I agree with Bryan. Although I am a member (corporate) of
the RMS and chair of the SW branch I try my best to engage with the SoA and
local groups like the South West Information Compliance group, because what we
do are so closely related. This keeps it all fresh, gives me different
viewpoints but frustrates me enormously when I see us doing so many similar
things in so many different places. There are too many organisations trying to
do too many things. It's a bit like "the Life of Brian", no we are not the
Palestine liberation front, we are the front for the Liberation of
Palestine.
Although my qualification is in Records Management I try not
to use the Records word as this begs a description, I almost always use
Information as it is a term which people are more comfortable with and have a
better understanding of.
A few less Information, Records, Library
organisations might be a good idea.
Chris Tinsley MSc
Wiltshire
Council
Records, Information, Knowledge
-----Original
Message-----
From: The UK Records Management mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Bryan Parker
Sent: 11 September 2009 11:08
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Accreditation
Many
years ago I was a m
Good points being raised here.
Many years ago
I was a member of the Institute of Information Scientists (grand title) which
was then amalgamated into the Library profession. At that time I chose to join
the RMS, thinking it a better fit to my role.
But since then my work has
spanned many of the different disciplines and the various bodies that represent
them. I do not want to belong to them all!
I have watched the
convergence, in practice, of the various branches of records and information
management over many years, (more than 40 I am afraid to say), driven by the
need to solve similar problems and often powered by new and innovative
technology.
There just might be a case for an overriding body, that would
look out for our profession(s) and manage all these various elements, what does
the list think?
Bryan
-----Original Message-----
From: The UK
Records Management mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Suzy Taylor
Sent: 11 September 2009 10:46
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Accreditation
I
completely share Sarah's sentiments here, that between us all we have very
similar skill sets and 'information management' as a profession does not benefit
from being broken down into constituent parts. I have worked in
Information Services and Records Management roles and have also observed that
the main purposes of the roles require the same skills.
Sorry to SoA
members for forgetting to mention the SoA in my original post, not really an
expert on accreditation - I always rise to criticisms of CILIP on this list
because I am a Chartered member and have never seen a problem with this as proof
of my professional qualification and ability, and in fact I undertook
accreditation to establish that proof. As an aside, I often feel that
other Records Managers denigrate CILIP in passing. It's not just for
Librarians.
Cheers
Suzy
(member of RMS and
CILIP)
Suzy Taylor
Records Manager
New College
Durham
Framwellgate Moor
Durham
DH1 5ES
Tel: 0191 375
4422
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
"SAVE THE PLANET - PLEASE DO NOT
PRINT THIS EMAIL UNLESS STRICTLY NECESSARY"
>>> M Sarah Wickham
<[log in to unmask]> 11/09/2009 10:19 >>>
The Society of
Archivists, despite the implications of its name, also represents records
managers and archive conservators. The SoA has accredited professional
courses in archives & records management since 1985. The Accreditation Team
visits every programme in the UK and Ireland on a quinquennial basis, and
assesses them against a set of agreed criteria which are, in effect, the
competency standards for the profession. Regular articles outlining the
accreditation process and commenting on changes and issues for educators &
the profession are published in the Journal of the Society of Archivists - most
recently Turner, Margaret D.(2008)'Educational Programmes in Archives and
Records Management in the UK and Ireland:An Overview,
1995-
2007' Journal
of the Society of Archivists vol 29 issue 1, pages 73 - 82. May be
available via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00379810802499942
(but
you may need to subscribe). The accreditation criteria can be seen at http://www.archives.org.uk/careerdevelopment/startingout/postgraduatecou
rs
es/revisedaccreditationcriteriaforpostgraduatecourses.html
(or http://tinyurl.com/krrse3).
Given
the comparatively small numbers of people working in the management of records
(by which I include archives) I wonder how long we can sustain the separate
professional bodies all attempting to do similar
things.
Personal
accreditation is a case in point: recently introduced by
the Records Management Society, the same accreditation of experience was begun
by the SoA in 1987. The SoA's scheme ("registration") has since 1996
focussed on encouraging continuing professional development rather than the
one-off
accreditation of experience bringing it in line with similar CPD
schemes offered by chartered professional bodies including CILIP. Both the
SoA and RMS are too small for chartered status at present.
Along
similar lines to the accreditation of professional qualifications, at present
the SoA is represented on the sector skills council Lifelong Learning
UK
(www.lluk.org) which includes records management in its footprint.
The sector skills council is "the independent employer-led sector skills council
responsible for the professional development of staff" working in the sector and
is charged with the developments of competency and qualifications frameworks,
apprenticeship schemes etc.
I have worked both in archival and records
management roles. I see no
distinction between the skills required
and cannot understand why they are perceived to be two different, distinct
professions. The SoA in conjunction with some of the smaller advocacy
bodies in the sector are pursuing a merger - see http://www.archives.org.uk/thesociety/archivesectorproposals.html
(http://tinyurl.com/lbbzec). The RMS,
in common with some other bodies, was invited to join at an early stage but
apparently declined to take part.
Is it our professional background in
classification that means that people working in recordkeeping like to
distinguish themselves from one another? My concern is that if we continue
to distinguish ourselves like this then larger, more visible bodies occupy the
space we consider to be "ours", as evidenced by the BIS job advert posted
yesterday. And the more we navel gaze and
distinguish ourselves by
the details, the more likely we are to lose sight of the bigger, more strategic
picture - and thus not be involved in the IT related discussions that affect
recordkeeping and the organisations we try to serve (see previous discussions
plus parallel discussion re listservs etc
etc)
Sarah
Registrar of
the SoA, but also a personal member of the RMS, and who currently is based in an
IT department writing in my personal capacity/expressing personal
opinions...
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