We are delighted to announce that National Libraries Day will round off a week’s worth of celebrations in public, school, college, university, and workplace libraries on Saturday 8 February 2014.

National Libraries Day shines a light on  the people that provide access to knowledge in our communities, workplaces, schools, colleges and Universities; librarians and information professionals. Every day they are improving literacy rates, connecting people with the information they need to succeed and helping to build a fair and prosperous society. Saturday 8 February 2014 and the week leading up to it will be a chance to say thank you, to witness first-hand the vital work that they do and to show decision-makers that our libraries and librarians are assets to be treasured.

For National Libraries Day 2013, thousands of people took part in over 500 events in libraries across the country, including author visits, live music performances, book clubs, family history days, stand-up comedy and behind the scenes tours. Highlights included record-breaking school librarians, Dalek invasions and pole-fitness classes.

National Libraries Day is a grassroots campaign with leading charities, local authorities, library campaigners and library staff involved. The Steering group is made up of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), the Reading Agency, the School Library Association and the Society of Chief Librarians.

CILIP President, Phil Bradley said, “In the 21st century libraries are more necessary than ever. We are in the middle of an information revolution and librarians and information professionals are central to it. Their contribution to society is immense and wide-ranging and includes helping people to find work, supporting the government’s digital by default agenda, improving literacy and encouraging reading for pleasure. National Libraries Day is a celebration of what is great about our libraries and librarians I urge everybody to join the fun and send a clear message that they are much loved and much needed.”

- END -

Media Contact:
Aaron Hussey, Communications & Campaigns Manager, CILIP
Email: aaron.hussey@cilip.org.uk
Tel: 020 7255 0653 / 07867 455 070

We are pleased to announce the date and venue of our conference in 2014. 

The conference will be held on Thursday 24th and Friday 25th July 2014.

The venue is the Examination Schools at the University of Oxford, with the dinner being held at Oxford Town Hall.

Please put the date in your diary now, and be ready to book when registration opens (expected October 2013) and the earliest discounts apply.

Hashtag  #HLG2014 

CILIP are delighted to announce details of the New Professionals Day 2013, our annual conference aimed at those library and information professionals who are seeking guidance on their initial steps into their first professional roles. If you are still studying at university, have recently finished your information qualification or are in your first professional post, then this event is for you.

The event will take place on Friday 4 October 2013 at CILIP Head Office in London, delegates will hear from a range of speakers all from different backgrounds and sectors, who will outline what it’s like to work in their industry and how you can go about following in their footsteps.

This is a fantastic opportunity to hear from a range of inspirational speakers, network with your fellow new professionals and receive invaluable advice to help you on your career path.

This event includes a full lunch and refreshments, and is completely free to members of CILIP. For non-members the event costs £20, a figure that is refundable when CILIP membership is purchased.

A full programme of speakers and workshops will be announced shortly, see http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/... for updates and how to book your place onto this exciting event.

After gathering excitedly at the entrance like a group of children on a school trip, the librarian, Kay Pennick, led us down the path to the secure staff area of the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), where we sat engrossed in an engaging presentation about the work of the MSB by John Dickie, Seed Conservation Officer. This really made us appreciate the amazingly dedicated, important and pioneering activities of the organisation. The MSB is largest seed bank in the world, collecting native wild species and makes the UK the only country to bank 90% of its seed-bearing flora. 

As a 'hub for sharing expertise and knowledge', the MSB does not limit its focus to the UK; it also collects species from abroad, aiming to bank 25% of the world's flora. It builds partnerships with developing and developed communities, providing consultancy services, facilities, seed-growing materials and advice to promote life-enhancing, non-commercial and sustainable use of seeds and plants. It focuses particularly, but not exclusively, on endangered, endemic (limited to a specific geographical area) or economic (of notable, useful value to humans) species in an effort to safeguard wild plant diversity and thus protect the basis of all life. Since its foundation in the early 1970s, 10,000 species have been conserved and the bank aims to collect 25,000 by 2020.

John then took us on a tour 'behind the scenes' of the MSB, including labs where they are cleaned, examined and germinated and storage rooms where they are kept at initially at 15 degrees centigrade and 15% Relative Humidity and later -20 degrees C, a proven method of increasing seed longevity. The facility even has its own “potting shed” and greenhouses for growing from seeds to aid identification, including seeds found preserved in historical containers such as the 200-year old ones found in a purse at the National Archives (which have grown!).

Kay Pennick, the librarian based at the MSB, then showed us the library on site, a small room used by staff, students and visiting researchers. She also looks after a collection of dried seeds often consulted by artists looking for interesting natural objects to draw. Loans are issued using a manual paper forms called 'loan-blocks' that sit in the vacated shelf space and the library operates as a self-service resource during the part-time librarian's absence. The collection forms part of Kew's overall holdings, comprising around 17,000 monographs, and there are several library sites on the Wakehurst estate, including a collection of periodicals housed rather romantically in the timber rafters of the Mansion, and an additional small staff library.

It was a thoroughly memorable visit, and staff at the MSB were incredibly generous in sharing their extensive knowledge and expertise. The public are welcome to enter the MSB building to enjoy a small exhibition and observe scientists at work through the glass partitions. After visiting, it is easy to appreciate the wonderful work that goes on here, and how the bank is a real asset to our country and indeed to sustaining all life on our planet.

Search the Seed Information Database (SID) online:  http://data.kew.org/sid/

Find out more about the MSB: http://www.kew.org/visit-wakehurst/garden-attractions-A-Z/Millennium-Seed-Bank.htm

After gathering excitedly at the entrance like a group of children on a school trip, the librarian, Kay Pennick, led us down the path to the secure staff area of the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), where we sat engrossed in an engaging presentation about the work of the MSB by John Dickie, Seed Conservation Officer. This really made us appreciate the amazingly dedicated, important and pioneering activities of the organisation. The MSB is largest seed bank in the world, collecting native wild species and makes the UK the only country to bank 90% of its seed-bearing flora. 

As a 'hub for sharing expertise and knowledge', the MSB does not limit its focus to the UK; it also collects species from abroad, aiming to bank 25% of the world's flora. It builds partnerships with developing and developed communities, providing consultancy services, facilities, seed-growing materials and advice to promote life-enhancing, non-commercial and sustainable use of seeds and plants. It focuses particularly, but not exclusively, on endangered, endemic (limited to a specific geographical area) or economic (of notable, useful value to humans) species in an effort to safeguard wild plant diversity and thus protect the basis of all life. Since its foundation in the early 1970s, 10,000 species have been conserved and the bank aims to collect 25,000 by 2020.

John then took us on a tour 'behind the scenes' of the MSB, including labs where they are cleaned, examined and germinated and storage rooms where they are kept at initially at 15 degrees centigrade and 15% Relative Humidity and later -20 degrees C, a proven method of increasing seed longevity. The facility even has its own “potting shed” and greenhouses for growing from seeds to aid identification, including seeds found preserved in historical containers such as the 200-year old ones found in a purse at the National Archives (which have grown!).

Kay Pennick, the librarian based at the MSB, then showed us the library on site, a small room used by staff, students and visiting researchers. She also looks after a collection of dried seeds often consulted by artists looking for interesting natural objects to draw. Loans are issued using a manual paper forms called 'loan-blocks' that sit in the vacated shelf space and the library operates as a self-service resource during the part-time librarian's absence. The collection forms part of Kew's overall holdings, comprising around 17,000 monographs, and there are several library sites on the Wakehurst estate, including a collection of periodicals housed rather romantically in the timber rafters of the Mansion, and an additional small staff library.

It was a thoroughly memorable visit, and staff at the MSB were incredibly generous in sharing their extensive knowledge and expertise. The public are welcome to enter the MSB building to enjoy a small exhibition and observe scientists at work through the glass partitions. After visiting, it is easy to appreciate the wonderful work that goes on here, and how the bank is a real asset to our country and indeed to sustaining all life on our planet.

Search the Seed Information Database (SID) online:  http://data.kew.org/sid/

Find out more about the MSB: http://www.kew.org/visit-wakehurst/garden-attractions-A-Z/Millennium-Seed-Bank.htm

It wasn’t the best weather for a library visit, but since the library concerned sits within the brutalist concrete of the Southbank the smattering of rain did feel vaguely appropriate. A select gathering of ten or so intrepid librarians came together at the end of February to have a tour of the recently re-housed BFI Reubens Library. Previously situated in Stephen Street, the library moved to its present location (on the ground floor of the BFI Southbank complex, next to the gift shop) last June. Since then it has been welcoming a steady stream of students, film enthusiasts, researchers, and just plain curious members of the public to its compact reading room.

At first glance the size of the reading room and the open access collections seems small, for a national collection. Yet the BFI is something of an iceberg, with the majority of its holdings squirreled away on closed access, either at the Southbank site or its storage facility at Berkhamsted. Holdings are not just limited to books and journals, as expected for a film library. There are films, but also items relating to film production such as set designs, advertising, and the piece de resistance – press cuttings. Access to all the BFI’s resources is handled by CID – a sort of all embracing monster catalogue, which offers not only catalogue records but digitised images and texts as well.

CID works by an innovative drill down method of searching; beginning from a single work, such as Pride and Prejudice, then allowing users to drill down through different versions of the work (ie film and TV adaptations) and then onto the different resources associated with each version. The effect is to offer researchers a means of quickly seeing the scope of the library’s holdings on any given film and to ensure that related items are always linked – so that a user can be certain they have found everything the library has to offer on a subject. CID is currently only accessible within the BFI but will hopefully replace the current online catalogue at some point in the future.

Digitisation is an area which the BFI Library is expanding into, starting with the extensive collection of press cutting. The digitisation of the BFI’s press cuttings has meant that access to a significant film history resource has been hugely improved. The digitised versions are available through CID and can be viewed as complete sets of cuttings relating to a particular film. These sets have been scanned to allow full-text searching, making access incredibly intuitive. As well as press cuttings, CID offers access to digitised photographs and ephemera. The BFI is currently considering allowing researchers to pay for the digitisation of films which might then also be made available through CID.

