The association was formed, as the Marine Librarian's Association, at a conference held at Garnet College, London, in 1972. Within 10 years the name was changed to reflect the growing interest in the Association from outside the librarianship field. The annual conference has remained the main event of the association. It is normally held in September and, although most of the early conferences were held in London, more recently a variety of venues have been favoured including Plymouth, Copenhagen, Chatham, Newcastle, Antwerp and Hamburg.