BAKING A NEW PIE: LIBRARY AND INFORMATION ASSOCIATIONS IN AN ONLINE WORLD
by
Paul Bentley
Article
originally published in Online
Currents November 2005 and reprinted with kind permission of the
publishers Enterprise Information Management Pty Ltd.
Introduction
Libraries appeared during the 3rd millennium BC
near Ad-Diwaniyah in Iraq. They multiplied on
shifting currents in the middle east, Europe and Asia before the river of
history flowed to the New World.
Associations representing libraries, and those who work in
them, are a recent phenomenon. The first library association was born after a
17-year gestation in 1876, when the American Library Association (ALA) was
launched at the Pennsylvania Historical Society conference. Nearly 20 years
later in Brussels, Paul Otlet and Henri-Marie La Fontaine founded an
international body, the Institut
International Bibliographie, later the International Federation for
Information and Documentation (FID), as part of their agenda for creating an
index of world literature.
The number of library and information associations has grown
dramatically over the past one hundred years. In a technologically-driven
world, they continue to evolve as work diversifies.
Some represent the interests of
individuals. Others respond to the needs of organisations. Some draw
together interests around specialist activities.
Some have disappeared, including FID, which dissolved in 2000.
Others have morphed into new types of organisations with transformational
agendas.
The Internet has made interaction easier, but it has also made
it harder for some associations to attract members. Information professionals
occupy a more populous industry pie-chart. Associations face challenges in
sustaining the interest of an increasingly elusive constituency.
National associations
National associations have led the way in developing a
professional ethos. Their histories still resonate with lessons for today’s
dynamic online environment.
By 1910, the American Library Association (http://www.ala.org)
had become the largest and most
important association of any type in the world, a peak that no library
association is likely to reach again. Now with
64,000 members, growth of 15% over the last eight years, and a budget of US$50
million, it enters the 21st century, in its own words, as
“financially healthy, organisationally complex, broadly inclusive and
intensely participative.” Readers will be familiar with its Library
Journal, incorporating annual reviews of automated systems and online
databases, Information Technology and Libraries and TER: Technology
Electronic Reviews. Available from its subsidiary ALA Tech Source (http://www.techsource.ala.org)
are Library Technology Report and Smart Libraries Newsletter,
as well as free RSS-fed news, tips and tools.
Although some say ALA is too big, its structure - eleven major
divisions, all appearing as associations in their own right, and myriad
sub-groups – provides an effective model for harnessing diverse professional
interests. Free information resources from its Library and Information
Technology Association (LITA, http://www.lita.org) include Top
Technology Trends and Toolkit for the Expert Web Searcher. The
Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS,
http://www.ala.org/alcts), focusing on back-room operations of front-end
importance, publishes the journal Library Resources
and Technical Services.
Echoes of ALA in other countries include the Chartered
Institute for Library and Information Professionals (CILIP,
http://www.cilip.org.uk), formed from a merger of the Library
Association and the Institute of Information Scientists in 2000, the
Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA,
http://www.alia.org.au), New Zealand Library and Information Association
(LIANZA, http://www.lianza.org.nz), and Canadian Library Association
(CLA, http://www.cla.ca).
Global interests are drawn together under the umbrella of the
International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions (IFLA, http://www.ifla.org).
Information Technology Section Newsletter is an example of its output on a
range of issues. It has essential links with
international bodies in related
fields. It has represented libraries with great energy at the World Summit on
the Information Society. But its finances are apparently fragile and its
programs are under threat unless new sources of income can be found.
Associations representing libraries
Prominent among associations aiming to improve
library operations and services are American bodies - the Association of
Research Libraries (ARL, http://www.arl.org), Coalition of Networked
Information (CNI, http://www.cni.org) and Research Libraries Group (RLG,
http://www.rlg.org).
ARL has extensive information on the use of
technology and other topics. See, for example, its registry of digital
initiatives, surveys of special collections, and SPEC kits on operating
practices and policies in member libraries. Its statistics and performance
measures program (http://www.arl.org/stats/sup/)
provides a comprehensive body of data on trends in North America libraries, as
well as sources on evaluation and e-metrics. Special projects are sometimes
undertaken with financial support from government funding bodies and
philanthropic organisations. You can keep track of its activities by
subscribing to its ARL-Announce list.
