Founded in 1996, the Institute initially focused on three fields: Library and Information Science, Archive Science, and Museology. In 2003, it was renamed the "Graduate Institute of Library, Information & Archival Studies" to emphasize its commitment to advancing teaching and research in Library and Information Science and Archive Science.

In 2009, the Institute launched the E-learning Master Program in Library and Information Studies, the first distance education MA program in the field to receive certification. This was followed by the establishment of the PhD program in 2011.

The Institute was established with the goals of integrating theory and practice to advance library development, cultivating high-caliber professionals for library information services and archives management, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. We offer inter-university courses in partnership with other institutions, allowing students to engage in flexible study while gaining a comprehensive understanding of library and archive development and the complex information landscape. Our aim is to prepare tech-savvy professionals capable of navigating the challenges of the knowledge economy and elevating information services to new heights.

Currently, the Institute's primary research areas include Library Management and Innovation, Digital Libraries and Intelligent Services, Digital Publishing and Scholarly Communication, Research on Bibliotherapy, Information Behavior, Informetrics, Archival User Studies, Value-added Applications of Archives, Computational Archival Science, Digital Humanities, Digital Curation, E-Learning, Artificial Intelligence Applications, Intelligent Human-Computer Interaction, Image Recognition/Classification/Retrieval.

In 2016, our institute joined the iSchools Organization, becoming Taiwan’s first member institution.