ASIST SIGs and Chapters

Histories of ASIST Chapters and SIGs

2012:

Compiled by Sarah Buchanan and Toni Carbo, members of the ASIST 75th Anniversary Task Force in 2012. Dead links were removed in 2025; please send updates to biographicaleditor at gmail dot com.

Los Angeles:

The Los Angeles Chapter of ADI was chartered in 1961, chaired by Robert Hayes. The Chapter Archives are held at the University of Southern California, and a finding aid is available. The Chapter marked its 25th anniversary in 1987 with a program in Marina Del Rey coordinated by Joe Ann Clifton. The Chapter marked its 50th anniversary in 2011 with a program at Loyola Marymount University's William H. Hannon Library and a history website. An oral history with Dr. Robert Hayes was produced. See also Buchanan (2011), recipient of the 2010 ASIST History Fund Research Paper Award.

Metropolitan New York:

The Metropolitan New York Chapter was chartered in 1961 (Slater, 1988).

New England

The New England Chapter was chartered in 1961 (Slater, 1988). The Chapter hosted the ASIS Annual Meeting in 1975, at which SIG CON was founded, and the Chapter hosted the 50th Anniversary ASIS Annual Meeting in 1987 (Slater, 1988).

New Jersey

A Central New Jersey Chapter was chartered in 1975, and this chapter in May 1983 became the New Jersey Chapter. The Chapter Archives are held at Rutgers University, and a finding aid may be available. The Chapter marked its 30th anniversary in 2006 with a program at the Rutgers Club in New Brunswick. A "Historical Note" was published on that occasion and is available through DLIST at http://hdl.handle.net/10150/105074. Ellen Pozzi and Marija Dalbello also presented their oral history research and NJ-ASIST's history at the 2005 ASIST Annual Meeting, see article at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/meet.14504201272/abstract.

Northern Ohio

A Northern Ohio Chapter was chartered in 1963 (Slater, 1988). See also Central Ohio. Chapters & SIGs.

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest Chapter was chartered in 1971 (Slater, 1988).

Potomac Valley

The Potomac Valley Chapter was the first ASIST Chapter, chartered in 1958. Its establishment ushered in a decade of growth for the ADI in the 1960s.

Taipei

The Taipei Chapter was chartered in 1982 (Slater, 1988).

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Chapter was established in 1974 (Redmond, 1985; Slater, 1988). The first Chapter Assembly Director, Gerard Platau, was elected in 1968 (Slater, 1988). The first bylaws for Chapters were approved in 1976 (ASIS&T, "Chapter Officer's Manual," https://www.asist.org/chapters/chapter-leadership-resources/). The Society established the Chapter of the Year award in 1975, and the Student Chapter of the Year award in 1986.

Exclusions:

The above list includes only Chapters with an active status in 2012. Other Chapters not listed here are listed in the Appendix of the article: Buchanan, Sarah A. (2011). Regional information science: Education and disciplinary precept in the Los Angeles Chapter of ASIST, 1961–2011. JASIST, 62: 2277–2289. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/asi.21603

References:

Buchanan, S. (2011, Nov.). "Regional Information Science: Education and Disciplinary Precept in the Los Angeles Chapter of ASIS&T, 1961-2011." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62.11: 2277-2289. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/asi.21603

McNitt, Marilyn. (1988). Finding aid for the American Society for Information Science (ASIS) Records, 1939–1990. Special Collections Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved from https://findingaids.lib.umich.edu/catalog/umich-scl-asis

Redmond, Angela Dierking. (1985). American Society for Information Science – History. In A. Kent & H. Lancour et al. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, First Edition (Vol. 38, pp. 11–30). New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

For additional history see also:

Dierking, Angela Lynn. (1975). A History of the American Society for Information Science. (Master's Thesis, Texas Woman's University, 1975). Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED116713

Updates on Chapters were also published as part of ASIS' 50th Anniversary in 1987:

Slater, Frank. (1988). Chapters: Meeting colleagues close to home. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science: ASIS 50th Anniversary Issue, 14(5), 46–49.

ASIST Student Chapters:

Current Student Chapter websites may provide historical information.

