Professional Associations

Good Evening,

Professional associations are important to be a part of because it’s a great way to network and connect with other people in the field. It can help lead me to jobs in the fields that I would like to be in once I get my degree. So I look forward to looking into a few of them to see which ones might be best for me. So let’s look at a couple now.

Society of American Archivists (SAA)

The Society of American Archivists was founded in 1936. The association mission is to encourage and develop the values of archives and archivists. The stand as a source for American archivists to come and communicate with others in the same field and interests. The association has four different types of membership, which include: full, student, associate, and institutional. All have annual dues. Benefits to becoming a member include getting an electronic copy of The American Archivist, which is a journal that has articles, case studies, research, and more within it. Full and Associate members would get a printed copy of this as well. Members also get the Archival Outlook which is a newsletter that talks about upcoming events and important news. SAA has a bookstore that members get to enjoy a nice discount on as well. Lastly they can join a mentoring program which brings people with similar interests together. They have an annual meeting every year in a different city which lasts about a week. There they can network, go to fun special events, and workshops.

Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA)

Art Libraries Society of North America was founded in 1972. The society’s mission is uphold the importance of art and design librarianship. They want to keep traditions strong but keep up with the ever-changing world’s technology. ARLIS/NA strives to be a great resource for people in the field to connect and learn from. The society has four types of membership as well, individual, Introductory, retired/unemployed, and student. Benefits to becoming a member include participating in the society structure such as holding a position in the executive board. But they also have committee's, divisions, special interest groups, and chapters that you can be involved in as well. ARLIS/NA also offers its members opportunities to get scholarships and awards. There are great career resources available to you as well. They also have a few publications that are special for you. They have Art Documentation which comes out twice a year with exciting and important articles to read and view. The Occasional Papers Series has longer essays and reviews on more focused topics. ARLIS/NA has an annual conference that gives members the opportunity to go and learn more in art librarianship. It gives them another chance to network in person. Another interesting event that I noticed they had was study abroad options. I thought that was really different and awesome for them to offer.

I choose to look at these two associations because they are geared toward career paths I would like to look more into. I love the SAA for it’s archival side and it has a lot of great benefits to becoming a member. I feel I could learn a lot from them and the networking opportunities would be amazing since they have about 5,000 members. I like ARLIS/NA as well. I enjoy that this one is not as big, with 1,000 members and that it is more of a focused group on art. I think I am really starting to get more interested in the art and museum side of the field. Like I stated in the above, I also like that it gives study abroad options, that’s great. I think giving people the opportunity to go somewhere else to see how they do things is wonderful. We can always learn new techniques and tricks. If I had to chose today one of the associations to join it would be the ARLIS/NA. I like the feel I get from their website and the literature I have read on it. They look like a small tight knit group with a lot going on. There were plenty of great benefits to joining as well. I really like that they help with looking for jobs. It’s nice that they are there to help fellow members out like that. I look forward to reading more of what these two associations offer as well as looking into a few more. That way I can choose one that fits me best, maybe two.

Ashley      

About SAA. (2014). Society of american archivists. Retrieved from

http://www2.archivists.org/

History & Mission. (2013). Art libraries society of north america. Retrieved from

http://www.arlisna.org/index.html