Dear All,

A colleague who subscribes to the NRA listserv has been passing on
various messages to do with Registration. Our IT dept changed our
computers recently and also changed our email addresses which is why
anyone attempting to email me using the address in the SoA Yearbook did
not get through. I have already responded individually to several of the
emails and if anyone else wants a copy of any of those responses, let me
know. But as there seem to be several common concerns I'll try to address
those.

BALLOT PAPER
The perceived discrepancy between the wording on the ballot paper and the
accompanying letter from me I am referring to Pat Cleary at the SoA
office. I drafted the letter and passed it to Pat who had kindly agreed
to produce the ballot paper and deal with the mechanics of sending out
the ballot forms via Concorde Services.

CAREER BREAKS
As far as the Membership and Registration Panel are concerned, anyone who
qualified before June 1996 but is not able to complete three years
post-qualification work experience before 2001 will still be allowed to
apply for registration under the "old" criteria i.e. just three years
post-qualification work experience and a reference. We have not defined
what constitutes "career breaks" as there are a variety of good reasons
why people may not be working for a period. The intention is to be fair
to those who would like to register but are not able to do so by 2001
because they would not have sufficient work experience.

REGISTRATION ROUTES
The difference between the three present registration routes is as
follows:-

Pre June 1996 qualified - three years post-qualification work experience
and a professional reference.

June 1996 qualified onwards - three years post-qualification work
experience, reference and a portfolio of evidence of professional
competence and development (this evidence must add up to 12 credits as is
described in the pre-registration scheme criteria).

Those without a recognised professional qualification - ten years
professional-level work experience plus references and a portfolio of
evidence which has to be more extensive and detailed than that for
qualified applicants.

Two points to note: -

Those who are not qualified have to provide more extensive
work-experience and evidence than those who are qualified.

Work experience alone will not in the future be considered sufficient
proof of competence and - also important - of commitment to continuing
professional development post initial qualification.

THREE YEAR WORK EXPERIENCE PERIOD
This starts from whenever you start work after qualifying. It does not
start from when you enrol on the pre-registration scheme. Enrolling on
the scheme means you get sent an information pack telling you what sort
of evidence you need to accumulate and how to present it. This means that
someone who qualified pre June 1996, has three years or more work
experience by 2001 and who decides after the start of 2001 to apply for
registration will need to submit a portfolio in accordance with the
pre-registration scheme criteria, but does not have to wait three years
to do so. However, it is a lot easier to gather together the evidence you
need for your portfolio if you know at the start what is required rather
than have to go about it retrospectively. This is why those who follow
the "pre-registration route" to registration are encouraged to enrol as
soon as they can after starting work.

PRE-REGISTRATION SCHEME
Although some people may face a greater challenge in undertaking the
pre-registration scheme because of their work situations, it is not
impossible. The Pre-registration Committee and the Pre-registration
Network (run by Alison Burdon for all enrolled on the Scheme), as well as
myself, are happy to give advice, help people find referees, suggest what
may be suitable credit-worthy activities. The emphasis is on
demonstrating that the activity concerned was a learning experience from
which skills and/or knowledge was derived which can be re-used or passed
on to others. This is what continuing professional development is all
about - the pre-registration scheme is not a training scheme in the sense
that those on it are being taught something by other people as happens on
an archives or conservation qualification course.

OTHER PROFESSIONS
Other professions have similar "registration" type procedures. Pat Cleary
would be able to advise here if you want more information. The
Pre-registration Committee consulted the Library Association about their
routes to Chartership and I have their Regulations & Guidance publication
if anyone wishes to borrow it. One of their routes involves a portfolio
so is similar to our's. I do not think our pre-registration route should
be considered easier or harder than the LA's various routes to
Chartership.

MAINTAINING REGISTRATION
The Professional Development Policy Working Party convened by Susan
Bradshaw considered whether registered members should have to submit
evidence of continuing professional development on a regular basis in
order to retain registration. It was decided this was not a good idea (at
least not at present) because it would lose registered members and would
require extra people to administer the system and neither the Membership
& Registration Panel, the Pre-registration Committee or the SoA office
could take on the extra workload.

VOTING
Only registered members are able to vote in the ballot which is in
accordance with the Society's regulations (consult Pat Cleary if you
wish) and is similar to otherprofessional societies. Suppose this was a
ballot about changing criteria for membership of the Society and an
archivist who was not a member said he/she should be entitled to vote
just in case one day it became expedient for him/her to join. What would
you think of that arguement? The same applies to those who have chosen
not to register. I can sympathise with those who intend to register but
are not yet in a position to do so, particularly those on the
pre-registration scheme, however if they did have a vote I suspect they
would be in favour of the proposal!

FINAL THOUGHTS
Registration is a measure of the Society's professionalism and that of
its members. I suspect registered status will start to become more
important when those who are now making the effort to undertake the
pre-registration scheme themselves become employers and referees of
junior colleagues. After all, there once was a time when argument raged
over whether archive professionals needed professional archive-related
qualifications at all!

Best regards,

Sue Garland

Archivist/Records Manager
Guinness Park Royal


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