For a listing of both current and past ASIST Student Chapter founding dates, see Table 1 in:

Buchanan, Sarah A. (2011). ASIS&T history fund research: Documenting education in the Los Angeles Chapter. Proceedings of the ASIST Annual Meeting, 48. https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/meet.2011.14504801364

Society Student Chapters by date of establishment. [Source: ASIS Archives and Redmond, 1985]

• Columbia University 1964
• Drexel University 1964 √
• Rutgers University 1964 √
• Case Western Reserve University 1966
• University of Pittsburgh 1966 √
• Indiana University 1967 √
• National Capitol Area (Washington, D.C.) 1967
• University of Dayton 1968
• Nashville University Center 1970
• Pratt Institute (of Technology) 1970 √
• St. John's University 1971 √
• State University of New York at Albany 1973 √
• University of Denver 1973 √
• University of Michigan 1973 √
• Kent State University 1974
• University of Cincinnati 1974
• East Texas State University 1975
• Louisiana State University 1975 √
• Simmons College 1975 √
• University of Oklahoma 1975
• C. W. Post University 1976
• California State University, Fullerton 1976
• Central New York 1976
• Queens College 1976
• Central New York / Syracuse University 1976
• University of Alberta 1976
• University of Arizona 1976
• University of California, Los Angeles 1976 √
• University of Southwestern Louisiana 1976
• University of Texas at Austin 1976 √
• University of Wisconsin - Madison 1976 √
• Emory University 1977
• Long Island University 1977 √
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1977 √
• University of Louisville 1977
• University of Missouri 1977
• University of Oregon 1977
• University of South Carolina 1977 √
• Western Michigan University 1978
• University of Hawaii 1979 √
• University of Minnesota 1979
• Wayne State University 1979 √
• Northern Texas 1981 √ (now University of North Texas)
• Texas Woman's University 1981
• University of Southern California 1981
• San José State University 1982 √ (now San Francisco Bay Area)
• University of Mississippi 1982
• University of Tennessee 1982 √ (now at Knoxville)
• University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 1982 √
• Atlanta 1983
• New Jersey 1983
• Taipei Area 1984 √ (now Taipei University)
• University of Chicago 1984
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1987 √
• University of Washington 1991 √
• North Carolina Central University 1993 √
• University of Iowa ca. 1993 √
• Florida State University 1998 √
• University of Arkansas, Little Rock 2002
• State University of New York at Buffalo ca. 2003 √
• State University of New York at Oswego 2004 √
• University of Toronto 2004 √
• Ohio Virtual 2004 √
• Catholic University of America 2005 √
• European 2005 √
• University of Kentucky 2005 √
• University of British Columbia 2006 √
• University of Maryland 2006 √

Note that the above table does not note date(s) of dissolution.

ASIST SIGs:

Below is given the date of charter (or if not verified, date of establishment) and the first known chair for 21 current SIGs (2012). Active SIGs are listed in the Annual Meeting programs, which are available at ASIST HQ / SIG Cabinet and/or the ASIS Archives (University of Michigan). Through further research with the ASIST Archives, more detailed information on dates of establishment and activities can be incorporated.

In addition to the SIGs described below, there are several more "SIGs that aren't there anymore." As an example of further ongoing research related to past SIGs, Chuck Curran is currently preparing a document with photos of older technologies and a bibliography of sources. Additionally, we anticipate good discussions at the 2012 Pre-Conference around the session by Betsy Van der Veer Martens and June Abbas titled "Remixing ADI/ASIS&T Conference History: Some Panels SIG-DL Wishes We Could Have Convened (And Some That We Did!), 1937–2012," and at the 2012 Annual Meeting session by Daniel Alemneh, Toni Carbo, Nadia Caidi, Anatoliy Gruzd and Abebe Rorissa titled "The Origins of SIG-III and Its 30 Years’ Journey: Visions and Reflections." For this work, we have limited our descriptions to the 21 current SIGs. The current reference source for information on SIGs of ASIST is the SIGs' webpage at: http://asist.org/SIG/sigs.html , which includes links to individual SIGs' websites.

The first meeting of the SIG Cabinet under the newly revised bylaws of ADI was held Wednesday, October 5, 1966, in Santa Monica, CA with breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m. (La Barre research on ASIS Archives, 2012). A summary report on this SIG Cabinet Meeting of ADI is available (ASIS Archives, Box 58), as is a subsequent report of the breakfast meeting held Wednesday, October 25, 1967, with Howard W. Dillon, Cabinet speaker.

Bylaws for SIGs were approved by the Board of Directors in 1982 ("ASIS&T SIG Bylaws," 1982). (see current bylaws: https://www.asist.org/sig/siglib/sig-lib-bylaws/). The Society established the SIG of the Year award in 1975.

