The Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

membership organization A membership organization is any organization that allows people or entities to subscribe, and often requires them to pay a membership fee or "subscription". Membership organizations typically have a particular purpose, which involves connecting pe ...

for

information professional 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 ...

s that sponsors an annual conference as well as several serial publications, including the ''

Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology The ''Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of information science published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Association for Information Science and ...

'' (JAsIST). The organization provides administration and communications support for its various divisions, known as special-interest groups or SIGs; provides administration for geographically defined chapters; connects job seekers with potential employers; and provides organizational support for

continuing education Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada. ...

programs for information professionals. Founded as the American Documentation Institute (ADI) in 1937, the group became the American Society for Information Science (ASIS) in 1968 to reflect the organization's interest in "all aspects of the information transfer process" such as, "designing, managing and using information systems and technology." Updating its name in 2000, the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) signaled the widespread prevalence and increasing centrality of

online database An online database is a database accessible from a local network or the Internet, as opposed to one that is stored locally on an individual computer or its attached storage (such as a CD). Online databases are hosted on websites, made available as ...

s and similar technical aspects of the information profession. In 2013 the organization adopted its current name, while retaining the ASIS&T acronym, to better reflect its international membership and the increasingly global nature of our

information society An information society is a society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drivers are information and communication technologies, which have resulted in rapid inf ...

. Today the organization comprises professionals from various fields including engineering, linguistics, librarianship, education, chemistry, computer science, and medicine. Members share "a common interest in improving the ways society stores, retrieves, analyzes, manages, archives and disseminates information ".

History

Watson Davis formed the Documentation Institute in 1935, which became the American Documentation Institute (ADI) on 13 March 1937 with the collaboration of Atherton Seidell and others. The organization was first concerned with

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. ...

and its role as a vehicle for the dissemination of information. ADI worked toward the development of microfilm readers and cameras. Their first microfilm laboratories were located in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Library in Washington, DC and the Institute distributed materials through the newly created Bibliofilm Service. ADI established the Auxiliary Publication Program, which during its 30-year history released nearly 10,000 documents covering a wide range of subjects. The program enabled authors in the fields of physical, natural, social, historical and information sciences to publish and distribute research papers that were either too long, typographically complex or expensive to be published in journals using existing technology. In 1954, the Photoduplication Service at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

took over the operation and became the source point for distributing ADI materials and in 2009 this material found its home in the Library's Technical Reports and Standards Unit. ADI bylaws were amended in 1952 to allow individuals to become members due to the number of people that were engaged in the development of new principles and techniques. The goal was to make ADI a group that was concerned with all elements and problems of information science not just libraries. During this time there were increased interests and developments of automatic devices for searching, storage and retrieval. During the 1970s many institutions were making the move from batch processing to online modes, from mainframe computers to more modern computers. With the advancement of technology the traditional boundaries began to fade and library schools started to add "information" in the titles of their programs. ASIS sponsored a bicentennial conference which focused on the role of information in the country's development. The group also participated in the planning and implementation of the

White House Conference on Library and Information Services A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

. The popularity of personal computers in the 1980s marks a shift that allows individuals to access large databases, such as Grateful Med at the

National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. Its ...

, and user-oriented services such as Dialog and Compuserve from their homes. ASIS created groups on office information, personal computers, international information issues and rural information services in response to the changing environment. Eventually other groups were created, such as: non-print media, social sciences, energy and the environment, and community information systems. ASIS also added its first chapters outside North America. Today ASIS&T is at the forefront of examining the technical bases, social consequences, and theoretical understanding of the information society. They also study the effects of widespread use of databases in government, industry, and education, and the development of information environments on the Internet and World Wide Web.

Mission

In a world where "information is of central importance to personal, social, political, and economic progress", ASIS&T seeks to advance the

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of information. ...

s and

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

by providing focus, opportunity, and support to information professionals and

information organization Knowledge organization (KO), organization of knowledge, organization of information, or information organization is an intellectual discipline concerned with activities such as document description, indexing, and classification that serve to ...

s. ASIS&T seeks to advance knowledge "about information, its creation, properties, and use" as well as increase "public awareness of the information sciences and technologies and their benefits to society."

Vision

To establish an information professionalism in the world by: Advancing knowledge about information; Providing analysis of ideas; Valuing theory, research, applications, and service; Nurturing new perspectives, interests, and ideas; Increasing public awareness of the information sciences and technologies and their benefits to society."

Membership

Originally membership was based on representatives nominated by scientific societies, professional associations, foundations, and government agencies. Changes made to the bylaws in 1952 opened the organization to any individual with interest in the dissemination of information. Today, fee-based memberships can be either individual or institutional, with no formal requirements to join as an individual. Similar to most organizations of its kind, ASIS&T offers benefits to its members in the form of subscriptions to publications, access to job assistance services (JobLine); and discounts to ASIS&T-sponsored events.

Publications

In 1966, ADI began publication of the

Annual Review of Information Science and Technology The ''Annual Review of Information Science and Technology'' was relaunched by the Association for Information Science and Technology's Board of Directors in 2021, following a 10-year publishing hiatus. Previously, this annual review journal was p ...

. Its successor organizations continued publishing the annual review under that title until 2011.

JASIS / JASIST

ADI decided in 1950 to create a journal modeled after the defunct ''Journal of Documentary Reproduction'', which had been published by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

from 1938 to 1942. ADI published the journal ''American Documentation''.Tate, V. (1950). Introducing American Documentation, a quarterly review of ideas, techniques, problems, and achievements in documentation. ''American Documentation'', 1(1), 3-6. from 1950 until 1968, when ADI changed its name as an organization and renamed ''American Documentation'' as the ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science'' (JASIS). With the society's subsequent name changes the journal title followed suit, becoming the ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology'' (JASIST) in 2000, and then the ''

'' in 2014.

References

External links

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ASIS&T Digital Library

ASIS&T Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Association for Information Science and Technology Professional associations based in the United States 1937 establishments in the United States Library-related professional associations Information science