I was pleased to see the volume of
response to my posting questioning the value of Chartership and the LA's weird
and wonderful policy of taking away ones ALA if we stop paying them. It is
reassuring to know that list members care enough about our profession to respond
with some rigour when the value of Chartering and the LA is questioned; 'though
I note the LA has not put its point of view yet. It was interesting that the
only person to agree with my point of view e-mailed me privately...
Some people said they thought it was
unhelpful and/ or depressing to question the value of Chartering. I disagree: it
represents a significant outlay both in terms of our time and money. If you
don't question its value, how can you be sure it is worthwhile and therefore
worth starting/ continuing/ finishing?
I am in favour of renewing the
Charter on a regular basis, maybe once every five years. It would make it more
valuable, give us all extra incentive to keep our skills up to date and help us
focus on our career directions. However, a recapturing process would be complex
and time consuming, and therefore expensive to set up. There would, I imagine,
have to be a rise in fees to pay for it. And what happens if you fail or decline
to take part? If your job requires you to be an ALA, and you then stop being an
ALA, would that mean you were no longer qualified to do the job?
Overall, I think that it is not the
Charter that is worth while, but the process of Chartering itself and what we
learn about ourselves in the process.
Andrew