The Coalition of Networked Information (CNI,
http://www.cni.org) was formed by ARL, CAUSE and Educom in 1990 to
facilitate “the transformative promise of networked information technology for
the advancement of scholarly communication and the enrichment of intellectual
productivity.” It maintains momentum through regular task force meetings to
explore issues and “catalyse the development and deployment of new projects.”
You can keep track of these activities via CNI-Announce and RSS feeds.
The Research Libraries Group (http://www.rlg.org)
is an international membership organisation of over 150 libraries, archives
and museums and other cultural memory institutions. With
groups working on solutions
relating to information management and access, its site has a rich load of
publications such as
Data Dictionary for
Preservation Metadata,
Descriptive Metadata Guidelines for RLG Cultural Materials, EAD Best
Practice Guidelines, Guides to Quality in Visual Resource Imaging,
Guidelines for Microfilming to Support Digitization, Preserving
Digital Information and Tools for Digital Imaging. You can access
the RLG union catalogue from its subsidiary site,
RedLightGreen
(http://redlightgreen.com).
And you can keep abreast of developments by subscribing to
RLG DigiNews
and other free online newsletters.
Similar enterprises in Britain include the
United Kingdom Office for Library Networking (UKOLN, http://www.ukoln.ac.uk),
Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC, http://www.jisc.ac.uk), and
Arts & Humanities Data Service (AHDS, http://www.ahds.ac.uk). The
Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL, http://www.carl-abrc.ca)
offers an entrée to programs, resources and links on research
commercialisation, e-learning, information policy, statistics and other topics
in the land of the maple leaf. And, in Australia, the Council of Australian
State Libraries (CASL http://www.casl.org.au), Council of Australian
University Librarians (CAUL, http://www.caul.edu.au), and Public
Libraries Australia (PLA, http://www.nla.gov.au/apln) are among ports
of call.
Associations representing specialist
interests
Specialist interests have prompted a staggering number of smaller associations
and groups. Many operate with limited aims and capacity, but their efforts
underscore the diversity of professional activity.
The biggest association of this type is the
US-based Special Library Association (SLA, http://www.sla.org),
founded in 1909 with a motto that anticipated a business and economic
preoccupation by 90 years – “putting knowledge to work.” SLA has about 12,000
members worldwide, including virtual members who can gain access to its Web
resources at a discounted membership rate. A perceived gap in association
services to Australian special libraries led to the formation, in June 2004,
of an SLA Australian and New Zealand chapter, now with 100 members.
Groups representing employer types include the
Australian Government Libraries and Information Network (AGLIN, http://www.nla.gov.au/aglin),
Australian School Libraries Association (ASLA, http://www.asla.org.au)
and Australasian Parliamentary Librarians Association. Library
educators are served by an American body, the Association for Library and
Information Science Education (ALISE, http://www.alise.org), which
publishes Journal of Education for Library and Information Science and
compiles data on the field.
Subject domains are represented, in the arts,
by the Arts Libraries Society/Australia & New Zealand (ARLIS/ANZ, http://arlisanz.anu.edu.au),
Australian Branch of the International Association of Music Libraries,
Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML http://www.iamlaust.org), and
Performing Arts Special Interest Group of Museums Australia (http://www.museumsaustralia.org.au).
Other subject networks include the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Library and Information Resource Network (http://home.vicnet.net.au/~atsilirn),
Libraries of the Social Sciences (LOTTS), Australian Law Librarians Group (ALLG,
http://www.allg.asn.au), Health Libraries Inc (http://home.vicnet.net.au/~hlinc)
and Environment Librarians
Network (ELN, http://www.deh.gov.au/about/library/eln).
Some of these associations maintain
links to parent associations or related international bodies with persistent
activities on standards and resources.
Two groups have led Australian librarians up
the technology path - the ALIA Information Online Group (http://www.alia.org.au/groups/infog)
and Victorian Association for Library Automation (http://www.vala.org.au).
