Dear all
A few thoughts on membership
Yes membership is rising, are we not looking at ways of celebrating our
2000th member. However I would be interested to know how much the new
associate membership category has contributed to that growth. I am sorry
to hear that professional colleagues are either not renewing or are only
renewing in order to get the job advertisements. Given the number, which
now appear on this list serve you wonder how long that incentive will
last.
Merger has been on the agenda for a very long time. Unfortunately it has
never quite received the prominence that it should have. Perhaps now is
the time to have the debate and allow the members to express their
opinions and give a clear indication of how they would wish the issue to
be dealt with. As I have already said several times on this list serve I
do feel that the sector is becoming increasingly fragmented and there is
a need for consolidation to give us a stronger voice. There are
therefore some mergers which would make sense, say with the BRA, BAC,
RMS and ACALG.
These would all allow us to retain our unique identity and provide a
platform from which the Voice of Archives, Records Management and
Conservation could be heard with authority. Mergers with larger bodies,
not specifically dedicated to our professions, would, as already said,
just dilute our voice, without providing any tangible benefits for our
professions. So I would only support that as a position of last resort.
To return to membership. Membership is a two way conduit, as has already
been said you get out what you put in. However many of us have enough of
a struggle doing the day job without trying to find the time / energy to
make a positive contribution to the Society. We make our contribution by
paying our subscriptions and when possible attending meetings and going
on relevant courses. In return for this silent contribution we do expect
our Society to be seen developing, promoting and defending our
Profession and ensuring that we remain on both public and private
agendas. Whilst I am sure Jane is right in that much is going on on all
fronts, we do need to have more communication and dissemination of all
this activity to the members, so that we know of the progress being made
on our behalf.
Also we must remember not all members are in the public sector. In fact
I am sure a couple of years ago the public sector membership of the
Society, whilst being the largest single unit, only made up between 45
and 50% of the Society's total membership. So government agendas,
requirements, grant schemes and even the Lottery are not relevant to all
of us. We do need therefore to ensure that we continue to keep our eye
and energy engaged with the non public sector requirements and issues.
Regards
Nigel
Nigel Hardman
Group Archives
DBRS Warehouse
Bootle
Phone : 8812 6501 or 0151 522 6501
Fax : 8812 6506 or 0151 522 6506
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