Works of art and antiques are managed and kept not only by art galleries and museums by virtue of their duties, but also by offices, public utilities, churches, schools as well as companies and private individuals.

    Apart from a purely scientific reason drawing up the documentation of works of art is essential for selling purposes, as well as for issues concerning property and insurance. Most of the income tax return declarations are filled in on the basis of imprecise data. The features of the stolen and missing works are established on an embarrassingly low level of professionalism. In Poland professional indexing of works of art is very rare. The owners of precious objects don't collect the documentation until legal problems emerge. Private individuals rarely have exact data concerning their collections and specialist photographs of the valuables are rare among those collectors. Reproducing copies of works for exhibitions and keeping the originals in bank safes is a common procedure in western countries but very rare in Poland, though advisable. Churches and parishes hardly ever possess the documentation of priceless antiques. Thefts and other deceptions are common. Another area is drawing up the documentation for the artists' needs. Artists, mainly the older ones, are not usually aware of new technological possibilities in these fields. The technological progress, the application of digital devices, computers and the internet have not only increased the possibilities, but also significantly reduced the price of professional services. At present, anybody can afford to draw up, save and print or even publish the documentation of a work of art.

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