  In this study 21 catalogues of dust clouds in the Galaxy were
cross-identified by taking into account available properties such as position,
angular dimensions, opacity class and velocity. An initial list of
$\approx$6500 entries was condensed into a cross-identified all-sky catalogue
containing 5004 dust clouds. In particular, the transition zone between high
and low Galactic latitude studies was also cross-identified. The unified
catalogue contains 525 high-latitude clouds. The catalogue deals primarily with
optical dark nebulae and globules, but it includes as well substantial
information from their molecular counterparts. Some previously uncatalogued
clouds were detected on optical images and FIR maps. Finally, we address recent
results and prospective work based on NIR imaging, especially for clouds
detected in the 2MASS $K_s$ Atlas.
