art libraries society of north america

What art libraries society of north america does

Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional society founded in 1972 that serves more than 1,000 individual members across the US and Canada, including art and architecture librarians, visual resources professionals, museum curators and educators, art publishers, and library science students. The society's mission is to foster excellence in art and design librarianship and image management through programming, publications, and professional advocacy. It is headquartered in Boxborough, Massachusetts, with 1–10 employees and operates through a network of 16 regional chapters.

ARLIS/NA's product portfolio spans recurring membership services, an annual in-person conference that rotates across North American cities (Chicago 2022 through Portland 2027), and a suite of scholarly publications including the Art Documentation journal, ARLIS/NA Reviews, Multimedia & Technology Reviews, Notable Graphic Novels Review, and the Digital Art History Directory. The society also runs the ARLIS/NA JobList — a tiered, regionally priced job-posting service for art information professionals — alongside mentoring programs, webinars, Lunchtime Chats, international study tours, and the ARLIS/NA-VRA Summer Educational Institute co-organized with the Visual Resources Association. There is no proprietary technology product; the underlying stack is Novi AMS for association management, with Humanities Commons hosting ARLIS/NA Commons, a Kaltura video channel, Zoom for virtual programming, and the ARLIS-L listserv as the primary member communication channel.

The society's revenue model is diversified across membership dues, conference registration fees, JobList transaction-based postings, publication sales, corporate and institutional sponsorships, and tax-deductible charitable donations to multiple designated funds. Marketing and member acquisition are community-led, relying on chapter networks, the listserv, peer referrals, and the annual conference rather than paid acquisition channels. Financial details are not publicly disclosed, and ARLIS/NA has no parent company, investors, or public listing; governance is through an elected Executive Board and the membership at large.

Name

art libraries society of north america

Legal name

Art Libraries Society of North America

Website

https://arlisna.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Art Libraries Society of North America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional society serving over 1,000 art librarians, visual resources professionals, curators, and students across the US and Canada through conferences, publications, a job board, awards, and professional development programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Boxborough

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees provide the primary recurring revenue stream, supporting the society's programming, publications, and professional development activities. All membership applications require full payment for activation.
2. JobList Postings: The ARLIS/NA JobList generates revenue through paid job postings displayed on the website for 30 or 60 days. Listings include mentions on ARIS-L listserv and social media. Pricing varies by membership status and geographic region.
3. Annual Conference Revenue: Registration fees for the annual conference, which historically rotates across North American cities, generate significant revenue. The 48th Annual Conference (2020) was cancelled and replaced with virtual sessions due to COVID-19.
4. Publications and Sales: Revenue from society publications including Art Documentation journal, ARLIS/NA Reviews, Multimedia & Technology Reviews, and Notable Graphic Novels Review.
5. Donations and Charitable Giving: Tax-deductible charitable contributions to various designated funds including the Compass Award Fund, Travel Grant Fund, Internship Fund, Conference Speakers Fund, and Unrestricted Gift to the Society. ARLIS/NA is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (Federal Tax ID: 23-7265874).
6. Sponsorships: Corporate and institutional sponsorships for annual conferences and specific society programs, including the $50K for 50 Years campaign for a professional development diversity fellowship.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ARLIS/NA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional society that supports art information professionals through paid membership, an annual conference, specialized publications (Art Documentation journal, ARLIS/NA Reviews, Multimedia & Technology Reviews, Notable Graphic Novels Review), a paid job posting service (ARLIS/NA JobList), international study tours, and a co-organized Summer Educational Institute with the Visual Resources Association.

