The Répertoire International d’Iconographie Musicale (RIdIM) was officially founded on 26 August 1971 as an international cataloguing and research network on the initiative of Barry S. Brook, Geneviève Thibault Comtesse de Chambure, Harald Heckmann, Howard Mayer Brown and Walter Salmen, and under the sponsorship of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML), the International Musicological Society (IMS) and the International Committee of Musical Instrument Museum Collections (CIMCIM) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

As the international index of visual sources of music, dance, theatre and opera, RIdIM has pursued dual aims since its establishment: firstly, it is charged with the cataloguing of visual sources of subject matters referring to music, dance, theatre and opera; and, secondly, it functions as a framework for their interpretation. Thus, the main objective of RIdIM is the development of methods, means and research centres for the classification, cataloguing and study of iconographical sources related to music, dance, theatre and opera. It is designed to assist performers, historians, librarians, instrument makers, record manufacturers and book publishers, among others in making the fullest use of visual materials for scholarly and practical purposes.