The nicest thing about the Reubens library, however, isn’t CID. It’s the simple fact that the library is free to use. There is space for around forty people in the reading room, facilities for searching the collections, small study desks for researchers, copying services and relaxed seating for people who simply want to drop in and browse or read a book while waiting to watch a movie. The Library houses a national collection of material relating to film and it’s accessible to everyone who wants to use it. So if you want to go and look around, and see what CID is like and take a peek at the digitised press cuttings, then you only need to spare an hour or so next time you’re in London to do so.

It wasn’t the best weather for a library visit, but since the library concerned sits within the brutalist concrete of the Southbank the smattering of rain did feel vaguely appropriate. A select gathering of ten or so intrepid librarians came together at the end of February to have a tour of the recently re-housed BFI Reubens Library. Previously situated in Stephen Street, the library moved to its present location (on the ground floor of the BFI Southbank complex, next to the gift shop) last June. Since then it has been welcoming a steady stream of students, film enthusiasts, researchers, and just plain curious members of the public to its compact reading room.

At first glance the size of the reading room and the open access collections seems small, for a national collection. Yet the BFI is something of an iceberg, with the majority of its holdings squirreled away on closed access, either at the Southbank site or its storage facility at Berkhamsted. Holdings are not just limited to books and journals, as expected for a film library. There are films, but also items relating to film production such as set designs, advertising, and the piece de resistance – press cuttings. Access to all the BFI’s resources is handled by CID – a sort of all embracing monster catalogue, which offers not only catalogue records but digitised images and texts as well.

CID works by an innovative drill down method of searching; beginning from a single work, such as Pride and Prejudice, then allowing users to drill down through different versions of the work (ie film and TV adaptations) and then onto the different resources associated with each version. The effect is to offer researchers a means of quickly seeing the scope of the library’s holdings on any given film and to ensure that related items are always linked – so that a user can be certain they have found everything the library has to offer on a subject. CID is currently only accessible within the BFI but will hopefully replace the current online catalogue at some point in the future.

Digitisation is an area which the BFI Library is expanding into, starting with the extensive collection of press cutting. The digitisation of the BFI’s press cuttings has meant that access to a significant film history resource has been hugely improved. The digitised versions are available through CID and can be viewed as complete sets of cuttings relating to a particular film. These sets have been scanned to allow full-text searching, making access incredibly intuitive. As well as press cuttings, CID offers access to digitised photographs and ephemera. The BFI is currently considering allowing researchers to pay for the digitisation of films which might then also be made available through CID.

The nicest thing about the Reubens library, however, isn’t CID. It’s the simple fact that the library is free to use. There is space for around forty people in the reading room, facilities for searching the collections, small study desks for researchers, copying services and relaxed seating for people who simply want to drop in and browse or read a book while waiting to watch a movie. The Library houses a national collection of material relating to film and it’s accessible to everyone who wants to use it. So if you want to go and look around, and see what CID is like and take a peek at the digitised press cuttings, then you only need to spare an hour or so next time you’re in London to do so.

CILIP in Sussex organised a half-day conference this Autumn to look at how we can support the transition from school or college to university. The event, held at the University of Sussex, was very well attended and three delegates kindly agreed to write reports of the day, the first from Julie Gabriel and Lindsay White from St Leonards-Mayfield School.

Julie Gabriel and Lindsay White, St Leonards-Mayfield School

Sarah Cullen, Head of Widening participation at the University of Sussex, outlined the various schemes currently used to promote access for potential students. This included the `First Generation Scholars` scheme which invests £1,000 for every £9,000 of fees received, with the intention of attracting and retaining students. In partnership with 68 schools/colleges, the `Informed Choices` (not The Russell Group publication) programme aims to enable students to match their aspirations to attainment by providing practical support, such as helping with UCAS applications, personal statements, finance and how to choose courses (GCSE, A Levels and University courses). Outreach programmes, such as the ‘Brightside Trust’ target primary and secondary schools, using PHD students as peer mentors and running residential summer schools. This tends to occur within the London Schools. The various schemes endeavour to balance an identified need to reach potential students and effectively support those currently enrolled at the University.

Stephen Bowman, Deputy Librarian at the University of Chichester explained how the newly created University works with more than 50 schools/colleges to raise the aspirations of potential students by its outreach programme. This programme is completely separate from the University’s marketing/recruitment of current students and aims to increase access to skills/resources essential when undertaking the EPQ for those who would otherwise be disadvantaged, 40% of pupils are from low income families or ones that do not have any former experience of higher education.

Outreach involves visits to neighbouring schools/colleges as well as running courses on campus, which has afforded an opportunity for students to utilise resources such as the online catalogue and the print/photocopy facilities. Visits to the Bognor Regis site typically last 3 hours to include an introduction to research skills, time for research, write-up time and time for presentation of findings. Offsite visits are shorter, typically 1 hour, but again incorporate time for a crucial introduction to research skills.

