The points that David has made are echoed by many of us who have enrolled on
the Scheme - there is, at times, a distinct feeling of being a guinea pig!
However, we also feel that continuous professional development is important,
and we are (fairly) happy to co-operate with the Society's move to encourage
and promote CPD.
A central problem is that there is no common career structure in
Archives/RM/Conservation in the way that there is in the larger professions
with registration type schemes. A newly qualified archivist may find
themselves running a repository (in which case the whole business of gaining
credits seems a little superfluous), or in a short term contract listing a
collection (when there is no time to get credits).
So, those of us who are working away at getting credits are hoping that all
this extra effort will be taken seriously by potential employers. And where
does this leave those who haven't enrolled on the Scheme, because of their
very legitimate concerns about its value, fairness, etc.?
Ali Burdon
Assistant Archivist
News International
0171 782 6895
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