Product overview

ARLIS/NA operates as a professional society offering a portfolio of interconnected services for art information professionals. Core offerings include the JobList job posting service (with US, Canada, and Mexico variants), annual conferences, and member publications including ARLIS/NA Reviews, Multimedia & Technology Reviews, Notable Graphic Novels Review, Art Documentation journal, and the Digital Art History Directory. The society also provides ARLIS/NA Commons as a member platform, international Study Tours through the International Relations Committee, and the ARLIS/NA-VRA Summer Educational Institute. Supplementary services include membership management, various donation funds (speakers, internship, travel grants), mentoring programs, Lunchtime Chats, webinars, and a mailing list service for member outreach.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ARLIS/NA Membership
• ARLIS/NA Annual Conference Annual multi-day conference held in cities across North America featuring talks, posters, and conference proceedings for art and design librarians and image management professionals.
• ARLIS/NA JobList Job posting service offering 30-day and 60-day listings for art information professional positions in the US, Canada, and Mexico, with distribution via the ARLIS-L listserv and social media channels.
• Art Documentation Scholarly journal published by ARLIS/NA covering topics in art librarianship and visual resources for information professionals in the field.
• ARLIS/NA Reviews Publication reviewing the latest in art publishing, with reviews written by art information professionals.
• Multimedia & Technology Reviews Publication targeting projects, products, events, and issues within multimedia and technology related to arts scholarship, research, and librarianship.
• Notable Graphic Novels Review Annual review of notable graphic novels reviewed by art information professionals and graduate students.
• Digital Art History Directory Online directory of digital art history resources and tools maintained by ARLIS/NA.
• ARLIS/NA-VRA Summer Educational Institute (SEI) Annual training and education event in visual information and image management, co-organized with the Visual Resources Association.
• International Study Tours International study tours organized by the ARLIS/NA International Relations Committee providing global perspectives on art information services and visual arts programming.

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Canadian Museums Association: The CMA is a Canada-based professional association for museum workers and overlaps with ARLIS/NA's Canadian chapter membership. It serves a related persona (museum information and curatorial professionals) but is regionally focused on Canada.

Broad incumbents

• Association of Art Museum Directors: AAMD serves directors of art museums — the institutional employers of many ARLIS/NA members. It is broader in scope (executive leadership vs. information professionals) but operates as a peer membership association with annual meetings and advocacy.
• American Library Association: ALA is the largest US library membership association. While not specialized to art librarianship, it serves the same librarian persona with broader programming, publications, and advocacy — the closest broad incumbent to ARLIS/NA's niche.
• International Council of Museums: ICOM is the global museum organization. It overlaps thematically with ARLIS/NA through art and cultural-heritage institutions but is much broader in scope and internationally focused rather than North America-centric.
• American Alliance of Museums: AAM is the broad-incumbent US museum association. ARLIS/NA serves many of the same institutional customers (museums, including Cleveland Museum of Art and RISD Museum) but focuses on library and information professionals within them rather than overall museum operations.
• International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions: IFLA is the global umbrella for library associations. It overlaps with ARLIS/NA at the international level (relevant to ARLIS/NA's study-tour program) but serves the full library profession globally rather than the art-librarian niche.

Direct peers

• Visual Resources Association: VRA is a direct peer: a professional membership association for image-management and visual-resources professionals that co-organizes the ARLIS/NA-VRA Summer Educational Institute with ARLIS/NA, serving an overlapping member base of art information specialists.
• Special Libraries Association: SLA is a directly comparable membership association for specialized librarians across sectors, operating with the same dues-plus-events-plus-publications model and serving professionals who, like ARLIS/NA's members, work outside general public-library contexts.
• Society of American Archivists: SAA is a peer professional society for archivists that mirrors ARLIS/NA's structure: individual memberships, annual conference, specialized publications, awards program, and continuing education for information professionals in cultural heritage institutions.

Others

• Rare Book and Manuscripts Section of ACRL: RBMS is a section of ALA focused on rare books, manuscripts, and special collections — adjacent to ARLIS/NA's mission and overlapping with members who work in special collections/art libraries, but operating as a division of a larger association.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubemediaspace.msu.edu/channel/Art+Libraries+Society+of+North+America/208298113
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/art-libraries-society-of-north-america-arlis-na-

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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