Liberty have a treasure trove of archived Liberty prints and sketches.

Bursting to the brim with oversized books, piles of labelled boxes and perfectly preserved paintings, the rooms are guarded by the archiving department who have the important task of ensuring every design, from Tana Lawn to silk satin, is documented with as much information as possible and stored safely in their iBase database system, complete with digital images.

The archive began when Liberty started producing their own pattern books in the 1880s, which now includes some 40,000 fabric prints. The textile archive is actually more of a design archive and it always has been, that’s the main reason for keeping it.

So each design is kept in as many forms as possible: from artwork, to fabric bases, colourways, promotional and sales material (swatchbooks, fent books, etc.) to the screen separations in digital form.

The Liberty iBase system allows authorised users to access the archive, upload new material, create and edit metadata, and download originals if required.

The Liberty iBase system allows authorised users to access the archive, upload new material, create and edit metadata, and download originals if required.

Some of the features included as standard are:

• Uploading and system management.
• Download files by authorised users.
• Search the archive with a wide variety of searching features.
• Download material.
• Automatic search suggestions 'as you type'.