Archive for April, 2007
Tim Coates blogs excitedly about secret mails and the civil war between CILIP and MLA.
In essence, CILIP aren’t impressed with MLA’s Blueprint- a view I share.
From this springboard, Coates goes on to argue for the dissolution of CILIP and removal of its accreditiation rights. Oddly, CILIP doesn’t have those ‘rights’; they keep the Chartered Librarians [...]
Filed under: CILIP, CPD, Chartership, Librarians, Librarianship, Libraries, MCLIP, Professional, Professional bodies, Services | 4 Comments
‘It’s nice to read a sustained argument’ I said some time ago. And in the case of this book, it was very nice.
Balanced Libraries provides a wide-ranging overview of debates in librarianship. Much of the material is drawn from liblogs, although there are references from journals and conferences. If it offered nothing else, the book [...]
Filed under: Balance, Change, Librarians, Librarianship, Libraries, Patrons, Services, Visitors | 5 Comments
Chartership, or MCLIPping along
This blog is part of my Chartership process, but it is not about that process- well most of the time. Really I’m using the blog to put down my ideas about issues in librarianship.
One of these relates to the Chartership thing. What is its place in a deprofessionaling world? How do we convince people of [...]
Filed under: CPD, Chartership, Librarians, Librarianship, MCLIP, Professional | 0 Comments
So many manifestos, calls for change, movements… can they be reconciled?
I would hope so. What is needed is a move beyond oppositions and imbalance (nod to Walt Crawford) and an avoidance of absolutes.
Libraries are not just about books. Nor are they just about mashups and the limitless possibilities of creation. They are not solely for reading. But neither [...]
Filed under: Change, Librarians, Librarianship, Libraries, Library 2.0, Patrons, Services, The future, Visitors | 0 Comments
Just read a piece on ‘remixability’ at Maisson Bisson, flagged up at Tame the Web.
Is this part of our future remit? Not just books but the option to make books/videos etc? Not just data to get you places but data to help you make places? Not just services, but the option to make new services?
And how [...]
Filed under: Libraries, Library 2.0, Services | 0 Comments
The future, as seen in 1964
Barbara Ruth Fuessli Kyle wrote Librarianship in 1964; it was published by The English Universities Press Ltd as part of the Teach Yourself series.
Chapter Six looks at ‘The Future and the Past.’ The opening paragraph is very interesting:-
‘The state of libraries..is far from static. It has in fact never been more dynamic, and much of [...]
Filed under: Change, Futurology, Librarianship, Libraries, The future | 0 Comments
CILIP Update do it. Michael Stephens, as a lecturer, does it. Reviewers do it.
Recommend books for reading that is.
Have I followed the recommendations? Not often, although some of the books on Michael’s list look interesting.
Today I am not going to recommend a book so much as recommend a set of books for gentle perusal. Old books [...]
Filed under: Futurology, Librarianship, Libraries, The future | 0 Comments
Over on Library 2.0 Ning, several discussions have started around what we call the people who come through our doors.
Patrons- a word seen as too suggestive of subscription libraries and good deeds.
Users- the common issue with this word is, it makes people who don’t use the services into a negative category; the ‘non users.’
Customers- some prefer [...]
Filed under: Libraries, Patrons, Service, Visitors | 6 Comments
Do we listen? And do we hear?
Kathryn Deiss blogged over on Library 2.0 Ning about the fact that ‘Librarian’ features so much more prominently than users/patrons etc in the tag cloud. This leads her to wonder whether we are too self-obsessed- that all our discussions take place in a librarian centric jargon filled walled garden…
Are we? Do we not listen effectively? Are we [...]
Filed under: Librarianship, Libraries, Library 2.0, Patrons, Professional, Public libraries, Service, Visitors | 0 Comments
Are all libraries the same?
A return to my first question. Answer- no, they’re not. But too often the debate on libraries is conducted with an implicit public library outlook. We need to deal with each sector on its own terms, CILIP fears of silo thinking notwithstanding.
Filed under: Librarianship, Libraries, Public libraries | 0 Comments
