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Professional associations and bodies

The Archives and Records Association
Formed in 2010 from a merger of the Society of Archivists, the National Council on Archives and the Association of Chief Archivists in Local Government, ARA describes itself as “the lead professional body for archivists, archive conservators and records managers in the United Kingdom and Ireland”. The website contains lists of training opportunities, details of the Society’s publications (some of which are available online), and information about membership and meetings.

Information and Records Management Society
The Information and Records Management Society was launched in 1983 and is open to all those concerned with records and information, regardless of their professional or organisational status or qualifications. The society is developing its own training programmes and extending its range of technical and information publications — details of these can be found on the website.

British Records Association
Founded in 1932, the British Records Association aims to encourage and assist with the preservation, care, use and publication of historical records. The website includes pages for the Records Preservation Section, a clearing house and rescue body for archives. The RPS works to ensure that material of historical interest is deposited with appropriate record offices and also runs a consultancy service for those needing advice on the care of records.

Business Archives Council
The Business Archives Council was established in 1934 to encourage the preservation of British business records, to advise on the administration and management of archives and current records, and to promote the use of business records. The website has details of conferences, seminars and symposiums hosted by the BAC as wells as training days and workshops on all aspects of archives administration, records management and business history. There is also a list of BAC publications for sale.

Aslib
Aslib is the professional organisation for everyone working in information management. It develops products and services offering practical solutions to managing information in a changing environment.

The Australian Society of Archivists
This is the website for the Australian professional body. Among other useful features the site hosts a fully searchable version of Australian Archives giving details of archive repositories and their holdings.

The Society of American Archivists
This website of the Society of American Archivists is useful for information about annual conferences and for an excellent annotated list of their own and other publications.

ARMA International
ARMA International is the American organisation for records managers. The site is useful for annual conference information and for the list of ARMA’s excellent publications.

The Association of Canadian Archivists

British Standards Institute
The British Standards Institute has many standards relevant for archives and records management.

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)
The leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. It welcomes members working in all sectors, including business and industry, science and technology, further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries.

Links last verified: 28.06.2020. Links will open in a new browser window.

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