The large amount of data which is now obtainable in astronomy with modern detectors and telescopes has raised the need for data archiving systems. Several projects in this area have started in the past few years, and more are planned for the near future. New hardware technologies are being experienced, which allow for fast access to data, while browsing through catalogues has now become a matter of seconds. However, even if the user interface has in general become very user-friendly, the software techniques required to handle properly systems which are supposed to live for decades have become more and more sophisticated. The present problems in handling catalogues and archives are summarized here, with examples of existing implementations. The trends in hardware and software techniques are also presented.