LARIA was established in 1974 and so is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary. In celebration of this we are publishing vintage editions of LARIA News throughout the year. We are starting with the very first edition from July 1979 when Research and Intelligence News  with support from our friends at INLOGOV.

This shows the useful role that LARIA had in informing members of the work that was going on across the country and in particular new data sources and techniques being developed. It also shows some glipses of the future with reference to the GLC research library going “on-line” and that by typing queries into a computer in a manner “somewhat similar to a telephone conversation” a distant computer would return a list of answers. On page four there is also an article on how local authorities could use the power of Teletext systems to share data:

“The whole concept at present may seem slightly too futuristic but if we are prepared to accept the idea of more micro-computers and visual display units in our offices and as they all have ‘phones this system may not be too far away.”

It just goes to show that LARIA members have always been looking for new ways of doing things.

Click here to find out more and read the first edition of LARIA News from July 1979.