I was hoping that Debby Shorleys article on the future of the information profession would be relevant to me as an information manager in a commercial (City) organisation.
I understand that the public library service is facing a recruitment timebomb, and encouragement needs to be given to get staff into these roles, but was disappointed that this was presented as a solution to challenges faced by staff in other sectors.
Perhaps the question that needs to be asked is why is there a dearth of applicants for public library management posts when the commercial sector has a bottle neck at this level?
Having worked in academic and public libraries in the past, I have found a considerable difference in the organisational culture in a commercial entity. Not least in terms of the nature of the actual job role, status and - of course - salary.
It seems to me that CILIP does not 'get' the commercial sector and does not have an understanding of the services we provide. Debbys statement sums this up:
"I point this out because there is actually no difference between the information provided to an individual in a public library and that provided to a specialist elsewhere"
This is a shame because until CILIP understands what the roles of information managers in the commercial sector involve, they will not be able to represent us. More importantly they will not be able to reverse the trend of people moving away from the public sector to where the money is.
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I remember why I didn’t renew my CILIP membership now, as I agree entirely with Sarah. Yes, there are similarities ...
Gareth
11/08/05 13:52
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