Those with responsibilities in related
disciplines can turn to the Records Management Association of Australasia (RMAA,
http://www.rmaa.com.au),
Australian Society of Archivists (ASA,
http://www.archivists.org.au),
American Records Management
Association (ARMA, http://www.arma.org),
Society of American Archivists (SAA http://www.archivists.org),
the International Council on Archives (ICA, http://www.ica.org) and the
e-list RECMGT-L. The Society of Competitive Intelligence Practitioners
Australasia (SCIPAUST, http://www.scipaust.org.au), Australian and New
Zealand Society of Indexers (http://www.aussi.org), Australasian Sound
Recordings Association (ASRA, http://home.vicnet.net.au/~sound) and
Museums Australia (http://www.museumsaustralia.org.au) are indicative
of other kindred spirits.
Workers involved in information management and
technology are likely to be drawn to, among more specialist bodies, the
Australian Information Industry Association (http://www.aiia.com.au),
the Institute for Information Management (IIM, http://www.iim.org.au),
Australian Computer Society (ACS, http://www.acs.org.au), Information
Technology Professionals Association (ITPA, http://www.itpa.asn.au),
and the Information, Telecommunications and Electronic Engineering College of
Engineers Australia (EA, http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au).
Foreign bodies in the field include the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE, (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org), which offers
free access to over 1.2 million abstracts on information management topics and
an alert service. The American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIST,
http://www.asis.org) produces the Bulletin of the American Society
of Information Science and Technology and Annual Review of Information
Science and Technology. The Association for Information Management (Aslib,
http://www.aslib.co.uk) publishes Managing Information.
Owners of businesses in information brokering and other services are served by
the Association for Independent Information Professionals (AIIP, http://www.aiip.org).
Knowledge management groups, many operating
informally, encourage all of these disciplines, and others, to come together
under one roof to explore creative approaches and new technologies for
capturing and using knowledge. The e-list of ACT-KM (http://www.actkm.com),
one of a number of local groups, has an international reputation for the scope
and richness of its daily electronic dialogues. The NSW KM Forum (http://www.nsw-km-forum.org.au/wiki.pl)
organises monthly presentations in Sydney.
Challenges for associations
Associations form a $27 billion to $43 billion
sector in Australia, depending on your definitions. As mechanisms for
networking and collective action, they have influential antecedents. In
Ancient Greece, aristocratic societies and political clubs challenged the
status quo. In the 16th century, learned societies,
promoting discussion and
experimentation, were catalysts for the development of museums. The demand
for improved working conditions and status spawned associations of labourers
in the industrial age. In the 19th
century, the French
statesman and philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville,
observing American society, said that associations were the cornerstone of its
democracy. “The knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms
of knowledge.” We live in
a global society, he said, where each special interest influences the whole
and where the whole influences each special interest.
Henry Mintzberg would characterise
associations as adhocracies - complex and dynamic environments with little
formalisation, limited planning, mixed decision making capability, and an
insignificant flow of authority. For the communities of practice advocate,
Etienne Wegner, the important thing is their capacity to marshal mutual
passion. While Mark Lyons, in Third Sector, points to the importance
values play in their activities, their reliance on voluntary effort, the
complexity of their finances, and the difficulty of judging their performance.
Lyons says associations are in a period of
transformation and decline. Soured idealism, among other factors, has
affected recruitment and growth. The challenges, he says, are leadership,
balancing business and democratic needs, managing capacity, developing closer
links with business, acting in a concerted fashion, encouraging growth and
finding the right mix of local and global action.
Success will no doubt emerge from the usual
suspects: greater penetration of the market, increased market share, market
rationalisation, market focus, subcontracting, joint venturing or just plain
survival under adverse conditions. But, if you accept the views of
commentators such as Michael Mankins and Richard Steel (Turning Great
Strategy into Great Performance) and Jon Simpson (Third-Sector
Organisations and the Balanced Scorecard),
strategies are more likely to fail than succeed. An oscillating compass
needle will increase the likelihood of failure.
The Australian Business Excellence
Framework promotes 22 indicators springing from 12 principles on
organisational effectiveness and sustainability.
The ingredients for association
success are encapsulated in a survey recently undertaken by the Australian
Society of Association Executives (AuSAE, http://www.ausae.org.au).
This suggests that 44 activities will be on association radar screens
revolving around leadership, structure, environment, direction, strategy,
membership services, operations support, products and other services.
Library and information associations will look
for answers to a number of questions.
