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SLA membership carries a collection of definitions; some are
published and official (as defined in SLA bylaws) while others tend to represent personal
perspectives and are largely anecdotal but may be strongly held.
According to SLA bylaws, the type of membership determines
§ the amount of dues charged,
§ whether election to
Association-level office is permitted,
§ how many Divisions or Chapters
can be included in the base membership price,
§ and whether the premier
journal is included free.
No mention is made about distribution of other Association publications such as the Who’s
Who Membership directory and the annual conference programs (preliminary and
final).
Students, retirees, honorees are readily identifiable and undisputed categories of
membership. No mention is made of unemployed members or vendors who may or may not have
MLS degrees.
There are no membership categories for part-time or unemployed SLA members.
There is no current category for "virtual" members who might be expected to
receive membership at a discounted rate if most, if not all, of these
"e-members" agreed to forego print distribution of publications and accept
digital versions from SLA’s web site.
While we have international members, they are largely in North America and northern
Europe, and they must pay dues in U.S. dollars, a troublesome inconvenience at best and
perhaps a greater deterrent to our total membership growth. There is no membership
category as such for international members of lour Association.
The basic requirements for SLA membership (as stated in our bylaws) seem to be in the
acceptance of the mission of our Association and experience in special libraries or
information centers, not necessarily having a MLS degree.
Keeping all these elements in mind, our Membership Task Force has crafted a draft
definition of SLA membership.
It is this Task Force recommendation that SLA membership be defined as
· any adult embracing the
vision, values, and mission of our Association as stated in "The Visionary
Framework for the Future", and
· who further subscribes to the professional and
personal competencies of information professionals as stated in the Association’s
"Competencies for Special Librarians of the 21st Century", and
· who follows the fundamentals of ethical
professional conduct
be accepted as a qualified member entitled to all the privileges of membership upon
receipt of the designated membership dues.
Task Force Members’ Insights :
Tom Rink (Officer with the Tulsa Police Department):
". . . . The Special Libraries Association membership is comprised of
information professionals in specialized library or information center settings who offer
creative and innovative solutions to the dynamic informational needs of their highly
specialized clientele using both traditional methods as well as cutting-edge technologies
to accomplish this objective. . . . "
Carol Williams (BC Securities Commission):
". . . . The Association must make greater inroads with students
by demonstrating the nature of special librarianship and the value of SLA membership. . .
. Not only should we be looking at what SLA can offer each group but also look at what we
are offering - are they the right 'products' - i.e. step back and look at this from a
marketing perspective. That is, break down each 'category' into a Marketing Matrix and
find out what the interests/needs of each group are: focus groups, online survey,
whatever. We may find out they don't want some of the current offerings and would prefer
ones we have not thought of yet. . . . "
Bill Fisher (San Jose State University)
". . . . One possible way to differentiate our membership is to
have three categories of regular members:
Category I – fewer than five years experience working in an information
environment related to the Association and its mission.
Category II – no fewer than five years and no more than 15 years experience
working in an information environment related to the Association and its mission.
Category III – no fewer than 15 years experience working in an information
environment related to the Association and its mission. . . . "
Marty McDonald (Greater Cincinnati Library Consortium)
". . . . I think it might be advisable to broaden the membership
description a bit more, to encompass those of us who partner with special libraries, but
who may never have worked in a special library ourselves. (There are a number of us within
the membership. We belong to SLA as a means of developing strong, multitype library
coalitions and partnerships.) I would like to suggest that more direct reference be made
to "partnering," somewhere in the description of membership and benefits. .
. . "
Theresa Connaughton (Los Alamos National Laboratory: Information and
Records Management)
". . . . When I worked with the Library of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the U.N. in Rome I became aware of the great benefits of
membership in SLA for many information professionals in special libraries all over the
world. Most of these individuals would have a difficult time qualifying for membership
under the present bylaws. Also, many of our international colleagues would never be able
to pay the current annual membership fee as it would be equal to amount one month's salary
for some. Therefore, I suggest that we have at least two fee structures based on country
of residence. That is, members from developed countries would pay one rate, while members
from developing countries would pay a lower rate. The UN maintains lists of countries by
income level (developed, industrial, developing, least developed, etc.-- we can take our
pick) so the membership department would not have a difficult time assessing the correct
amount of dues. . . . "
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