MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION POLICY

It is the policy of the Special Libraries Association to manage the transmission and use of membership information.

SLA membership data is a valuable source of information for Association units, vendors, exhibitors and others within the special libraries community. Association units must have access to this data to track members, conduct recruitment and retention activities, and aid their members' individual networking activities. Association units need to use the membership information to produce their own enhanced unit directories and mailing lists. For the Association, its Chapters, Divisions, Caucuses, vendors and exhibitors, this membership information represents an important marketing tool and must be managed for maximum integrity and accuracy.

Membership data is a valuable source of Association income.

1. Basic membership information; e.g. (name, employer, address, unit affiliations, telephone number, facsimile number, electronic mail address), may be disseminated only by SLA headquarters. SLA headquarters rents, sells, lends, and barters membership information for all Divisions, Chapters and Caucuses. Divisions, Chapters and Caucuses may enhance basic membership information for their subunit only to produce unit directories for sale or barter. This includes transmission of this enhanced membership data via unit electronic networks, bulletin boards and floppy disks, as well as directories and unit mailings.

2. Chapters, Divisions and Caucuses will continue to receive regular printed basic membership information update reports without charge for use in updating unit records, including the production of unit directories as needed. The association headquarters works with and tries to accommodate Divisions, Chapters and Caucuses which prefer to have their membership updates supplied in electronic formats.

3. Association headquarters will continue to rent membership information to those vendors, exhibitors and other organizations that meet the requirements specified in SLA's Mailing List Service procedures. SLA members may request to be omitted from the commercial mailing list. Divisions, Chapters an Caucuses will not rent, sell, lend or barter unit mailing lists without prior written approval from Association headquarters. Sale of unit directories is not precluded by any provision of this policy.

4. Any individual, organization or unit of the Association found in violation of these procedures may be denied further access to membership information.

IV. Responsibility

In cooperation with the Director, Leadership/Member Services, it is the responsibility of each unit to ensure that this policy on the transmission and use of membership information is enforced.

Approved: June 1993
Approved: October 1995
Supersedes: 1991
Supersedes: 1980