How will the future of employers affect association strategies?
According to Outsell’s TrendAlert: The Future of Libraries, there is no
single answer to the question of where libraries and information services are
heading. There will be many roads to tomorrow. The
form of the library will be greatly
affected by the convergence of the medium and the message.
According to Barbara Quint, future
activity in libraries will be driven by a “do-once, serve-many’
principle. It seems likely that librarians will continue to find employment
in libraries. But information professionals, by and large, will look for
opportunities outside libraries.
What does convergence mean?
Some associations have sought pre-eminence by seeking to attract a more
broadly based membership. CILIP was formed because of the perception that the
“old distinction between librarians and information
scientists [is] irrelevant.” Nearly one-fifth of Special Libraries
Association members now no longer work in libraries, but are primarily
involved in analysis, product or database development, knowledge management
and records management. On the other hand, ALA has experienced steady growth
without significant change to its original focus on libraries and librarians,
while the International Federation of Information and Documentation went out
of business after broadening its horizons. Convergence will presumably create
more specialists than Leonardo da Vincis. Mushy
missions targeting ambiguities may lead to disappointing results.
Are democratic principles more important
than business imperatives? The
conventional wisdom is that associations cannot be managed as commercial
enterprises. Efficiency in commercial settings is achieved by minimising
input to maximise output. But, in voluntary associations, where it is
considered important to involve people, making decisions is a time-consuming
process. Energy and resources are usually deployed for a slender result.
Socrates was dismissive of democracies because they place “all alike on a footing of
equality, whether they be really equal or not.” The Australian Institute of
Management operates successfully on the basis of stakeholder value rather than
satisfied democracy.
How important, now, are education,
accreditation and certification as association roles?
In Australia, contrasting to an apparently more robust situation in the more
populous United States, ALIA-accredited university library courses have
virtually disappeared as economic pressures on universities and information
industry trends force integration with other disciplines. Commentators imply
that library educators and the profession at large are confused about the
changing marketplace. They suggest that associations are powerless to
influence matters. ALIA, representing a small subsidised sector of about
27,000 workers, can, realistically, only nibble at the edges. New information
workers will be drawn to the rewarding and riskier territory of information
technology. It seems unlikely that the current level of IT unemployment and
downturn in university IT enrolments will threaten predictions of increased
demand for specialist IT skills. For associations, future relevance will
require flexible approaches on skill recognition and development.
Is membership growth and
retention more important than revenue growth?
Membership is now a fuzzy concept.
Many people use associations without becoming members. The networked world
has created more competition for the membership dollar. In some associations,
the subscription lists for publications are much longer than the list of
members. It would be a bold association executive who would reduce membership
fees in favour of revenue growth from non-members at the present time. But
some associations, even now, are experimenting with options.
Should duplicated effort on producing conferences be channelled into other
areas? Conferences are the traditional mainstays of associations. In
The Doubter’s Companion, John Ralston Saul asserts they are a waste of
money, are erroneously justified on the basis of shared enthusiasm, and “carry
whole industries off in odd and often counter-productive directions.”
Convergence has led to substantial content overlap and increased risk in
running library and information conferences. Some associations have shifted
their focus. After technology became such a pervasive force, for example, the
Library Information Technology Association turned to more advanced use of
technology and introduced changes in the way it managed its events. The
Coalition of Networked Information’s investment in task forces rather than
talk fests has been noteworthy. Conferences are means to an end. There are
several ways of reaching the same destination. But attempts by associations at
rationalisation seem likely to encounter the resistance of diehard habits
within the profession.
Could information production and distribution be streamlined? Access
to information is a major reason for joining an association. An incentive for
joining the Australian Institute of Management is access to online databases
and full text articles on management. Online access to Library and
Information Science Abstracts is a compelling reason to become a member of
CILIP. For associations, the increased availability of open source
professional information is bringing increased competition. Sources reviewed
by Jonathon Jermey in IT Information Sites, (OLC November, December
2002 and January/February 2003) and by Glenda Browne’s Free Periodicals on
Information Management (OLC June 2003), have been joined by new
e-journals, portals, blogs, publisher giveaways and library institution
documents. Rich discussion on information management tends to occur outside
library association lists. Most library association e-lists have been created
as discussion lists, but they operate mostly as announcement lists. Purpose,
professional interest and network design are out of kilter.
