Australian Library and Information Association
peak professional organization for the Australian library and information services sector
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), formerly the Australian Institute of Librarians and Library Association of Australia, is the peak professional organisation for the Australian library and information services sector. Founded in 1937, its headquarters are in Canberra.
ALIA publishes a quarterly scholarly journal, Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, and a bimonthly news magazine for members, INCITE. The Association hosts a number of conferences which take place in different places around Australia.
History
On 20 August 1937, a meeting of 55 librarians at the Albert Hall in Canberra formed the Australian Institute of Librarians in response to the Munn-Pitt survey. The foundation president was William Herbert Ifould, the Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales. John Metcalfe, Deputy Principal Librarian at the Public Library of New South Wales was the first honorary general secretary and drafted much of the original constitution.
In 1949, the institute changed its name to the Library Association of Australia, and was renamed again 1989 to its current name of the Australian Library and Information Association and a permanent office was established in Canberra.
The Archives section, which had existed between 1951 and 1973, became the Australian Society of Archivists in 1975.
Governance and description
The Association is governed by a constitution and a board of directors who are voted on by members for two year terms.
ALIA National Office staff are based in ALIA House in Australia's capital, Canberra.
“Australian Library and Information Association” enters the record as peak professional organization for the Australian library and information services sector. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Australian, Library and Information can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Australian Library and Information Association” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Australian, Library and Information provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4824390. VIAF identifies the subject as 149006379. The Library of Congress control number is no91011933. Authority coordinates are -35.321, 149.095. 3 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1937, 1949, 1989 and 1951.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Australian Library and Information Association”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Australian Library and Information Association primary sources, Australian Library and Information Association archive and Australian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Australian Library and Information Association”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Australian Library and Information Association” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.