Thank you, Chris Armstrong, for opening up this discussion. It seems a
pity that an organisation whose
* influence with government appears to be slight and declining, whose
* membership is falling, whose
* finances are not as healthy as could be desired
feels it necessary to direct its energies on replacing a mailing list
which, with all its faults, actually engages with LIS professionals
(including those who do not currently see the relevance of CILIP membership
to their professional work).
My personal opinion is that a "community of interest" that involves logging
in will not thrive, as opposed to a list which is pushed out to
subscribers. However, that is not important, as time will show which view
is correct. What worries me most is the diversion of energy by CILIP,
indicating that perhaps its priorities are not those I would wish in my
professional body at this time. If CILIP Council debated whether to
close a list which they neither own nor control, this perhaps indicates
further some disconnection with reality. I emailed CILIP to ask for
details of the debate, and Guy Daines replied that:
"Votes at Council are not "recorded" - therefore I will not be able
to say which Councillor voted which way. Council also voted at the last
meeting not to have the full minutes currently prepared for it where the
debate is very fully described but to have a much briefer decription
concentrating on the decision."
Perhaps CILIP Council is looking at this list as a problem, when handled
correctly, it could be a massive opportunity for CILIP to gain membership,
influence ...
Could some of the communications and marketing gurus within this list, or
CILIP, devise strategies to use this list to promote CILIP and its
advantages - even the simple stuff like cut-price Microsoft Office Suite
for home use (personally, I use OpenOffice.org), cheap hotels/clubs in
London & Edinburgh, reduced-price insurance and affinity cards, etc?
Keith Patterson
Branch Network Manager
Branch Network Team
Parr Library
Fleet Lane
Parr
St Helens WA9 1SY
tel: 01744 677448
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