectural archives.

Religion and culture are inseparable; religion constitutes the living context to which many works of art belong and without knowledge of which they cannot be understood. Although the librarian who is responsible for religious material need not be a believer, some religious knowledge, preferably combined with a degree of sympathy, is essential.