In both cases, Stephen and his colleagues have been surprised at the level of ability that these students have, but it soon becomes clear that this reflects the type of resources that they are using prior to visiting the University. Some schools have no resources and rely solely upon Google to access material.

Francesca Luxmoore-Peake, Librarian of Cardinal Newman Catholic School and Sixth Form, presented an overview of her information skills programme for the Sixth Form. The Voluntary Aided school currently has more than 2,500 students spread over 11 classes/year group; the library is an integral part of a busy school with more than 70 students regularly using the library’s resources. Francesca and her colleague offer a 50 minute induction session for Year 12 students in September and offer further sessions to Years 12 and 13 in November. A Norwegian plagiarism video from Bergen University (http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Edudzy4u-18&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEdudzy4u-18&gl=GB) is used to illustrate an important point in a humorous and accessible way for 6th form students. Research skills are an integral component of the induction and follow-on sessions.

There followed a Q & A session which allowed individuals to quiz the three participants on various aspects of their presentations.

Suzanne Rose, Education and Outreach Officer, Special Collections at the University of Sussex, was our next presenter. She outlined the background on Mass Observation (MO) and how it can be used to support learning in schools and the development of research skills. MO was founded by Harrison, Madge and Jennings in 1937. There is a myriad of resources available for researchers dating from this time, up to and including the present day. Examples are; ethnographic strands, observations through tradition: diaries, letters written about general life, childhood, attitudes to person individual events. Between 1930’s and 1960’s there was a national panel which recorded information on the 12th of each month providing a day survey; over 3000 people contributed voluntarily by writing about themselves (at anyone time there would have been 500 writers). This was re-launched in 1981, a panel sets 3 directives per year which sometimes can be revisiting opinions already collated i.e. Falklands, Afghanistan, case studies which are akin to oral histories.

All this has provided us in the 21st Century with a valuable source of information, be it from a social aspect; valuable insight into opinions, writing material and content (vocabulary, popularity of certain social clubs, places etc.) from a particular period. Nowadays the MO encourages schools to provide information for the future by making 12th May diary day.

Suzanne Tatham, Teaching and Learning Support Librarian at University of Sussex explained the type of activities that are covered when 6th Form students visit. How they like interactivity and how persuasive the power of rewarding prizes is! Asking them to read out questions presented to them in return for a prize

Demonstrations were given on Prezi, Twitter, tweetdeck and Turning Point (voting system which uses a clicker), all of which showed us how interactivity can enhance the learning experience.

After lunch there was an opportunity to tour the diverse, well stocked University Library. Our thanks go again to Suzanne, presenters and members of the CILIP committee who organised this very informative event.

A report from Alison Carter from Central Sussex College

It’s official: half-day conferences are a Good Thing. My learning concentration span is poor, and I can remember almost everything about this 3.5 hour conference. That has to be a positive outcome, for a start.

Assembled in a room off the handsome entry areas of the University of Sussex Library was a collection of school and college librarians.

Sarah Cullen, Head of Widening Participation at the University, was the first speaker. Sarah introduced me to a great deal I didn’t know about the work of WP programmes.

In exchange for their up-to-£9k fees, universities are obliged to reach out to their partner schools and colleges. They work to encourage pupils and students (often those from backgrounds in which university is not an accustomed route) to aspire to a degree. The WP programme aims to raise attainment, to help with choices of GCSE & A level, to preview university life and its benefits, and to make sure students stay at university once they’re in. Sarah reminded us of the role of school and college libraries. We prepare students for research and study, and we have a vital part in the raising of attainment.

Next up was Stephen Bowman, with a practical and detailed look at the work of his team from the Library of the University of Chichester. Stephen visits schools and colleges (or groups come to the University library), and he works closely with pupils and students to train them in information skills.

I was delighted to learn that Stephen goes beyond generalised info skills training by guiding students as they research their current topic. We do that in my sixth form, and though it eats time and means we end up semi-experts in everything from civil rights to theatrical masks to malaria, it engages students and gets real results.

Stephen was astonished at the lack of modern resources in a minority of institutions he’s visited and so, I think, were the delegates. I’ve met many of them before, and I know that we all try to offer the best that’s available at our particular level and keep up-to-date with technology and good practice…

… as does someone I hadn’t met before, Francesca Luxmoore-Peake, the librarian of Cardinal Newman School, who spoke next. It was interesting to get a school perspective. Frankie is given more than three times the induction time (per student) that I’m allocated, and so she can make a good stab at introducing pupils to her toolkit for good research and discovery. I’ve really got to try again at addressing this back home: our topic-led class sessions are increasing exponentially, and we’re going to implode unless we insist on some kind of‘blanket’ info skills training to relieve the pressure while getting our messages out.

I’d never heard of Frankie’s YouTube-sourced video from Norway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwbw9KF-ACY which amusingly instructs on the perils of plagiarism and the joy of original thought. I’ll be using that one a lot. There hadn’t been much discussion of cheating yet, and this reminded us all how crucial it is to include it in our programmes.

Suzanne Rose gave an absorbing virtual tour of the Mass Observation collection held by the University, and what she and her colleagues are doing with it. She closed with a look at the collection’s work in schools. The MO archivists rightly want to get the material used in learning at all levels. I felt a twinge of frustration: A’ level syllabuses tend to militate against the use of such a wide-ranging and fascinating archive, and one so full of potential. History, Sociology, Culture and English courses are narrow in their focus. I predict a struggle to engage teachers with the personal accounts contained in the MO project, if they don’t immediately feed into‘the Unit’. How can college librarians help, I wonder?

Three super-quick workshops followed: ideas for effective presentation (Prezi; using Twitter with a group; simple voting & survey software). Two suffered inevitable techno-hiccoughs. I’m a bit behind on this array of gadgets, and I have an in-built prejudice against a focus on visual aids, probably because of (a) a fondness for the sound of my own voice and (b) my need to get students onto their PCs to try out good practice a.s.a.p. But I was (as my annoying Twittering children say)‘well impressed’ with the Sussex staff’s knowledge of these whizzy items.

Oh, and I really wanted – all of a sudden– to do another degree. I rarely get to visit a University and I lusted after the cafés, the open spaces, the bicycles. I was quite sad to get back on the train again.

Members of CILIP – the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals – will decide if the organisation changes its name at their Annual General Meeting on 21 September 2013.

The new name and strapline has been developed following focus groups and surveys with members and potential members as part of a broader change process instigated by CILIP Council, the governing body.

New name: Information & Library Professionals UK

Strapline: The Chartered Institute for the knowledge professions

Annie Mauger, Chief Executive of CILIP, said: 

“We believe our members want a name that clearly and confidently says who we are and where we are heading. This name recognises our library heartland and puts information front and centre of our identity. The strapline that says our community - the information, library and knowledge professions - support and develop access to knowledge. To be successful and compete globally our economy, society, businesses and education must effectively exploit one of our greatest assets - knowledge. We need to know how to read, how to operate in a digital world, but also how to use information to give us advantage in our lives and competitive edge in business. Our members provide the expertise and professional skills to do this every day in schools, universities and colleges, local public libraries, hospitals, government departments, not for profits and industry.”

Annie continued, “Since 2010, following a wide consultation, CILIP has been changing what it does and how it does it. The rebranding is one important part of a whole series of changes. These changes have two goals - to be relevant to the breadth of the information, library and knowledge professions and to make their identity clearer to the world.” 

The AGM takes place at the new Library of Birmingham from 11am on Saturday 21 September. Individual members will be eligible to vote at the AGM in person or by proxy. Proxy voting will be available from the 26 August. The vote will be a choice between Information & Library Professionals UK and CILIP. At least two-thirds of members who vote will need to agree to the new name in order for it to be adopted. If members agree to adopt the new name then testing of logo and design options will take place in October and November 2013 before the new brand is launched in April 2014. 

-ends-

Press contact:

Mark Taylor, Director of External Relations, CILIP
Tel: 020 7255 0654
Mobile: 07792 635 305
Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk 

Notes to editors:

1.    Background on the rebrand  

The initiative to rebrand CILIP began in 2010, when a consultation called Defining Our Professional Future gave clear messages about what needed to be done to change and improve CILIP. More than 3,500 members and non-members contributed to the consultation through social media, an online survey and focus groups. As a result a new organisation vision and mission was put in place to give clear direction and a new staff structure was created to better deliver priorities identified in the consultation. 

Examples of developments to CILIP’s offer since 2010 include: 

• Improvements to the skills offer including revising accreditation, developing the Professional Knowledge and Skills Base, reviewing qualifications and developing the Virtual Learning Environment. 
• Strengthening CILIP’s advocacy, campaigning and lobbying
• Developing a refreshed website
• Reviewing the Branch and Group structure to better deliver member benefits
• Revising the member magazine, Update

In January 2013 Council met to review progress so far. Feedback showed that perceptions of CILIP were often out-dated. Members, non-members and employers were saying that CILIP’s brand needed modernising. In principle Council agreed to begin looking at rebranding as part of the wider strategic programme of change to make sure we are as relevant as possible to the full breadth of the library, information and knowledge sectors. 

In March 2013 Council agreed to begin a rebranding project and in April the rebranding exercise was announced. The project included consultation with members and potential members. A £35,000 budget was agreed that included consultation costs, design costs, legal fees, consultancy costs and implementation. As per CILIP’s Bye-laws any change of name would be agreed by individual members casting their votes.

The consultation included two focus groups and two web surveys. 5,070 responses to the surveys were submitted in total. 

On the 8 July 2013 a General Meeting took place to discuss the rebrand and to vote on a motion to halt the exercise. The majority of members who voted, voted against the motion.

Members of Council have considered the outcomes of the consultation, the surrounding debate and comments raised at the General Meeting. Following trademark searches Council agreed to propose the new name and strapline to members. 

