ETS History: Our Past, Our Future

ETS (formerly MARS) was established in June 1978 within ALA's former Reference and Adult Services Division (now RUSA), as the Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS). In 2010, the section redefined its charge and voted to change its name to MARS: Emerging Technologies in Reference Services. The new name emphasized the section’s intentional focus on emerging technologies within reference and user services. Eventually, the MARS part of the name fell out of use and the section is currently known as the Emerging Technologies Section (ETS).