This latest issue of Art Libraries Journal includes many articles adapted from conference papers and several from the most recent ARLIS/UK and Ireland conference in London, which took place during two days of sweltering heat in July of 2018. Conference presentations are a good indication of the current scholarship, direction, and focus of the profession and the articles presented here are very good gauges of the pulse of art librarianship. Transitioning a conference paper into a journal article is no easy task and I am in debt to the authors in this issue who have overcome the inherent challenges of changing voice, altering topic depth, and reducing visual references, to produce articles that are as substantive as they are lively. Jane Carlin looks at artists’ books as a path to initiate meaningful dialog on social issues and draws deeply from the collections of the University of Puget Sound, British Columbia. Lesley Ruthven and Ann Chow both look at creativity in art libraries and archives. Ruthven explores how creativity is developed and how teaching sessions can be designed to aid this development. Chow approaches archives as a creative activity and outlines what creativity could look like when fashioning archival workshops for students and other patrons. Jonathan Franklin looks at novel approaches to facilitate research – using the National Gallery, London, as his example, he illustrates the changing role of the museum library in research. Tavian Hunter takes a micro view of collection development within the South Asian collection of the British Museum – and raises wider questions of changing collection priorities. My own article looks at the ARIAH-RIHA fellowship that took me to London to investigate photo archive collections – their current status and future research potential. This issue also includes an article that is not moulded from a conference presentation – and indeed is a preview for a future special issue devoted to photo archives. Costanza Caraffa unravels the entwined histories of photo archives, photography, and art history. Using examples from the Photothek at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max Planck Institute, Caraffa weaves a story that charts the historical importance of photo archives as well as provides a roadmap for the future.