Professional Associations

Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA)

Mission:

The mission of ARLIS/NA is to foster excellence in art and design librarianship and image management. We achieve this mission through a wide variety of activities, such as:

• Meeting, networking, and sharing ideas in person at our annual conferences.
• Publishing substantive articles of a practical as well as scholarly nature through our publications, such as Art Documentation, ARLIS/NA Reviews, Occasional Papers, and online publications.
• Providing a forum for professional communication, via our listserv and web site.
• Reaching out to future art librarians through numerous scholarship awards.
• Recognizing excellence in the field through awards for research, service, and publication

 Membership Benefits:

• Networking with fellow professionals in all levels of the organization, including Chapters, Divisions, Sections, Special Interest Groups, Committees, and the Executive Board.
• Subscription to Art Documentation
• News, job postings, internships, and announcements on the website
• Access to the ARLIS/NA Learning Portal
• Discounted conference rate
• Free membership in Divisions, Sections, and Special Interest Groups

Membership Price:

• Individuals - $120
• Introductory - $90 (1 year limit)
• Retired/Unemployed - $60
• Students - $50 (3 year limit)
• Business Affiliate - $190

Opportunities and Requirements:

• Opportunities to be awarded scholarships or awards. (Various requirements, available here)

Publications:

• ARLIS/NA Reviews - "expert evaluations of new publications throughout the year in an online format."
• Art Documentation "appears twice yearly and features substantial articles on issues of interest to art information specialists...plus in depth reviews."
• ARLIS/NA Multimedia & Technology Reviews - "target projects, products, events, and issues within the broad realm of multimedia and technology related to arts scholarship, research, and librarianship."

Primary Activities:

• Annual Conference
• Summer Educational Institute (sponsored with the Visual Resources Association Foundation)

Society of American Archivists

Mission:

SAA promotes the values and diversity of archives and archivists. We are the preeminent source of professional resources and the principal communication hub for American archivists.

Membership Benefits:

• Access to The American Archivist (Journal) and Archival Outlook (Newsletter)
• Member discounts on books in the SAA Bookstore, registration for SAA's annual Meeting, registration for continuing education workshops
• Mentoring Program
• Ability to join 2 sections and an unlimited number of roundtables
• Access to the SAA Membership Directory

Membership Price:

• Individual Full Membership - (dues depend on annual earnings) $50 - $250
• Individual Student Membership - $50
• Individual Associate Membership - $100 (residents of USA), $125 (non-residents)
• Institutional Membership - $550 (sustaining), $300 (regular)

Opportunities and Requirements:

• Digital Archives Specialist Certificate (no specific requirements)

Publications:

• The American Archivist
• Archival Outlook newsletter
• In The Loop newsletter
• Books

Primary Activities:

• American Archives Month
• Annual Meeting

I keep flip-flopping back and forth about whether I would prefer to be an archivist or an art librarian. Luckily, when I completed my library visits for a class project I met a woman who does both! She basically has my dream job working at the Detroit Institute of Arts as the head librarian. I'm sure it is a lot of hard work managing the main museum library, two sub-libraries, and the archive, but it also seems like a lot of fun. Anyway, because I'm considering both of these fields, I choose to look into the professional associations outlined above.
I would certainly consider joining both of these associations in the future. I've never had to conduct research without being enrolled at a college/university, so I imagine it will be helpful to have personal access to journals in the future. I've also been told that books for some archives classes are very cheap/free for SAA members and I will be sure to take advantage of that once I enroll in those. At this point I don't have money to travel to conferences and meetings, but that is something that I would like to do in the future. Both organizations offer scholarships, but I feel like I need to have more experience and participate in some more projects before I would be qualified to earn them. The twitter account for the SAA is better than many that I have seen, I particularly appreciate that they include job postings.

Websites Consulted
http://www.arlisna.org/
http://www2.archivists.org/
https://twitter.com/ARLIS_NA
https://twitter.com/archivists_org

Professional Journals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The American Archivist        VS.        Library Trends

Intended Audience

The American Archivist is intended to be read by archivists, but may also be of interest to creators and users of archives. The publication focuses on North America, but does have space to include developments that happen internationally. Library Trends has a broader intended readership that is focused on professional librarians and educators, but also includes others working in information and cultural heritage institutions.

Types of Material Published

The American Archivist lists particular types of articles that it accepts, including research articles, case studies, perspectives, international scene pieces, professional resources, forum letters, and reviews. Library Trends is quite different because instead of focusing on different types of articles, each issue focuses on a theme that is chosen by an "issue editor." Recent themes have been New Perspectives on Intellectual Freedom, Community Informatics in China, The Impact of Gaming on Libraries, and Windows on the World--Analyzing Main Street Public Library Collections. 

Peer Reviewed?

Both journals are peer reviewed. This is important because it means that a second person working in the profession has read each article, provided feedback, and deemed the articles significant enough to share.

I find it particularly interesting that the journals have such different structures. The American Archivist is structured in a familiar way, where each issue contains articles that may only relate to one another because they fall under the umbrella of archiving. Library Trends is surprising to me because of its alternative structure where each issue has a theme. This seems like a more difficult way to public, but it can be very beneficial because each issue covers one topic from several different angles, giving readers a more complete picture. The difference in journals structure shows that information professionals are experimenting with new and different ways of doing things. Obviously, it is important that both journals are peer reviewed, this is not surprising because information professionals understand the importance of the information that they disseminate.

Websites Consulted
http://www2.archivists.org/american-archivist
https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/library_trends/
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory