ALGIS
ALGIS, the Affiliation of Local Government Information Specialists, is a formally-structured association of individuals employed in any aspect of knowledge management, document and information services, whose principal users are officers or officials of local authorities.
History[edit]
In the United Kingdom, library and information services have historically been categorised by the types of sponsor organisation that they operate under. The position of information units within local authorities providing services principally to support the activities of the authority, rather than to the public as provided for under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act[1], was seen to present a peculiar set of network and information sharing issues for the people engaged in providing these services.[2][3][4] The problems had been recognised specifically for Social Services Departments as early as 1979.[5] Although often structured like other special libraries, their varied and often informal operational systems and diverse user profiles made them as individually unique and variable as the local authorities they served. Nevertheless, all the units were operating within and for the same local government service and regulation aims. Commonality in the issues facing all those individuals providing internal library and information services to local government staff and politicians led to nationwide discussions between members of the Institute of Information Scientists, the Public Libraries Group of the Library Association and other larger providers of specialised support to local authorities such as the Research Library of the Greater London Council. Public Libraries, whilst providing information to Councillors as part of their brief to provide the public with information, had no mandate to provide technical or specialist information services within the local authorities.[6] The Research Library of the Greater London Council had developed online services from 1973[7]and launched ACOMPLINE as the first online database system providing comprehensive information in the field of local government in 1981.[8]
ALGIS came into being following a series of open meetings driven by an ALGIS Steering Group originating in 1988. The Steering Group's aim was to gather together all relevant people, regardless of their professional interests, who had a role in knowledge and information management within and for local authorities. Activities culminated in the establishment of the group as a formal Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Institute of Information Scientists, which at the time was a registered charity with the ID Number 1000828. The inaugural meeting of the group occurred on the 31st May 1991 at the London offices of the Association of County Councils, Eaton Square. 50 members from around the country attended.[9]
ALGIS's stated objectives were to "raise awareness of the potential and actual benefits of the work of information specialists within local government" and "to improve the effectiveness of information specialists within local government".>ALGIS Rules of the Association as recorded in compliance with Institute of Information Scientists' Bye-laws</ref>
On its formation, the group had a committee composed of eight annually elected members including specified roles for Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Publicity and PR, Membership and Recruitment, Newsletter Editor, Events Coordinator and one other. In later years, the committee took the form of Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, and the five others elected to lead with responsibilities for one of the following roles: Newsletter Editor, Membership, Publicity, SCOOP Representation, and Website.[10]
ALGIS activities included the hosting of meetings and seminars, visits, a newsletter,[11] the creation of a members' directory and other information sharing activities.
From 1996, the Institute of Information Scientists had been investigating unification with the Library Association, the membership awarding body holding the Royal Charter for professional librarians. ALGIS, whose membership incorporated workers from diverse professions whose main area of activity was not librarianship, elected to explore an alternative potential umbrella organisation. Following a membership ballot in 2001, ALGIS negotiated an arrangement to become affiliated to LARIA, (then known alternatively as the Local Authorities Research and Intelligence Association). From 2002, ALGIS assumed the name ALGIS in LARIA. Subsequently, the Institute of Information Scientists was largely subsumed into the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, the successor organisation to the Library Association.
ALGIS in LARIA continued to operate as a special group until 2008 when it merged fully with LARIA. In 2011, LARIA adopted the altered title, Local Area Research and Intelligence Association, retaining its acronym but altering its scope and objectives.[12] With growing complexity in the structure and delivery of services within the public realm, the role of the government information specialist continues to be acknowledged as necessary whilst simultaneously hard to locate.[13]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
- ↑ Grayson, L. (1976). "British local government documentation". Government Publications Review, 3(3) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/Accessed 8 July 2017
- ↑ Kennington, D. (1974). "Local government information services". Journal of Librarianship, 6(1) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/Accessed 8 July 2017
- ↑ Grayson, L. (1977). "Information provision and services to local government in the U.K.-a bibliography of material relating to the review". London, Polytechnic of North London, School of Librarianship, [1977], 59p, Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/Accessed 8 July 2017
- ↑ Wilson, T. D., Streatfield, D. R., & Mullings, C. (1979). "Information needs in local authority social services departments: A second report on project INISS". Journal of Documentation, 35(2) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/Accessed 8 July 2017
- ↑ Charlesworth, R. G. (1977). "The local authority input". Aslib Proceedings, 29(11–12) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/Accessed 8 July 2017
- ↑ Farmer, P. (1981). "ACOMPLIS: A computerised london information service". Aslib Proceedings, 33(5) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/Accessed 8 July 2017
- ↑ Farmer, P., & Gomersall, A. (1981). "ACOMPLINE: An on-line information system for local government". Journal of Information Science, 3(6) Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/Accessed 8 July 2017
- ↑ Golland, Richard (1991). "ALGIS Local Government Special Interest Group Launched". Inform. July/August: 136.
- ↑ "ALGIS in LARIA". 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
- ↑ "ALGIS in LARIA". 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
- ↑ "LARIA Our History".
- ↑ Mack, T., & Prescod, J. (2009). "Where have all the government documents librarians gone?" Reference Services Review, 37(1), 99–111. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00907320910935020
ALGIS[edit]
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