diff --git a/Doc/library/archiving.rst b/Doc/library/archiving.rst
--- a/Doc/library/archiving.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/archiving.rst
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ Data Compression and Archiving
 
 The modules described in this chapter support data compression with the zlib,
 gzip, bzip2 and lzma algorithms, and the creation of ZIP- and tar-format
-archives.
+archives.  See also :ref:`archiving-operations` provided by the :mod:`shutil`
+module.
 
 
 .. toctree::
diff --git a/Doc/library/bz2.rst b/Doc/library/bz2.rst
--- a/Doc/library/bz2.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/bz2.rst
@@ -12,9 +12,6 @@
 This module provides a comprehensive interface for compressing and
 decompressing data using the bzip2 compression algorithm.
 
-For related file formats, see the :mod:`gzip`, :mod:`lzma`, :mod:`zipfile`, and
-:mod:`tarfile` modules.
-
 The :mod:`bz2` module contains:
 
 * The :class:`BZ2File` class for reading and writing compressed files.
diff --git a/Doc/library/gzip.rst b/Doc/library/gzip.rst
--- a/Doc/library/gzip.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/gzip.rst
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@ Note that additional file formats which 
 :program:`gzip` and :program:`gunzip` programs, such  as those produced by
 :program:`compress` and :program:`pack`, are not supported by this module.
 
-For related file formats, see the :mod:`bz2`, :mod:`lzma`, :mod:`zipfile`, and
-:mod:`tarfile` modules.
-
 The module defines the following items:
 
 
diff --git a/Doc/library/lzma.rst b/Doc/library/lzma.rst
--- a/Doc/library/lzma.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/lzma.rst
@@ -14,9 +14,6 @@ decompressing data using the LZMA compre
 interface supporting the ``.xz`` and legacy ``.lzma`` file formats used by the
 :program:`xz` utility, as well as raw compressed streams.
 
-For related file formats, see the :mod:`bz2`, :mod:`gzip`, :mod:`zipfile`, and
-:mod:`tarfile` modules.
-
 The interface provided by this module is very similar to that of the :mod:`bz2`
 module. However, note that :class:`LZMAFile` is *not* thread-safe, unlike
 :class:`bz2.BZ2File`, so if you need to use a single :class:`LZMAFile` instance
diff --git a/Doc/library/shutil.rst b/Doc/library/shutil.rst
--- a/Doc/library/shutil.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/shutil.rst
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ copying and removal. For operations on i
    are not copied.
 
 
+.. _file-operations:
+
 Directory and files operations
 ------------------------------
 
@@ -207,7 +209,7 @@ Directory and files operations
    (*srcname*, *dstname*, *exception*).
 
 
-.. _shutil-example:
+.. _shutil-copytree-example:
 
 copytree example
 ::::::::::::::::
@@ -274,6 +276,9 @@ Another example that uses the *ignore* a
 Archiving operations
 --------------------
 
+High-level utilities to create and read compressed and archived files are also
+provided.  They rely on the :mod:`zipfile` and :mod:`tarfile` modules.
+
 .. function:: make_archive(base_name, format, [root_dir, [base_dir, [verbose, [dry_run, [owner, [group, [logger]]]]]]])
 
    Create an archive file (such as zip or tar) and return its name.
@@ -401,6 +406,7 @@ Archiving operations
    .. versionadded:: 3.2
 
 
+.. _shutil-archiving-example:
 
 Archiving example
 :::::::::::::::::
@@ -426,5 +432,3 @@ The resulting archive contains::
     -rw------- tarek/staff    1675 2008-06-09 13:26:54 ./id_rsa
     -rw-r--r-- tarek/staff     397 2008-06-09 13:26:54 ./id_rsa.pub
     -rw-r--r-- tarek/staff   37192 2010-02-06 18:23:10 ./known_hosts
-
-
diff --git a/Doc/library/tarfile.rst b/Doc/library/tarfile.rst
--- a/Doc/library/tarfile.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/tarfile.rst
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
 
 The :mod:`tarfile` module makes it possible to read and write tar
 archives, including those using gzip or bz2 compression.
-(:file:`.zip` files can be read and written using the :mod:`zipfile` module.)
+Use the :mod:`zipfile` module to read or write :file:`.zip` files, or the
+higher-level functions in :ref:`shutil <archiving-operations>`.
 
 Some facts and figures:
 
diff --git a/Doc/library/zipfile.rst b/Doc/library/zipfile.rst
--- a/Doc/library/zipfile.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/zipfile.rst
@@ -23,9 +23,6 @@ decryption of encrypted files in ZIP arc
 create an encrypted file.  Decryption is extremely slow as it is
 implemented in native Python rather than C.
 
-For related file formats, see the :mod:`bz2`, :mod:`gzip`, :mod:`lzma`, and
-:mod:`tarfile` modules.
-
 The module defines the following items:
 
 .. exception:: BadZipFile
diff --git a/Doc/library/zlib.rst b/Doc/library/zlib.rst
--- a/Doc/library/zlib.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/zlib.rst
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@ order.  This documentation doesn't attem
 consult the zlib manual at http://www.zlib.net/manual.html for authoritative
 information.
 
-For reading and writing ``.gz`` files see the :mod:`gzip` module. For other
-related file formats, see the :mod:`bz2`, :mod:`lzma`, :mod:`zipfile`, and
-:mod:`tarfile` modules.
+For reading and writing ``.gz`` files see the :mod:`gzip` module.
 
 The available exception and functions in this module are: