Tom Roper's Weblog

An intriguing message on lis-pub-libs

For those of you who don't subscribe, the list moderator posted this yesterday
'Dear List Members,

As you're all aware, the debate on LIS-PUB-LIBS about the CILIP re-branding has been very active over the last few days, and at times rather heated. As a result of complaints received about some postings made to the list and subsequent discussion with the parties involved, a number of posts have been removed from the archive.

It may be worth all list members taking a moment to remind themselves of the various policies and guidelines regarding the usage of JiscMail lists. Of particular relevance to the instances today are the Acceptable Use Policy which requires posts to be 'courteous and appropriate'; the Etiquette Guidelines which require list members not to post 'sarcastic or condescending comments'; and the Ethics Policy which requires posts 'not to be in breach of copyright, confidence or privacy'. The full set of policies and guidelines can be found here: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/

Remember that the list is not moderated routinely, so if you believe a post to fall beneath the required standards please alert the list owners by emailing [email protected] or using the web interface.

Thanks for your time, and cooperation.

Regards,

Richard Aird
(co-owner of LIS-PUB-LIBS)'

Of course, anyone who subscribes to the list will already have the offending messages in their inbox. I read them, some were intemperate, some humorous, in one case probably unintentionally, but none seemed defamatory.
As the late Malcolm McLaren understood very well, the best way to draw attention to something is to ban or censor it.

CILIP rebranding: on to the General Meeting

In under twenty-four hours, we have nearly the hundred names we need to call a General Meeting to debate the rebranding exercise. I shall not make the names public; they will go to CILIP with the call, but I have been struck by how many people who have been active and held high office in the organisation have signed.This gives the lie to anyone who might try to claim that we are people who do nothing for the organisation except grumble about how CILIP should do this or that.

I'm indebted to Alan Wylie, who has done some detective work on Spencer Dubois, the consultants who are to be handed £35,000 of CILIP members' money for coming up with names like the Knowledge People:

Spencer Dubois, consultancy firm on CILIP rebrand, also worked for 'Social Enterprise UK' and 'Big Society Capital', hmmm interesting!

— Alan Wylie (@wylie_alan) May 30, 2013

It seems that there is less unity than might be thought at Ridgmount Street. We really need an Edward Dudley to chronicle these times, but the President tells us he knew nothing of the consultation until last Friday afternoon. Another senior office-holder in CILIP has accused me in an e-mail of being 'personally rude'. Leaving aside how it might be possible to be impersonally rude, I hope this is not the case. I try to be courteous in all my dealings, and I have a great deal of respect for those who hold senior positions in CILIP, indeed I campaigned for Phil Bradley's election to the office of President; nevertheless, I believe that they are mistaken in this and are following courses of action that are not in the membership's interests. 

Support the call for a General Meeting below: 

CILIP: is this not a brand snatched from the burning?

Like many CILIP members, I reacted with alarm and derision to the recent e-mail inviting me to express a view on a new name for CILIP. In case, gentle reader, you haven't sent them yet, here they are:

Many reacted angrily, pointing out that the words library or librarian appear nowhere in any of the choices. Further comment is superfluous.

Yet the issue is wider; ludicrous as this, and the other questions in the survey are, many wonder why, at a time when our profession and the services we provide are under such sustained attack, we should waste our time and scarce resources on a rebranding exercise.

If you agree, there is an opportunity to put things right. Under CILIP bye-law 22, a hundred members may requisition a general meeting. I have initiated such a requisition to discuss the following motion:

This General Meeting believes the current rebranding exercise should be halted, believing it to be a distraction from the urgent tasks of advocacy for the profession, and a waste of scarce resources

You can support the call by filling in this form:

Please do, and when the meeting is convened, come, speak, and vote.