President’s Message, May 2026
Hello Information Science citizens!
In my North American part of the academic world, most of us have turned in our final grades or are at least getting close, watched our graduates receive their diplomas, hooded our doctoral students, and are feeling the summer glow. We may also be awaiting funding decisions or finally turning attention to those “revise and resubmit” comments or adding some new readings to a dusty syllabus; you know, all the things we do during those months between academic years. I hope there is also some productive information seeking about locating the best beach rentals or optimal picnic food for a hike or reviews of summer films.
If you’re still considering an early summer adventure, it’s not too late to attend the Information Science Summit and Special Libraries Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 6 - 9 June. This a great opportunity to meet new colleagues and explore new approaches to “best practice in solving wicked information challenges” as we build upon the Special Libraries Association’s long time annual conference and bring it together with the ASIST Information Science Summit. And I hear good things about both the food and scenery in New Mexico.
Your ASIS&T Board of Directors met for its annual retreat in Chicago, Illinois, in late April. The elected members were joined by two appointed representatives from the former Special Libraries Association, Anne Barker and Heather Kotula. We worked through the usual business of membership and budgeting (we’re doing well in both areas!). The board demonstrated its intrepidness and commitment by a walk to lunch in the rain that sent many of us back to the hotel to find a way to dry our shoes. I was not the only one attending the afternoon portion of the meeting in bedroom slippers.
We also took some time for a design thinking exercise to generate ideas to inform and shape the organization’s thinking about information futures. Our strategic plan for the next three years calls for hosting an international information futures summit. We will invite thought leaders in the discipline and related professions to come together to define and explore the big information challenges of the future. The brainstorm was almost as intense as the lunch time rainstorm! I’m working with one of our New Leader Fellows, Hassan Mortada, to analyze the themes that emerged. Early analysis suggests questions about ensuring information integrity, the future of classification, interrogating assumptions embedded in our information systems, and a lot more. If you have ideas about big information futures questions, share them with a Board member!
My social media feed this week has been full of friends and colleagues celebrating acceptances of the ASIS&T annual conference in Bangkok this fall. I don’t want to hurry my summer, or anyone else’s, but I know I’m not the only one looking forward to that event!
Maria Bonn, ASIS&T President