The Association of UK Media Librarians (AUKML) was formed in 1986 to create a network of information professionals in the print and broadcasting industries as up until this point there had been no organised body to represent them. With the growth in online information and the perceived threat to jobs, informal links had begun to be made between individual librarians. However it was a hosted by David Nicholas, Senior lecturer at the then Polytechnic of North London, that proved to be the catalyst in bringing most of the London-based librarians together in the summer of 1986. Nicholas had been in contact with a range of people working in the media as part of a British Library-funded study into online information. The lunch provided the impetus for the new group with , librarian at London We