Do library and information associations need structural change?
Attempts at change usually encounter turbulence and dubious outcomes. In
1997, ALA rejected major structural change, despite the case for change.
There were doubts that a different structure would be more effective than the
one that existed. The effort of change was viewed as an unproductive
diversion. When ALIA opted for a new structure, based on self-nominating
groups over the old divisions, it rejected a more compelling albeit more
testing federated arrangement, such as one proposed by John Brudenell. The
National Library of Australia subsequently created the Peak Bodies Forum (PBF,
http://www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/meetings/peakbod) to fill a vacuum
left by the demise of the Australian Council of Library and Information
Services. The PBF is addressing a range of important issues, but is
constrained by the same limitations of its British counterpart, the National
Forum for Information Planning and Cooperation (NFIP,
http://www.bl.uk/about/cooperation/nfip).
Should the number of associations be
reduced? The number of
associations reinforces the tribal picture of librarians and information
workers The duplication of special interest group e-lists in associations
such as, say, ASIST, ASLIB, AIIP and SLA reinforces cottage industry
dynamics instead of encouraging unexpected collisions and insight. Several
specialist associations are seeking international status, including SLA and
ARMA, a strategy that has met mixed reaction. Comments by CILIP’s President,
Debby Shorley after the 2005 ALA conference are indicative of one point of
view, one type of experience, not necessarily shared by others: “American
colleagues appear to care little for Europe and treat speakers from overseas
badly.” Barriers to mergers typically include ego, rivalry, low trust,
incompatible interests, goal ambiguity, poor data to support decisions, and
short-term mindsets. These barriers seem to have been overcome in at least
one recent local merger, when the Australian Electronic and Electrical
Manufacturers Association joined the Australian Information Industry
Association. Robert Axelrod and Michael Cohen, in Harnessing Complexity,
remind us about the value of complex adaptive frameworks and the importance of
the individual in the scheme of things. Rationalisation is best approached
with a bifocal perspective that eliminates unnecessary duplication yet
capitalises on individual catalysts and the energy of transparent cells.
What sort of impact will new cross-sectoral
bodies and government agencies have on associations?
New bodies have been formed to lead educational and cultural enterprises and
disciplines out of their silos. These including Australian Research
Information Infrastructure Committee (ARIIC, details
available at http://www.dest.gov.au)
and the Collections Council of Australia (CCA,
http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au). The establishment of the
government-funded Museums and Galleries NSW with government funding has
challenged the relevance of a body like Museums Australia in NSW. The CCA has
the broad aims of the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council in the UK (MLA,
http://www.mla.gov.uk), but it has less money. It is perceived as a
museums body. The library sector takes the position that it does not need
outside assistance. In Australia, moving information repository psyches to a
macro information management perspective appears likely to be a drawn out
process.
Conclusion
Associations, like other organisations, experience phases of growth, decline
and death. Information technology has brought new players, new ways of
communicating and new membership dynamics. Future directions are clouded by
paradox and uncertainty. For some associations, success will be defined by
improvements in the organisations they represent. For others, success will
come from leading information workers to enriching employment. Many will
require business acumen to link diverse interests in a swiftly moving
marketplace.
Notes on Sources
Thoughts for this article have evolved from
the paper Serving the Arts: ARLISANZ 1975-2025, presented at the ARLIS/ANZ
Conference 2004 and available, with an extensive bibliography, at
http://www.twf.org.au/research/servingthearts.
The Encyclopedia of Library
and Information Science (NY: Dekker, 2003) was a starting point on many
associations. Influencing
paragraphs on library education were articles by Ross Harvey, Nicki Kallenberger, Ross Todd and Grey Southon in the
Australian Library Journal (February and August 2001) and by Paul Genoni
(Incite, July & August 2005).
Other sources
included Outsell’s TrendAlert: the Future of Libraries, January 2004,
Barbara Quint’s Tick
Tock (Searcher Magazine, February 2005 http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/feb05/voice.shtml)
and John Brudenall’s Re-shaping the
Library and Information Services Profession with ALIA as its Peak Body: A
Radical Option for Change (December
1999).