More about the rebranding project

2.    CILIP Annual General Meeting 2013

The AGM is an opportunity for CILIP members to participate in the formal and important business of the organisation. The 2013 AGM will be held at the Library of Birmingham from 11am on Saturday 21 September.

The main business of the AGM is to give members the opportunity to hear and ask questions about CILIP's financial position in the previous year and to ask members to approve any proposals that require their agreement.

Regular items for the AGM are agreement of the membership subscription rates for the following year and receipt and consideration of the previous year's Trustees' Annual report and accounts.

All members are welcome to attend the AGM. Only individual members can vote. Those not entitled to vote are still welcome to come as observers.

Members can submit motions for consideration at the AGM. The closing date for submission of motions is for the 2013 AGM was 5pm on Tuesday 23 July.

More about the AGM

Students may soon be able to join CILIP - the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals - for free. Members will vote to decide if CILIP will introduce free student membership at the Annual General Meeting on 21 September. 

Nick Poole, CILIP Treasurer, said:

"Free membership means that every student beginning a library or information academic course can be part of CILIP and stay members for the long term."

"This is one of many ways that we plan to encourage people to invest in themselves and their careers, through professional development, gaining qualifications and being part of a professional community with a strong voice in campaigning and advocacy." 

The CILIP AGM takes place at the new Library of Birmingham from 11am on Saturday 21 September. Individual members will be eligible to vote at the AGM in person or by proxy. Proxy voting will be available from the 26 August

CILIP AGM

Members of the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals will consider a motion of ‘no confidence’ in Ed Vaizey MP at their Annual General Meeting. 

Ed Vaizey is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. His responsibilities include public library services in England.

The motion reads, “In view of his failures to enforce the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act, this Annual General Meeting of CILIP has no confidence in Ed Vaizey, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, and instructs Council to work with all other interested parties to protect library, information and knowledge services.”

The motion has been proposed by Jo Richardson and seconded by Tom Roper – both CILIP members. The motion has been submitted in accordance with CILIP’s Bye-law 23.

The CILIP AGM takes place at the new Library of Birmingham from 11am on Saturday 21 September. Individual members will be eligible to vote at the AGM in person or by proxy. Proxy voting will be available from the 26 August.

-ends-

Press contact:

Mark Taylor
Director of External Relations, CILIP
T: 020 7255 0654 
M: 07792 635 305                                             
Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk

Notes for editors:

About Ed Vaizey MP on GOV.UK

CILIP AGM

CILIP constitutional documents

In this month’s Update magazine Phil Bradley, CILIP President and project board Chair, has given members an update on the project to review CILIP’s governance.

Phil explained the aims of the review, “when Council looked at the outcomes of the Defining our Professional Future consultation we realised that a key part of CILIP’s sustainability was to develop a system of governance that addressed the future needs of CILIP, that would ensure strong leadership and set high standards. We need robust finance and risk management and sound policy development, based on sound evidence and horizon scanning that has gone through a rigorous process.” 

A project board was established and has identified that CILIP has a fairly traditional model. The board reviewed a range of models that other organisations use. The model the project board is looking at would:

• Build in the security of democracy and accountability
• Mean CILIP can be effectively risk-managed
• Provide the expertise needed for good strategic and financial decisions

Phil continued that the project board was, “initially going to suggest that members should vote on the new Governance model at the AGM on 21 September 2013. However, it was made clear at the recent General Meeting that members want more time to consider fundamental changes to the organisation, so we have decided to build in an extra six months to the timescale in order for you to look at the proposals in detail.” 

What next?

• September 2013: The Project Board meets to finalise key proposals.
• October 2013: Start of discussions about the proposals and sharing of key elements of change.
• April 2014: Members vote on the changes at a General Meeting (once feedback has been received).
• 2015: Any new governance model would begin.

Elections 

Nominations and elections for a Vice President and 4 Councillors to serve as trustees of CILIP will take place in the autumn of 2013. The timetable is:

• 12 September 2013: nominations open
• 5pm, 10 October 2013: nominations close
• 25 October 2013: If an election is contested, voting papers sent to members
• 5pm, 25 November 2013: voting closes 
• 26/27 November 2013: results announced
• 1 January 2014: successful candidates take office

The newly elected Vice President may only serve to a year in the role, depending on the outcomes of the governance review.

President

Barbara Band, Head of Library and Resources at The Emmbrook School and current Vice President, will be CILIP President in 2014. Barbara will take up the post on 1 January 2014.

At the end of 2012 Phil Bradley agreed to stay as President for an additional year than he would have normally served to oversee the governance review and as at the time there was not a Vice President in post. Phil will remain part of the Presidential Team as Immediate Past President when Barbara takes up the role of President.

