The Swedish Academy of Verbovisual Information

The Swedish Academy of Verbovisual Information (Swedish: Bild och Ord Akademin) was founded on October 31st 1983. Its purpose is:

• to further contacts and cooperation between different professions and media of the information sector
• to improve the training of information workers
• to study and develop 'the third language', the interaction of word and image for purposes of information
• to further the development of a clear and standardized professional terminology
• to organize seminars and conferences for professionals
• to introduce its ideas and concepts into the general debate
• to represent the interests of the information-related professions in relation to the government.

The Academy shall have at least 20 and at most 55 members.

A number of Academy Councellors also lend their support to the activities of the Academy. Some of them are ex-members.

Initiator of the Academy is Sven Lidman, well known in Sweden and internationally as a producer of verbovisually oriented encyclopedias.

The Academy regularly meets on the last Tuesday of each odd-numbered month, except during the summer, making five meetings each year. The annual meeting, which elects functionaries and gives prizes, is in November and is partly open to the public.

Prizes
Donations by friends of Mr Lidman and Ms Lund have enabled the Academy to award two prizes each year, the Lidman Prize (since 1983) "for excellent information in words and images in various media", and Ann-Marie Lund's Encyclopedic Prize (since 1985) for "educational achievements - the popular telling of factual stories - of an encyclopedic style and breadth".