The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, based at Los Angeles, has developed rapidly since its foundation in 1969. The Resource and Research Center, established in 1975, has from its beginning aimed to achieve and to promote services of the highest quality. The Center comprises specialised units and a central core; the specialised units include two subject divisions (Textiles, Interior Design) which house appropriate collections (such as fabric swatches and trade literature), a Costume Library (a collection of over 2,000 garments and accessories), and the International Fashion Video Library which will be the subject of a separate article in a future issue of the Art Libraries Journal. A comprehensive user education programme is complemented by outreach activities and special events; the Center also lends itself to the role of promoting the FIDM in the community and strengthening its ties with industry.

Six qualities of Nordic civilisation are identified: the spirit of co-operation which links the five Nordic countries; the acceptance of the differing identities of distinct countries, places, and cultural traditions; mutuality of individuals and society; commonality the inclusion of everybody; care of the environment; and world citizenship. While the Nordic spirit of co-operation in particular is exemplified by ARLIS NORDEN, each of these qualities is perceived to have implications for the arts, for art libraries, and for ARLIS NORDEN, and together they illuminate an international role for art librarians to help each other to serve local communities and to cherish local arts.

Iceland’s cultural heritage dates back to the Vikings. While crafts have always been important to the Icelandic way of life, the country has become much more art and design conscious with the development of educational and cultural institutions in the last hundred years. The National Library receives copies of all Icelandic publications and publishes the Icelandic national bibliography (which includes art but omits some exhibition catalogues); in addition the Library of the National Gallery collects all published literature on Icelandic art. There is a major art collection in the University Library and a specialist art library at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts. The Nordic House at Reykjavίk accommodates an artotek. Because of its isolation, Iceland is unusually dependent on libraries for knowledge of world art, and much work remains to be done on the bibliography of Icelandic art. However, art librarianship has made substantial progress since the 1970s, and training in art librarianship is available.

Since reorganisation in 1978, the former ‘Svensk Konsthistorisk Bibliografi’ has been published under the title ‘Svensk Konstvetenskaplig Bibliografi’ (SKvB) in the journal Konsthistorisk tidskrift. More recently the bibliography has become the basis of a computerised database, KONSTDOK, accessible on-line through the host Goteborgs Datacentral (GD). Coverage encompasses all aspects of Swedish art, and publications of Swedish art historians.

The All-Union State Library of Foreign Literature has extensive holdings of art literature which are used far more than any other material. Access is via alphabetic and subject catalogues. Journal articles are also indexed, and data is forwarded to the V. I. Lenin State Library and included in its bibliographic and current awareness publications in the field of art.