-ends-

Press contact:

Mark Taylor
Director of External Relations, CILIP
T: 020 7255 0654 
M: 07792 635 305                                             
Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk

Notes for editors:

CILIP governance review

CILIP elections

How CILIP works

About Barbara Band

I’m sure that you’ll all be aware that the Prime Minster recently made a speech on July 22nd 2013 about ‘cracking down on online pornography and making the internet safer for children.’  It’s worth reading the entire speech if you have time, because he says quite a lot that hasn’t been covered in any detail by the mass media.

I don’t think that it’s helpful for him to conflate three very different issues – child abuse images, legal pornography and extreme pornography. However he has, so I’ll take each of the issues in turn.

Child abuse images

These are of course entirely abhorrent and illegal to view or possess. Each image is its own crime scene and the staff at the Internet Watch Foundation are doing their best to find these images and pass the information they get onto the police. Search engines are also working hard to remove these images and block sites when they find them, and Google for example has said that it has a zero tolerance towards these images. There is an agreement with Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! to deter people searching for these images, but the nature of the campaign is secret, which is rather confusing.

People will be advised about ambiguous searches, so a search on ‘child sex’ should ask if a search on sex education or child gender is being referred to. There is also supposed to be a blacklist of ‘abhorrent terms’ “where there could be no doubt about the sick and malevolent intent of the searcher” (to quote the Prime Minister) – when no search results should be returned. CEOP, the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre will apparently provide a list of these. In all honesty, I cannot think of what terms those may be – I don’t think that it’s because I’m being particularly naive, but any term can mean a number of different things. I’m perhaps being pedantic here, but the Prime Minster spoke of ‘terms’, not ‘phrases’ which perhaps would make more sense. I would question the value of such a list; as we all know terminology changes remarkably quickly and while a list gives some measure of illusory safety it cannot help in cases where new terms are invented and used. It’s very worrying when we are in a situation that words themselves are essentially criminalised. We also need to remember that words are culturally bound, so what may be a terrible term in the UK may mean something entirely different in another part of the world.  However, if such a list is going to exist and is implemented by Government the terms on the list need to be published to ensure transparency and allow challenge. Otherwise curious people are going to go off and see if they can find them, which is the exact opposite of what the Prime Minister wants to happen.

Having said all of that I think it’s fair to say that all sensible people will support proportionate action to apprehend and prosecute creators and/or possessors of child abuse images. Already child abuse content hosted in the UK is down from 18% of global total in 1996 to less than 1% in 2013 (although the pedant in me is saying ‘known content’) which is a good thing, but surely this needs to be dealt with at a government to government level to deter people in other countries producing this material.

CILIP is keen to work with the many different Government departments such as the DCMS, Education, BIS, Communities, Local Government and so on to further limit the creation and spread of this material. I have also written to the IWF to see if there is value in meeting with them in order to consider any ways that we can work together. Of course, all libraries need to be involved in this work, but some more than others. The staff in public libraries could, and should be trained to help people use the internet more effectively, whether it’s searching, evaluating content, making choices, even applying filters on their own machines if that’s what they want to do; librarians have a key role in supporting and improving information literacy.

Legal pornography

The major part of the Prime Minister’s speech and proposals deals with how people can view legal pornography. The big 6 providers of public wi-fi (covering 90% of provision) have agreed to apply “family friendly” filters across public wi-fi network wherever children likely to be present. From end of 2013 all new home broadband accounts will have default family friendly filtering unless an adult decides to specific opt-out. All devices connected to one internet account will be covered, so that means all home devices going through the household router. The account holder must be an adult and only the account holder can change settings. I have no idea how that is supposed to work, since unless the ISP has a physical copy of your image and you change the settings via webcam confirmation for example, a child could easily get hold of the password or credit card details if they were so inclined.  There is a secondary question here which is that if a parent wishes to view pornographic material, they will have to chose to opt into a system, as there doesn’t appear to be any proposal or suggestion as to how a household can both see and not see pornography. (The answer of course is to put individual filters onto each machine in turn, which would seem to be an adult and sensible course of action.)

There is another issue here which is confusing – if the adult is to be the person responsible for setting a filter or for turning it off, wouldn’t it be more logical to simply provide the adult with the information they need and let them make up their own mind, rather than having a default already set. There is clearly a need to educate parents, and indeed all adults about the issues surrounding the safety of children online, and what better place to do this than in a library by a trained librarian?

All other 19 million existing broadband customers will be contacted by the end of 2014 to specifically decide if they wish a filter to be turned on or off.

We also have to question the efficacy of filtering programmes since they can never catch all dubious material (and I should know, as I have spent considerable time testing child friendly search engines, and I have yet to find one that’s really effective). They also censor the good content, giving a false sense of security and can encourage complacency. We see this all of the time; just because people have virus software installed it doesn’t mean that they won’t get a virus.

As a profession we are in favour of promoting access to information whenever possible, and not installing barriers against access to legally available material, even when we may personally find it unpleasant. The use of filters on library terminals, including those in public libraries is not something to to be encouraged, but obviously in reality many libraries (as do other organisations) filter internet content as they are part of a local authority, and may have no direct control over the parameters of access. There is currently a project taking place at Loughborough University – MAIPLE; Managing Access to the Internet in Public Libraries that both John Dolan and Guy Daines are involved with, and I will be interested to see its conclusions.

