Ассоциация специальных библиотек: история и современность.

Professional association

The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is an international professional association for library and information professionals working in business, government, law, finance, non profit, and academic organizations and institutions.

The Special Libraries Association was founded in 1909 in the United States by a group of librarians working in specialized settings, led by John Cotton Dana, who served as the first president of SLA from 1909 to 1911. In the years prior to SLA's founding Dana and other librarians saw an increasing demand for the types of materials that specialized libraries could provide, and recognized that as information professionals working in such settings responded to the demands of their jobs they were creating a new kind of librarianship. Also, many of them were working as professional librarians but largely without the professional support enjoyed by other librarians and professionals. The group sought to address their common problems by banding together. Their goal, as stated in the first issue of Special Libraries, was to "unite in co operation all small libraries throughout the country; financial, commercial, scientific, industrial; and special departments of state, college and general libraries; and, in fact, all libraries devoted to special purposes and serving a limited clientage." The SLA is now an international organization with members in over 75 countries and is organized by 55 regional Chapters. Additionally, the SLA also has a number of Divisions devoted to specific topic areas. Many Divisions also include Sections for sub specialties. The current Divisions include: Academic; Biomedical & Life Sciences; Business & Finance; Chemistry; Competitive Intelligence; Education; Engineering; Environment & Resource Management; Food, Agriculture & Nutrition; Government Information; Information Technology; Insurance & Employee Benefits; Knowledge Management; Legal; Leadership & Management; Military Libraries; Museums, Arts & Humanities; News; Petroleum & Energy Resources; Pharmaceutical & Health Technology; Physics Astronomy Mathematics; Science Technology; Social Science; Solo Librarians; Taxonomy; and Transportation.

From the time of the founding of the SLA there has been some controversy surrounding the terminology used in the name Special Libraries Association. At the time of SLAs founding there was an almost immediate backlash against the term special library or special librarian. For some, the term was too specific in that it had been used on a limited basis to that time to define reference collections which were limited or narrow in some way. For others, the term was too broad, focusing on a general type of collection rather than the work that the special librarian does. This debate continues today among organization members and official name changes were considered in 1982, 2003, and 2009 but they were eventually voted down by the membership.

SLA membership is open to any person or organization. Members pay annual dues to SLA and additional fees for any Chapter, Division, or Caucus memberships they wish to obtain. Members of SLA typically possess a master's degree in library or information science and may have an advanced degree in a related field such as law, medicine or engineering. While special libraries include law libraries, news libraries, corporate libraries, museum libraries, medical libraries, and transportation libraries, many information professionals today do not actually work in a library setting. They actively apply their specialized skills to support the information needs of their organizations. SLA members fill many non traditional librarian roles such as corporate competitive intelligence analyst, researcher, or information specialist. Given the rapid adoption of information technologies for selecting, analyzing, managing, storing, and delivering information and knowledge, the average SLA member might be performing a range of services and employing a diverse mix of skills related to, but not exclusive of, library science. In fact, it is likely a special librarian does not work in a library, but rather an information center or resource center. The board of directors is responsible for the overall direction and management of the SLA and selects the organization's officers. The board of directors is led by a president who is elected for a one year term. An executive director selected by the board oversees the day to day management and functions of SLA. SLA Welcomed Amy Lestition Burke, CAE, as its executive director in May 2016. Burke had been serving SLA as vice president of success since 1 March, when SLA entered into an agreement with association management company MCI USA (formerly Coulter Companies) to manage its operations. Each of the regional Chapters and topical Divisions of SLA also elects officers and conducts meetings in a similar fashion to SLA. Members are entitled to vote in board elections for each Chapter or Division in which they pay dues.

SLA activities include conferences, professional education, networking, and advocacy. The SLA Annual Conference & INFO EXPO, usually held in the summer, includes education programs, networking events, and information exhibits. The SLA 2017 Annual Conference took place in Phoenix. The SLA 2018 Annual Conference was held 9–13 June 2018, in Baltimore, Maryland. The SLA 2019 Annual Conference is scheduled to be held 13–18 June in Cleveland, Ohio.