Canadian Association for Information Science : Prior to the establishment of the Canadian Association for Information Science, there was the Computing and Data Processing Society of Canada (formed 1958). It changed its name to the Canadian Information Processing Society in 1968.
On February 5, 1969, a meeting of the Ottawa members of the American Association for Information Science (ASIS) and other interested persons was convened by Mr. B.A. McGee, Geological Survey of Canada, for the purpose of organizing an Ottawa Chapter of ASIS. During the discussion, the formation of a Canadian association was proposed and supported by the majority of persons present. An increasing awareness of the need for individuals interested in the many different aspects of information science to have a forum within which they could pool their various experiences and discuss new developments in a Canadian context resulted in steps being taken to form a Canadian association.
An organizing committee was appointed to consider the establishment of such an association in greater detail. It was felt that the formation of a Canadian association would need the interest and support of a more widely representative group if it were to be successful.
The objectives of the association were to (a) promote the advancement of information science in Canada; and (b) to encourage and facilitate the exchange of information relating to the use, access, retrieval, organization, management, and dissemination of information.
The Canadian Association for Information Science / L'association canadienne des sciences de l'information (CAIS-ASCI) was incorporated in 1970. CAIS-ASCI members include information scientists and archivists, librarians, computer scientists, documentalists, economists, educators, journalists, psychologists, and others who support its objectives.
CAIS-ASCI has been publishing in various capacities since 1970. Since 1976, it has published a journal. It was originally called the Canadian Journal of Information Science, and is now continued as the Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science. Its purpose is to contribute to the advancement of information and library science in Canada
