Australian Library and Information Association

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) is the peak professional organisation for the Australian library and information services sector.

Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)
Founded1937
Location
Area served
Australian librarians, library technicians, libraries and related organisations
Key people
Robert Knight OAM (2019–20 Board President), Sue McKerracher (chief executive officer).
Websitealia.org.au
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History

In August 1937 fifty-five librarians meeting at the Albert Hall in Canberra formed the Australian Institute of Librarians. The foundation president was William Herbert Ifould, the Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales.[1][2] 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.[3][4]

Group photograph of the delegates attending the Australian Institute of Librarians' inaugural meeting at Canberra, 20 August 1937.

The Association assumed the title of the Library Association of Australia in 1949, and in 1989 adopted the new name of the Australian Library and Information Association in recognition of the broadening scope of the profession.[5]

The Archives section, which had existed between 1951 and 1973, became the Australian Society of Archivists in 1975.[6]

Governance

The Association is governed by a Constitution and is guided by its vision, mission, objects and values. Their policy statements are developed by an elected board of directors and implemented by the ALIA National Office.

Membership of ALIA is open to individuals and organisations alike: the only membership requirement is an interest in the sector. Members of ALIA can belong to as many groups as they wish. These groups actively participate in Association activities.

ALIA Awards, national and regional, are presented each year to reward members of the library and information community and to celebrate their achievements.

ALIA publishes several journals, including the Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association (JALIA), formerly known as the Australian Library Journal (ALJ), and INCITE, their magazine (published six times a year) to members. Previously, ALIA published Australian Academic & Research Libraries (AARL) from 1970 to 2016.[7] Selected articles from these journals are available on the ALIA website.

ALIA National Office staff are based in ALIA House in the nation's capital, Canberra.

Conferences

ALIA hosts a number of conferences which are rotated around Australia:[8]

  • ALIA Information Online Conference[9]
  • ALIA National Conference[10]
  • ALIA New Librarians' Symposium[11]
  • ALIA National Library and Information Technicians' Symposium[12]
gollark: Someone would still have to go to every workspace and go "update-util" *every time* a dependency updates.
gollark: That's still quite problematic.
gollark: Ale32bit made cget, and that has important packages like potatOS, but it's not very widely adopted and I'm not sure if it handles dependencies well.
gollark: Just require semantic versioning.
gollark: That doesn't sound very good.

See also

References
  1. "LIBRARIANS". The Canberra Times. 21 August 1937. p. 2. Retrieved 14 July 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "LIBRARIANS' INSTITUTE". The Examiner (LATE NEWS EDITION and DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tasmania. 23 August 1937. p. 8. Retrieved 14 July 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. Australian Library History Conference (9th : 2009 : Prahan, Vic.); McMullin, B. J. (Brian John) (2010), Collections, characters and communities : the shaping of libraries in Australia and New Zealand, Australian Scholarly Publishing, ISBN 978-1-921509-61-2CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  4. Whyte, Jean P. (Jean Primrose); Jones, David J. (David John), 1946- (2007), Uniting a profession : the Australian Institute of Librarians 1937-1949, Australian Library and Information Association, ISBN 978-0-86804-565-8CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  5. "History of the Association | Australian Library and Information Association". www.alia.org.au. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  6. "History of the ASA - Australian Society of Archivists Inc". www.archivists.org.au. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  7. "Australian Academic and Research Libraries (AARL) | Australian Library and Information Association". www.alia.org.au. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  8. "Australian Libraries and Information Association". Conferences & Summits. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  9. "Conferences and summits". Australian Library and Information Association. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  10. "Conferences & Summits". Australian Library and Information Association. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  11. "Conferences, symposiums and summits". alia.org.au. Australian Library and Information Association. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  12. "National Library and Information Technicians Symposium 2017". alia.org.au. Australian Library and Information Association. Retrieved 18 July 2016.

Further reading
  • Browne, Mairéad (February 1999). "Threat or promise? The information society and the information profession". The Australian Library Journal. 48 (1): 17–32.
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