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I strongly support Nicola's suggestions. At one time Aslib did a big push for student members and even had a member of staff whose job it was to be student liaison person. If CILIP could do something similar, and that person contributed a regular column to "Update", that, together with letters and short pieces from the students themselves + news from the academic departments, recruitment agencies, etc. would make for a lively section of the journal. Charles Professor Charles Oppenheim Department of Information Science Loughborough University Loughborough Leics LE11 3TU 01509-223065 (fax) 01509-223053 ----- Original Message ----- From: nicola healey To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 8:38 AM Subject: Student Membership Dear All I thought that this discussion list needed to hear from a bright young starry eyed graduate, who is finishing her dissertation. After- all graduates and undergraduate students are the ones who will be working under the plan and hopefully benefiting from the new association and taking it into the future. I don't know whether this is the right forum to discuss these views, and I apologise if it is not. I want to rise the point of student membership- now I realise that this is quite a grey area. As undergraduates who are on a degree course, may not be totally committed at such an early stage in their careers to join the profession and may not. But they have decided to undertake this course so you would hope that they may be considering it as a career. The profession should therefore try and bring them in and show them the benefits of being a member. It is the same for the post-graduate although they are more committed as lets face it the coursework and load is very demanding. Therefore it is important for cilip to be able to encourage the new to join and take part in members, as technically once they come involved.. This is where the comment comes as, lets face it Update does not really cater for students, there are no specific columns or page giving them relevant information about the profession and how exciting life as an information professional can be. There is now a lot more career paths to choose from, why not have some focus in each issue about what the different paths are like. Although this may be crossing over with the CDG magazines, but some students may not be members of the CDG. Another comment comes from a recent e-mail, I received from a mailing list for people on or going on a graduate programme the topic of funding was rised. I am not going to go down the road of funding, but I think that Cilip should give more information about the various types of funding and what happens when you don't get it. After all it the student is committed they need to have all of this information - maybe the website could take some of this into consideration. The Corporate plan does mention the importance of education and training for all members. In such a rapidly changing world it is important to improve and learn the new skills which will help not only us but our users. As a new graduate I have noticed that the profession, has tiers, in essence where does a new graduate fit in? They do not have the experience and practical knowledge to be a librarian, but they also have more knowledge then an Information Assistant. It could just be my own experience, but a lot of job adverts which have appeared in Appointments have the by line 1 to 2 years work experience. I also realise that there are a lot of job adverts which carry the by line - would suit a new graduate. I think the point that I am trying to make is that it is important for the profession to offer new graduates the chance to have some structured learning experience. Thanks. Nicola Healey ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: Click Here