FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

        RALEIGH, NC--At its March 9, 1998, annual membership meeting held at the
Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the members of the Art
Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) approved affiliation with
three other international art libraries societies:
· Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kunst und Museumsbibliotheken

· Sous-section des Bibliothèques d'art, Association des Bibliothécaires
Français

· Japan Art Documentation Society

        These three professional societies join the list of nine organizations
already affiliated with ARLIS/NA: the American Library Association (ALA),
ARLIS/Australia and New Zealand, ARLIS/Netherlands, ARLIS/Norden,
ARLIS/Norge, ARLIS/United Kingdom and Ireland, the Association of
Architecture School Librarians (AASL), the College Art Association (CAA),
and the Visual Resources Association (VRA). ARLIS/NA is also a member of
the International Federation of Art Libraries and Institutions (IFLA), the
Digital Futures Coalition (DFC), the Library Organization Exchange (LOEX),
the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), and the National
Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH).
        Affiliation with ARLIS/NA is the formal establishment of a relationship of
mutual support and encouragement and of such forms of cooperation as will
enhance the relationship. Concrete ongoing forms of cooperation include:  a
regular exchange of information between affiliates, in particular through
the exchange of publications and conference documentation;  reciprocal
complementary conference registration for the president and executive
director (or proxy thereof) of affiliates; reciprocal  conference
registration member rates for the membership of affiliated organizations;
the complementary exchange of membership lists, mailing labels, advertising
privileges in affiliates’ publications, the posting of information on
affiliates’ listservs or linking to their
Web sites, etc., upon the executive level request of affiliates; additional
rights and privileges may be conferred by the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA;
and proposed joint initiatives between affiliates approved by the Executive
Board of ARLIS/NA.

        The Art Libraries Society of North America, founded in 1972, is devoted to
fostering excellence in art librarianship and visual resources curatorship
for the advancement of visual arts. For more information, contact the Art
Libraries Society of North America, 4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 201,
Raleigh, NC 27607-7506, 919/787-5181, fax 919/787-4916, email:
[log in to unmask], Web site http://afalib.uflib.ufl.edu/arlis.
        -30-

Penney De Pas, CAE
Executive Director
Art Libraries Society of North America
(ARLIS/NA)
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 201
Raleigh, NC 27607-7596
919/787-5181 ext. 221  800-89-ARLIS
fax 919/787-4916
email: [log in to unmask]