Arts & Humanities (AH)

SIG AH was established in 1968 when the society adopted its new name, American Society for Information Science (ASIS). The ASIS Archives include correspondence for SIG AH including a memorandum of April 17, 1968. At that year's ASIS Meeting, Prof. John Spaulding [inst. unknown] served as SIG Chair pro tem. In Jan. 1968, SIG AH had 46 members and $92.00 in dues allocations. The Archives list an AH program at the 1972 Convention; Karen Markey served as chair in 1981-82. Known officers for SIG AH are listed at the SIG webpage, http://www.asist.org/SIG/SIGAH/officers.html. The SIG has organized and presented sessions regularly at ASIST Annual Meetings.

Bioinformatics (BIO) (virtual)

SIG Biological and Chemical Information Systems (SIG BC) was established by 1967, possibly earlier (ASIS Archives). Dr. F. Kennett Broome, SIG BC chair pro tem, is listed in attendance at the SIG Cabinet breakfast meeting of Oct. 25, 1967. The SIG was renamed to Bioinformatics (SIG BIO), and became a virtual SIG, in [1985-2000].

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts (BWP) (virtual)

SIG BWP, a virtual SIG, was established in July 2005, organized by then ASIST President-Elect Michael Leach (see archived blog at http://asist.typepad.com/sig_bwp/).

Classification Research (CR)

SIG CR was established in 1966 (ASIS Archives). The ASIS Archives (Box 65) includes a letter of March 3, 1966 relating that Phyllis Richmond accepted the SIG's charter and was appointed as Chair pro tem, with Pauline Cochrane as Vice Chair. Ray Schwartz served as chair in 1994-95. SIG CR has published proceedings of its Classification Research Workshop since the first workshop in 1990, and these are available from http://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/acro/issue/archive

CON (SIG CON)

SIG CON is an award-winning Special Interest Group of the Society! It has a great website maintained by Candy Schwartz at http://web.simmons.edu/~schwartz/con/sig-con.html . SIG CON was born at the 1975 ASIS Meeting in Boston with a notice, published in the conference newsletter The Crier. In October 1995, the SIG marked "20 years of SIG CON" in a spoof issue title of JASIS 16(0) Guest Edited by Candy Schwartz. SIG CON, "the lighter side of ASIS&T," appears regularly as a social event at ASIST Annual Meetings. As part of the journal's 50th Anniversary special issue, see also the following:

Schwartz, Candy. (1999). The role of SIG/CON in the advancement of information science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(11), 1037-1039.

Critical Issues (CRIT) (virtual)

SIG CRIT, a virtual SIG, was established in December 2002, organized by Ron Day. Digital Libraries (DL) SIG DL was established in 2000 and Allison R. Kopczynski served as chair in 2000-01. "In the spring of 2000, motivated by Jim Cretsos, Suzie Allard and Allison Kopczynski founded this SIG. Through the direct guidance and support provided by Jim, both Suzie and Allison were able to establish a set of by-laws, prepare a technical program for the 2000 Annual Meeting in Chicago, establish a listserv, create a Website, and recruit a full slate of officers." -- from SIG DL's first Annual Report, 2000-01

Education for Information Science (ED)

SIG ED was established in 1966 under ADI, when it was originally SIG ES (Education for Information Science). Herbert M. Ohlman served as founding Chairman of SIG ES from 1966-1977. In 1967, Mr. Ohlman also chaired ASIS' SIG on Information Retention. Jody Fagan served as chair in 2002-03. SIG/ED has administered the Doctoral Forum at each ASIS&T Annual Meeting and the annual Student Paper Contest, since ca. 2000.

Health Informatics (HLTH)

This SIG was established as SIG MR [unknown full name] ca. 1970, and as evidenced by a May 25, 1979 letter in the ASIS Archives (Box 69), its change in name was approved to SIG Medical Information Systems (MED) in 1979. The SIG renamed to Medical Informatics (SIG MED) ca. 1995, and Nancy Blase served as chair in 1999-2000. The SIG renamed both its acronym and its full name to Health Informatics (SIG HLTH) in November 2009.

History & Foundations of Information Science (HFIS)

SIG Foundations of Information Science (FIS) was established in 1972 as evidenced by an approval of May 18, 1972 (application made May 12) appointing Laurence Heilprin as chair pro tem of SIG FIS (ASIS Archives, Box 66, see also http://www.personal.kent.edu/~tfroehli/sighfis/hist.html#hist). The SIG expanded both its acronym and its full name to History & Foundations of Information Science SIG HFIS) in 1995 (Buckland and Hahn, 1998), approved by the ASIS Board that May. Thomas Froehlich served as chair in 1999-2000. The History of Information Science and Technology Fund was approved by the ASIS Board of Directors, June 21 2000, and its first awards were presented in 2009. The proceedings of the Conference on the History and Heritage of Science Information Systems, held October 23-25, 1998 in Pittsburgh, PA, prior to the ASIS Annual Meeting, were published in October 1999. The proceedings of the Second Conference on the History and Heritage of Scientific Information Systems, held November 15-17, 2002 prior to the ASIS&T Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, were published in 2004. SIG HFIS members organized the 75th Anniversary Pre-Conference on the History of ASIST and Information Science and Technology Worldwide, held on October 27, 2012 in Baltimore, MD.

