United Kingdom, April 2010 – ASLIB, The Association for Information Management, has been acquired by MCB Group, the holding company for Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Emerald and ASLIB have been working closely together since 2001, when ASLIB’s collection of research journals, including Journal of Documentation and ASLIB Proceedings, were acquired by Emerald. The acquisition means that ASLIB’s services to members will continue and grow, and the operating name and identity of ASLIB will be preserved.
Established in 1924, ASLIB has recently encountered difficult times. Following the sale of its journals to Emerald, ASLIB sold its book publishing business to Taylor and Francis in 2002, and went into voluntary liquidation in 2004, following which it was reconstituted as a limited liability company providing membership services to library and information professionals.
Emerald Joint CEO John Peters commented: "Following the acquisition of the ASLIB journals, we have worked very closely with the organization over the years, and were sad to see the decline of a highly regarded institution. This is a real opportunity for us to build a 21st Century member organization. ASLIB will be run independently, but will draw on services from Emerald, as well as other publishers. We plan to reinstate an Advisory Board, and to revamp and improve the ASLIB Managing Information (MI) Magazine."
Future Plans
Peters continued: "These are obviously difficult times for libraries and information services providers worldwide. We will hold ASLIB and MI subscription fees at current levels in 2010 and 2011, but will be looking to offer a raft of new service options for members. Our first step will be to go to current and former members, and our own LIS community of editors and advisers for consultation. It’s a great strategic fit for us, and an opportunity to build something of value to all ASLIB members, and to the LIS/Information and Knowledge Management community."
ASLIB’s registered office will move to Emerald’s UK headquarters in Bingley, West Yorkshire.
