American Society for Information Science and Technology

The Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) is a nonprofit membership organization for information professionals that sponsors an annual conference as well as several serial publications, including the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST). The organization provides administration and communications support for its various divisions, known as special-interest groups or SIGs; provides administration for geographically defined chapters; connects job seekers with potential employers; and provides organizational support for continuing education programs for information professionals. Founded as the American Documentation Institute (ADI) in 1937, the group became the American Society for Information Science (ASIS) in 1968 to reflect the organization's interest in "all aspects of the information transfer process" such as, "designing, managing and using information systems and technology." Updating its name in 2000, the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) signaled the widespread prevalence and increasing centrality of online databases and similar technical aspects of the information profession. In 2013 the organization adopted its current name, Association for Information Science and Technology, while retaining the ASIS&T acronym, to better reflect its international membership and the increasingly global nature of our information society. Today the organization comprises professionals from various fields including engineering, linguistics, librarianship, education, chemistry, computer science, and medicine. Members share "a common interest in improving the ways society stores, retrieves, analyzes, manages, archives and disseminates information ".