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) (virtual)

SIG User On-Line Interaction (UOI) was established ca. 1973 (ASIS Archives). The SIG was renamed to Human Computer Interaction (SIG HCI) ca. 1989 (ASIS Archives). Erica Lilly served as chair in 1999-2000. The SIG became a virtual SIG at the 2010 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.

Information Architecture (IA) (virtual)

SIG IA was established after the March 2000 ASIS&T Summit on Information Architecture. The SIG listserve archives are available at http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/. The SIG became a virtual SIG at the 2010 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. Special issues of the ASIST Bulletin have been dedicated to information architecture, including Aug./Sept. 2010 at http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Aug-10/index.html, and Aug./Sept. 2011.

Information Needs, Seeking and Use (USE)

SIG USE was chartered at the spring 1999 ASIS Mid-Year Meeting in Pasadena, CA, and Barbara Wildemuth served as chair in 1999-2000. SIG USE held its 1st Annual Research Symposium at ASIST 2001 in Washington, D.C.; 11 years of proceedings are available from the SIG webpage, http://siguse.wordpress.com/past-symposiums/. The SIG organized a 10th Anniversary special issue of the ASIST Bulletin in Feb./Mar. 2010, http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-10/index.html. As part of the 75th Anniversary, the SIG launched in March 2012 the "ASIS&T SIG USE History Project" at http://siguse.wikidot.com/, which collects documents, images, and other historic materials for SIG USE.

Information Policy (IFP)

SIG IFP was established ca. 1995. Shelly Warwick served as chair in 1999-2000 (per listing at http://www.asis.org/AboutASIS/AboutASIS/asis-sigs.html#SIGIP). The SIG launched its website in 2006, which is currently available at http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/projects/

International Information Issues (III)

SIG III was established in 1982. During the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. in 1981, a petition was circulated and signed by approximately 70 ASIS members in support of establishing the SIG; an announcement of its approval appears in the ASIS News of Jan. 1982, and the ASIS Archives (Box 68) includes an activity report for 1982. The founding officers ad interim were: Michel J. Menou (chair), Ward Shaw (chair-elect), and Toni Carbo Bearman, Ching Chih Chen and Judith Werdel (steering committee members). Bahaa El-Hadidy served as chair in 1999-2000, per SIG webpage, http://www.asis.org/SIG/SIGIII/newsletter.htm. SIG III has organized the International Paper Contest since 2000, attracting papers from over 50 countries. SIG III has also organized the InfoShare Program and the International Reception at ASIST Annual Meetings.

Knowledge Management (KM)

SIG KM was formed in November 1999. The SIG's past activities are detailed at the SIG webpage, http://www.asis.org/SIG/sigkm/activities.html. A special issue of the ASIST Bulletin focused on knowledge management in Dec. 2011, http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Dec-11/index.html

Library Technologies (LT) (virtual)

The SIG was established as SIG AL [unknown full name] in 1966, and as evidenced by a February 4, 1966 letter (ASIS Archives, Box 68), Howard Dillon accepted the position of Chair pro tem. At a meeting of the ADI Council held in New York on February 24-25 [1966] a number of important actions were taken relating to the three special interest groups which have qualified for charter under the new ADI constitution and bylaws. By 1972 the SIG was renamed as SIG Library Automation and Networks (LAN) (ASIS Archives). Laura Cousineau served as chair in 1999-2000 (per listing at http://www.asis.org/AboutASIS/AboutASIS/asis-sigs.html#SIGLAN). The SIG renamed to Library Technologies (SIG LT) at the November 2002 Annual Meeting (per SIG listserve archives at http://mail.asis.org/pipermail/siglan-l/2002-December/000028.html). The SIG distributed its first newsletter in February 2005, at http://mail.asis.org/pipermail/siglan-l/2005-February/000126.html. The SIG became a virtual SIG at the 2010 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. The SIG webpage is at http://www.asis.org/SIG/SIGLT/index.html

Management (MGT)

SIG Management of Information Activities (SIG MGT) was established in 1975 as evidenced by its petition for SIG status of October 1975 (ASIS Archives, Box 69). SIG MGT published its first newsletter in 1977. The SIG shortened its name to Management (SIG MGT) by 1983 (Redmond, 1988). Bob Travica served as chair in 1998-99 (per SIG webpage at http://www.asis.org/SIG/SIGMGT/officers.html).

