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Forty years! In July 1966, the Library and Informa-tion Technology Association (LITA) was officially born at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in New York as the Information Science and Automation Division (ISAD). It was Bastille Day, and I'm sure for those who had worked so hard to create this new organization that it probably seemed like a revolution, a new day. The organizational meeting held that day attracted "several hundred people." Imagine!
I've mentioned it before, I know, but the history of the first twenty-five years of LITA is intriguing reading and well worth an investment of your time. Stephen R. Salmon's article "LITA's First Twenty-Five Years: A Brief History" (www.lita.org/ala/lita/aboutlita/org/1st 25years.htm) offers an interesting look back in time. Any technology organization that has been in existence for forty or more years has seen a lot of changes and adapted over time to a new environment and new technologies. There is no other choice.
Someone (who, I don't remember; I'd gladly attribute the quote if I did) once told me that library automation began with the electric eraser. I'm sure that many of you have neither seen an electric eraser, nor can you probably imagine its purpose. Ask around....