Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association

Celebrating 75 years of ALIA journals: The role of journals in LIS practice and research

2026 is an important year for the Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association (JALIA). It is the 75th year in which the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) or its precursor, the Library Association of Australia (LAA) began publishing JALIA’s precursor, the Australian Library Journal (ALJ) in 1951.  ALJ was quarterly, published both research and practice papers, and covered a wide range of mainly Australian library issues. From 1970 until 2016, the LAA/ALIA also published Australian Academic and Research Libraries (AARL), also published quarterly. Initially focussing on research and practice from, and about, academic and research libraries, AARL slowly became more research-focussed with topics beyond academic and research libraries, with articles on educational and other issues relevant across the whole library and information sector. In 2016 ALIA decided to merge these two journals and in 2017 the first issue of JALIA was published, continuing with the ALJ volume numbering[1].

For a journal to survive 75 years is no mean feat.  Haddow (2011) reflects on the volatility of LIS journals in Australia and globally in an article commemorating ALJ’s sixtieth year of publication which also documents the rise and demise of other Australian LIS journals. National journals such as JALIA that belong to, or are affiliated with, a learned society or professional association, can play an important role in developing and disseminating regional scholarship (Jamali, Wakeling & Luca, 2026) and informing national or regional practice, education and policy. Yet they struggle to survive with 140 (7%) local Australian journals ceasing publication between 2011 and 2021 (Jamali, Wakeling & Abbasi, 2022).

While records indicate that the first English language LIS journal was likely to be The Library Journal, first published in the USA in 1876, and the first British journal the Library Chronicle (precursor to the Library Association Record), which began publication in the 1880’s, there was a slow and then exponential growth of LIS journals published, with 1,793 listed in Ulrichs Periodicals Directory under Library and Information Science by the year 2000 McCarthy (2000). This growth left many library and information researchers and professionals like Maguire (1988) with the “…latest journals pile[d] up on my bookshelves unread” and journals struggling to maintain subscriptions.  The proliferation is posited to be related to the growth of the profession and professional education.  Specialist journals arose that catered specifically to researchers or practitioners, to specific functions and subfields of LIS, library types and functions, or relevant to specific geopolitical locations.

Over those 75 years, journals have undergone many changes. These are documented in many places, and include the proliferation and increasing cost to individuals and institutions of journals; the changing roles of various actors in the journal publication cycle from researchers, authors, libraries, commercial and scholarly publishers, to technology, platforms and purchasing consortia;  the move from print to electronic journals; the move towards open access and the various options for achieving it; the pros and cons of peer review, and its various requirements; the potential alternatives for disseminating research, and the impacts of artificial intelligence in research and publication.

We invite contributions to celebrate 75 years of ALJ/JALIA with a special issue to be published in June 2027 focussing on the role of journals in LIS research and practice and the continuing evolution of journal publication. While JALIA does not typically publish bibliometrics papers, we would be prepared to consider bibliometrics papers specifically related to ALIA and ALIA journals. Possible topics include:

• The role of journals in the LIS profession and/or LIS professional associations
• The role of journals in LIS and GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) research, scholarship and/or education
• The role of national and association journals
• The future of peer review in LIS research and practice
• The evolving role of GLAMs in journal production, distribution, preservation and conservation
• The future of LIS journals

[1] Back-issues for AARL (1988-2016 https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uarl20 and ALJ (1957-2006 https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ualj20) are openly available through the Taylor and Francis online platform. Issues prior to these are archived in hard copy at ALIA headquarters.

References

Haddow, G. (2011). ‘Glad tidings, testimony and research’: sixty years of The Australian Library Journal. The Australian Library Journal, 60(4), 280–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049670.2011.10722643

Jamali, H. R., Wakeling, S., & Abbasi, A. (2022). Why do journals discontinue? A study of Australian ceased journals. Learned Publishing, 35(2), 219–228. https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1448

Jamali, H. R., Wakeling, S., & Luca, E. J. (2026). Challenges and strategies in local journal publishing: Perspectives of Australian journal editors. Learned Publishing, 39(1), e2034.

Maguire, Carmel. ‘‘Good, Bad, or Irrelevant: Quality, price and value of library journals.’’ IFLA Journal 14 (4): 318-323, 1988.

McCarthy, C.A. (2000) Journals of the Century in Library and Information Science, The Serials Librarian, 39:2, 121-138, DOI: 10.1300/J123v39n02_09