Metrics (MET)

SIG MT was established as a virtual SIG in June 1999 (per SIG listserve archives at http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html). The SIG transferred from a virtual to a full SIG at the 2010 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA, and Jonathan Levitt served as chair in 2010-11. The SIG held a Symposium on Informetric and Scientometric Research on October 12, 2011 following the ASIST Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.

Scientific & Technical Information Science (STI)

SIG STI was established in 1971, as evidenced by a letter by Charles Meadow, chair pro tem of the SIG, in which he wrote of this proposed interest group of information science and public issues, "To bring to ASIS an awareness of the potential impact on the profession and on society as a whole of new technological developments in computers, communications, and image recording" (November 22, 1971) (ASIS Archives, Box 70). The ASIS Archives also includes SIG STI materials from 1993-1994. Albert Tabah served as chair in 1999-2000 (per listing at http://www.asis.org/AboutASIS/AboutASIS/asis-sigs.html#SIGSTI).

Social Informatics (SI)

SIG Technology, Information, and Society (TIS) was established ca. 1971 (ASIS Archives). Inez Sperr Brisfjord served as chair in 1999-2000 (per listing at http://www.asis.org/AboutASIS/AboutASIS/asis-sigs.html#SIGTIS); Kristen Eschenfelder served as chair in 2004-05; the SIG held a half-day workshop during the ASIST Annual Meeting in Providence, RI on November 14, 2004: http://www.asist.org/Conferences/AM04/social_informatics.html. The SIG renamed both its acronym and its full name to Social Informatics (SIG SI) at the 2005 Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC (http://mail.asis.org/pipermail/sigtis-l/2006-January/000120.html). SIG SI held its 8th Annual Social Informatics Research Symposium, "Social Informatics: Past, Present and Future," on October 27, 2012 as a half-day workshop during the 75th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD, organized by Howard Rosenbaum & Pnina Fichman of Indiana University.

Visualization, Images & Sound (VIS)

SIG VIS was founded by Joseph Busch and Corinne Jörgensen in 1994. From SIG VIS' newsletter 1(1) of 1995 appears the following: “As you know SIG VIS (name suggested by Linda Hill) was formed at the ASIS '94 annual meeting. The first new SIG in many years for ASIS,” as well as an introduction from Myke Gluck, Director (ASIS Archives, Box 70). Corinne Jörgensen served as chair in 1999-2000 (per SIG listing at http://www.asis.org/AboutASIS/AboutASIS/asis-sigs.html#SIGVIS). SIG VIS has presented a workshop at the 2010 and 2011 Annual Meetings.

References:

Buckland, M., and Hahn, T. B. (1998). Introduction. In T. B. Hahn and M. Buckland (Eds.), Historical studies in information science (pp. 1-6). Medford, N.J., Information Today for the ASIS Monograph Series.

McNitt, Marilyn. (1988). Finding aid for the American Society for Information Science (ASIS) Records, 1939–1990. Special Collections Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved from

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=sclead&idno=umich-scl-asis

The above list includes only SIGs with an active status in 2012. A listing of all SIGs active in 1983 is available on p. 90 of:

Redmond, Angela Dierking. (1988). American Society for Information Science – History. In A. Kent, J. G. Williams, & R. Kent (Eds.), Encyclopedia of microcomputers: Access methods to assembly language and assemblers (Vol. 1, pp. 74–94). New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

See also the ASIS Archives finding aid:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=sclead&idno=umich-scl-asis

as well as:

Williams, Robert V. (2012, June/July). The Changed and Changing ADI/ASIS/ASIS&T After 75 Years. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 38.5, 32-38. doi:10.1002/bult.2012.1720380511

and:

La Barre, Kathryn. (2012, Oct./Nov.). Spelunking in the Archives: Or How I Learned to Love the Art of the Unexpected. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 39.1, 32-34.

This compilation reflected research conducted by Task Force Member Kathryn La Barre during her historical investigation with the ASIST Archives at the University of Michigan. Additionally, the authors and Task Force members recruited authors to present their work at the 2012 Pre-Conference. A special issue of the ASIS Bulletin - Volume 14, Issue 5 (June/July 1988) - was published to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of ASIS in 1987. The issue includes articles on Chapters, SIGs, and ASIS history.