Founded | 1937 |
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Location |
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Area served | Australian librarians, library technicians, libraries and related organisations |
Key people | Vicki Edmunds (2022–2023 President), Cathie Warburton (CEO). |
Endowment | the |
Website | alia |
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), formerly the Australian Institute of Librarians and Library Association of Australia, is the peak professional organisation for the Australian library and information services sector. Founded in 1937, its headquarters are in Canberra. [1]
ALIA publishes a quarterly scholarly journal, Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, and a bimonthly news magazine for members, INCITE. The Association hosts a number of conferences which take place in different places around Australia.
On 20 August 1937, a meeting of 55 librarians at the Albert Hall in Canberra formed the Australian Institute of Librarians in response to the Munn-Pitt survey. [1] The foundation president was William Herbert Ifould, the Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales. [2] [3] John Metcalfe, Deputy Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales was the first honorary general secretary and drafted much of the original constitution. [4] [5]
In 1949, the institute changed its name to the Library Association of Australia, and was renamed again 1989 to its current name of the Australian Library and Information Association and a permanent office was established in Canberra. [1]
The Archives section, which had existed between 1951 and 1973, became the Australian Society of Archivists in 1975. [6]
The Association is governed by a constitution and a board of directors who are voted on by members for two year terms. [1]
ALIA National Office staff are based in ALIA House in Australia's capital, Canberra.
General memberships are open to anyone interested in the Australian library sector, while professional memberships are only available to those working in the sector [7] or with an ALIA-accredited degree in library science or library technician degree. [8]
ALIA has created public campaigns to promote libraries and learning, including Library Lovers Day, Library and Information Week, Information Awareness Week, National Simultaneous Storytime, and the national Summer Reading Club. [1]
ALIA manages the standards for library and information science education within Australia, and provides accreditation for certain TAFE and university (both graduate and post graduate) courses. [9]
ALIA offers training to library science students and those working in the library sector, including mentorship programs, and a Proffesional Development Scheme. [1]
JALIA is a quarterly scholarly journal, named as of Volume 66, Issue 1, 2017; a merger of the Australian Library Journal (ALJ) (1951 to 2016), and Australian Academic and Research Libraries (AARL) (1970 to 2016). [10] [11] [12]
INCITE (also styled Incite, [13] inCite [14] and InCite), a news magazine for members, published six times a year as of 2021 [update] , [15] (formerly 12-20 times a year). It was first published in January 1980. [13] Issues dating from Volume 33, issue 1/2 (January/February 2012) are available via National edeposit, [16] Issues from 1980 to 2016 are available as scanned electronic versions on AustLII, [14] and many back issues (until 2020, as of March 2021 [update] ) are also on the Informit database. [17] Since 2018, some whole issues of INCITE are produced in a freely available digital-only format each year, with one article from each print issue also freely available online, on the ALIA website. [15]
ALIA hosts a number of conferences which are rotated around Australia: [18]
A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educational programs, and providing instruction on information literacy to users.
An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consist of a variety of forms, including letters, diaries, logs, other personal documents, government documents, sound or picture recordings, digital files, or other physical objects.
An information professional or information specialist is someone who collects, records, organises, stores, preserves, retrieves, and disseminates printed or digital information. The service delivered to the client is known as an information service.
The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) is the master's degree that combines two interdisciplinary academic disciplines. Library science is applied information science and a subfield of information science. This degree focuses on information management. It is also the most common degree for professional librarian positions in the United States. The MLIS was created after the older Master of Library Science (MLS) was reformed to reflect the information science and technology needs of the field. According to the American Library Association (ALA), "ALA-accredited degrees have [had] various names such as Master of Information Studies, Master of Arts, Master of Librarianship, Master of Library and Information Studies, or Master of Science. The degree name has been determined by the program. The [ALA] Committee for Accreditation evaluates programs based on their adherence to the Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information Science, not based on the name of the degree."
Education for librarianship, including for paraprofessional library workers, varies around the world, and has changed over time. In recent decades, many institutions offering librarianship education have changed their names to reflect the shift from print media to electronic media, and to information contained outside of traditional libraries. Some call themselves schools of library and information science, or have dropped the word "library" altogether.
The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) is a representative leadership body for university libraries in Australia. The CAUL members represent 39 Australian University Institutions and 8 New Zealand University Institutions. Membership is restricted to library directors whose parent institutions are full members of Universities Australia.
Robert Sidney Martin is an American librarian, archivist, administrator, and educator. He is Professor Emeritus, School of Library and Information Studies, Texas Woman’s University, where he was the Lillian M. Bradshaw Endowed Chair until his retirement in 2008.
E-Science librarianship refers to a role for librarians in e-Science.
Mary Ellinor Lucy Archer was an Australian scientist. She was the first woman scientist of the CSIRO and served as its chief librarian from 1923 to 1954, for which she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1956.
The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) is a professional society, founded in 1978, dedicated to promoting and advancing communication and networking among all sectors of the scholarly communications community. It has approximately 1,100 members from 24 countries including publishers, service providers, librarians, researchers, and consultants.
William Herbert Ifould OBE was an Australian librarian and floriculturalist who was instrumental in the development of library services in New South Wales. He was the Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales from 1912 until his retirement in 1942.
John Metcalfe was an Australian librarian, educator and author. He was the Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales from 1942 until 1958 and University Librarian at the University of New South Wales from 1959–1966. He was involved in the establishment and development of the Australian Institute of Librarians (AIL), the Free Library Movement and education for librarianship in Australia.
Michael John Brudenall was an Australian librarian and library educator. He contributed to the development of library technician education and employment in Australia. He planned the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library for the new Parliament House building in Canberra and advocated for stronger collaboration between the parliamentary libraries in the Asia Pacific region.
Chinwe Nwogo Ezeani, is a Nigerian Chartered Librarian and the immediate past University Librarian of Nnamdi Azikiwe Library, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (U.N.N.). She is a Professor of Library and Information Science. Her tenure as a University Librarian (UL) at Nnamdi Azikiwe Library was between March 2014-March 2019. She is the first female University Librarian since the inception of Nnamdi Azikiwe Library, University of Nigeria Nsukka. In April, 2021, Dr. Ilo Promise Ifeoma took over as the current University Librarian of Nnamdi Azikiwe Library, (U.N.N)
Open access (OA) to academic publications has seen extensive growth in Australia since the first open access university repository was established in 2001 and OA is a fundamental part of the scholarly publishing and research landscape in Australia. There are open access policies at the two major research funders: The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Australian Research Council (ARC) and around half of Australian Universities have an OA policy or statement. Open Access Australasia, the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL), and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) are advocates for Open Access and related issues in Australia.
The Australian Society of Archivists is a professional organization of archivists in Australia.
Anne-Marie Lucienne Schwirtlich, is an Australian librarian who was the Director-General of the National Library of Australia from 2011 to 2017. In 2015, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
The African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA), commonly referred to as AfLIA, is an international not-for-profit organization headquartered in Accra, Ghana. The Association is registered under the laws of Ghana as an NGO. It is managed under the general guidelines of its Constitution and by-laws.The Institution is currently being led by Dr. Helena Asamoah-Hassan as the Executive Director.
Informit is as an online database that provides access to over 100 databases, some of which provide full-text sources. The online versions of the Australian Public Affairs Information Service (APAIS) subject index, and the Australian Public Affairs Full Text (APAFT) are part of the Informit database collection.