I, too, have to admit that I was, to some extent, enjoying the recent
debate concerning the stategic review but I also suspect that
participating is an activity engaged in by those of strong opinions with
(dare I say it?)enough time on their hands to think of and 'pen' a
coherent contribution. Perhaps coffee breaks are longer elsewhere.
Seriously though, of course this debate should be happening somewhere,
and if not here, then where? In my opinion, the Society is in danger of
losing touch with its members, but then, many of its members are just
not interested enough in the archival world at large to care what the
Society's stance is on anything. (I'm not being too harsh, am I?) Many
of us are only members because we think that it will be of use to us in
our careers. Unfortunately, the bodyblow concerning our inability to
achieve chartered status has lessened members' commitment to the
Society, as has its recent admission that it can no longer sustain a
role in training diploma candidates. To many, training without some form
of assessment ultimately lacks credibility. How many attendence
certificates to training events have you binned recently?
So, in summary, what am I saying? I think that the Society does have a
broad educative role both to its members and to those in the wider
world, but, more importantly for its future continued existence, that
its key function should be that of providing authoritative training and
other work-based benefits to its members. It's a sad old world, but I'm
afraid that, at present, too many archivists are asking themselves
exactly what do they get for their membership fees and coming up with
the answer that they don't know.
Tom Townsend
From: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed 27/03/2002 13:07
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: Recent Debate
From: Alison Drew, Archivist. Modern Records Section x4072 or
C
ity Museum and Records Office 92827261.
Subject: Recent Debate
*** Forwarding note from INETMAIL--PCC 27/03/02 13:03 ***
From: I0015126--INTERNET [log in to unmask]
Subject: Recent Debate
To: [log in to unmask]
From: Alison Drew, Archivist. Modern Records Section x4072 or
C
ity Museum and Records Office 92827261.
Subject: Recent Debate
I have to admit that I was quite enjoying the recent debate on
the strategic
review. Whether the debate should be taking place on the
listserve or not, it
is good to see it happen. The annoying thing is, the debate
has stopped. Are
we to assume that those people who stuck their necks out were
in a minority
and were just venting their frustration on the listserve, or
that many members
were in agreement with what has been said but are too scared
to say anything?
If enough people feel strongly enough that the debate should
continue on the
listserve, then hopefully some sort of agreement could be
reached with the
Society's councillors.
Alison Drew
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