About LISAA

For information on the current LISAA executive click here.

For information on LISAA's objectives click here.

History

The Library and Information Studies Alumni Association (LISAA) was conceived in the spring of 1985. At an organizational committee meeting on June 16, 1985, a motion was made and seconded "that a Faculty of Library Science Constituent Society of the Alumni Association be established." The motion was ratified at CLA meetings held in Calgary in June of 1985. The LISAA Constitution was adopted at a meeting at the Alberta Library Conference in Jasper, on May 2, 1986. On June 16, 1986, the University of Alberta Alumni Association gave official status to LISAA.

The Association had 93 members in its first year of operation, and it produced its first newsletter in February of 1986, with the intention of two annual issues.

To honour those who have made significant contributions to the library profession, the School of Library and Information Studies, and/or the advancement of knowledge, LISAA created two awards. The criteria and procedures for Honorary Membership were created in November of 1986, for members of the Alberta library community who did not receive their library degrees from the University of Alberta. The Distinguished Alumni Award followed to honour SLIS graduates in the same way.

The Scholarship Fund was established in the spring of 1987. The first endowment from the fund was initially granted to a single student, but soon the endowment was increased so that two students could receive the scholarship annually.

The Special Projects Fund is another LISAA accomplishment. The annual Special Projects endowment comes in the form of a cash donation or a piece of equipment that the School could not otherwise afford.

The LISAA web site made its debut in the summer of 1998. The site was redesigned and extensively redeveloped over the summer of 2002 by a group of current SLIS students and a faculty member, Professor Lisa Given.

Today, LISAA sponsors or co-sponsors at least three annual social events, grants two annual scholarships, and produces three newsletters per membership year. Members number approximately 100 annually, with respectable annual donations to the Scholarship and Special Projects Funds.

Adrienne Canty
August 2002