American Society for Information Science and Technology

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The American Society for Information Science and Technology (abbreviated ASIS & T) is an organization of information professionals . Her self-imposed tasks include the organization of an annual conference and the publication of the conference results as well as the publication of further magazines and booklets. ASIS & T manages various sub-groups whose members are entrusted with special tasks or are in certain areas. It also guarantees support for further education and training in the area of information and documentation . In summary, one can say that ASIS & T has developed into one of the most important associations in information and documentation in the USA and worldwide since 1937. Particularly noteworthy is the attempt by ASIS & T not to limit activities to information scientists alone, but also to include representatives from similar professional groups.

history

On March 13, 1937, the American Documentation Institute (ADI) was founded, the forerunner of ASIS & T. In 1947 a connection was made with the International Federation for Documentation and three years later the first magazine "American Documentation" was published. On January 1, 1968 ADI was renamed "American Society for Information Science" "and emphasized the fact that the membership of ASIS is uniquely concerned with all aspects of the information transfer process". The name of the organization was changed in May 2000 because the words "and Technology (& T)" were added to the existing abbreviation ASIS, emphasizing "the increased focus on technology".

In 2013 there was another name change to "Association for Information Science and Technology".

organization

membership

The members of ASIS & T come from all areas in which information professionals work, such as librarianship and communication sciences and computer science. ASIS & T is the only professional organization in the USA that bridges the gap between the various professions as well as between information providers and end users. There are four different types of membership: regular, student, retired and institutional memberships, each of which has different membership fees.

Board of Directors and representatives

All members can elect the following representatives: the president (president), the elected president (elected president), the past president and the treasurer. In addition, six general directors (directors-atlarge), the directors of the Chapter Assembly Director and his deputy, and the director of the Special Interest Group Cabinet Director and his deputy. Together these represent the “Board of Directors”, the supervisory board, which is the policy-making unit of ASIS & T. As such, he manages the organization, sets up committees, concludes contracts and takes on all other typical tasks of supervisory boards. However, most of the activities are planned and carried out by different groups, which are presented below.

groups

Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

The Special Interest Groups (abbreviated SIGs) were set up by the Supervisory Board to give members with the same professional specializations the opportunity to exchange ideas and keep themselves up to date on current and special developments in their fields. The activities of the SIGs, which are planned by their members and elected representatives, indicate the different needs and interests of ASIS&T members. By participating in SIGs, members can help develop their own professional organization that is in the context of a larger national society. Today there are 21 different SIGs that also reflect the current needs of information science. These days, of course, this includes groups that deal with the subject of the Internet or digitization and virtualization, such as the groups “Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts” and “Digital Libraries”.

Chapters

The chapters (associations) are small associations that are regionally oriented. They were also used by the board of directors of ASIS & T to maintain communication between members in certain areas. Each chapter chooses its own responsible persons and plans a program that takes into account the special needs of the local members. Typical activities include, for example, regional meetings, newsletters, workshops and courses.

Regional Chapters

There are local chapters almost only in the states or particularly large cities of the USA, the only exception is the local chapter “Europe”.

Student Chapters

Student associations exist at major universities in the US and often cooperate with the normal local associations. Its aim is, on the one hand, to point out the special concerns and interests of student members and, on the other hand, to give information science students an insight into working at ASIS & T and to establish useful contacts.

Publications

Annual Review of Information Science & Technology (ARIST)

The magazine ARIST has been published by ASIS & T with one issue per year since 1966. The magazine observes the specialist community of information science and technology and thus offers the reader an overview of current trends and developments. However, ARIST also covers the most important topics of classical information science (e.g. information retrieval), which are enriched by annotations in order to connect information science with other professional societies.

Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science & Technology (Bulletin)

The bulletin of the American Society for Information Science & Technology appears every two months and contains mainly texts on developments and issues that occupy the subject, reports from practice and news about people and events in the field of information science.

Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology (JASIST)

JASIST has been published under changing names since 1950. Today it is a forum for research in the information science sector, with a particular emphasis on new computer-aided information technologies and experimental work. Abstracts are also published in JASIST. The most important topics are: Theory of Information Science, Communication, Management, Economics and Marketing, and Applied Information Science.

Events / meetings

There are two important ASIS & T conferences, the “ASIS & T Annual Meeting” and the “Information Architecture Summit”, both of which take place annually. Not only do they attract information scientists, but people from many other professions related to information science too. Results from research are presented during the conferences and prizes are awarded for excellent work. Through the conferences, ASIS & T wants to connect all professional groups that come into contact with the information sciences with it in order to anchor them better in the general perception.

swell

Mackenzie, Maureen L .: ASIS to ASIS & T: A society in transition? In: Journal of the ASIS & T 57 (2006), 13, p. 1750

The comprehensive self-presentation of ASIS & T on the Internet.