However, if filtering is to be promoted more generally at the very least there should be an independent research programme looking at the effectiveness of filtering and publicly reporting on it. We should not rely only on feedback of parents gleaned by UK Council for Child Internet Safety. Everybody should have a right to know when information is filtered and there should be statements to this effect at every terminal or on each use of library computers  detailing filtering used. As suggested earlier the filters used should be the subject of independent research as to their efficacy and impact.

There is also an issue over sites that include both non-pornographic and pornographic material, such as Flickr, a popular photograph sharing website. If people have to opt in to see pornography it’s reasonable to assume that such sites are going to be blocked from normal every day use for people sharing perfectly innocent images with their friends and families. Indeed, since we don’t actually know what ‘pornography’ really means, a whole host of websites could conceivably fall into the same category.

Once again, it would seem that the best approach is education. People need to understand exactly what is involved, and rather than attempt the simplicity of an on/off switch which can in any event never work properly, they should be given the opportunity to make informed decisions. Trained librarians who have no political or commercial bias are in an excellent position to provide information on filtering systems and ways that parents can keep their children safe. Protecting both our children AND our liberty is of vital importance, but it cannot be done on the cheap; trained professional librarians are an obvious way forward.

Simulated rape

The Prime Minister also stated that he wanted to make it a criminal offence to possess pornographic images depicting simulated rape. One has to suppose that would also include films that are freely available at the moment, and which – having had a rating – are perfectly legal. Again, since we don’t know exactly what ‘pornographic’ means in this context this could potentially include films such as Straw Dogs or A Clockwork Orange. Confusingly however, the Prime Minister is quoted as saying ‘what you can’t get in a shop you will no longer to be able to get online’, which is the exact opposite of what may happen here. Our major concern at this point is that organisations may wish to play it safe and not stock such material even though it’s legal, which leads to stricter self censorship than is necessary. Furthermore, if depictions are to be deemed illegal sites that include such material would also be blocked in the opt-in system. This would have to logically include Facebook which has some really rather nasty groups that they chose not to remove, or only do so under extreme pressure, access to the BBC iPlayer, film sites such as LoveFilm and Netflicks and so on. Now, you may feel that I am being too pedantic, but unfortunately with statements from the Prime Minister which are vague and contradictory it’s left to the rest of us to try and work out what he means and to point out inconsistencies.

Points that need clarification

As mentioned above, we need a much clearer definition of exactly what pornography means because without it there will be an inconsistency in approach, with people unclear as to exactly what is acceptable and what isn’t. This, of course, has always been the case. Most famously it includes the Lady Chatterly’s Lover case prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act (see, for instance: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisda...).

Any definition is likely to entail subjective judgement and be open to dispute. It can be added to filtering and banned key terms as another area of inexactitude and not doing the job effectively.

When people choose to opt-in, which they may wish to do for many reasons, not just because they want the option of choosing to view certain material, what will happen to this list? Will it be compiled into one overall list? What assurances can people have that such a list will not be used for other uses? Who will have access to it? How will it be kept secure?

Are ISPs going to work from one list of sites, or are they expected to create their own, which again leads to inconsistency in approach. If they are to use one list, who is to supply it, under what conditions, who can view it, and what rules will be put into place to challenge their decisions? This is going to have to be done on a case by case basis, since a computer is as yet unable to do it. Who is to pay for this increased work, and if it is the ISPs themselves, does this mean that the cost of subscriptions to their services will increase? Since thousands of new website domains are registered every day a blacklist (and it’s difficult not to use such terminology) will still not work. This in turn will lead to people believing that their systems are safe and pornography free, which is far from the case, even if they choose to opt-out of the system.

If a list of search terms or phrases is to be compiled, who will have access to it, and what assurances do we have that future governments will not be able to add in other terms that match their own political agendas?

Digital literacy

It’s quite clear that there are a lot of issues that have not yet been thought through properly, and many questions have yet to be asked. While I don’t have a solution to the issue (because I don’t think that there’s one that will satisfy everyone) there are things which can be done. We should welcome educational initiatives that give parents more information about how to protect their children. Instead of the state attempting to block pornographic content greater emphasis needs to be put onto information and digital literacy programmes. This should be considered an essential part of the Digital by Default programme. Libraries, especially public libraries should be properly funded to provide this across the UK.

As part of its information literacy project CILIP has been discussing digital inclusion and participation with the Carnegie Trust UK and this work is planned to continue. This will include a Digital Participation Summit towards the end of 2013. Everyone in the country deserves to have safe and effective digital participation and our professional community can contribute greatly towards a national education and skilling programme. Scotland and Wales are already well advanced in this with their own respective national information literacy strategies, and we need to build on their excellent work.

Knowledgeable and skilled human beings; both adults and children, need to be aware of the risks and opportunities that the internet brings, and this can only be achieved through education and training, not by Government blocks on legally available material.

The August edition of South Western News is now available to download from the Newsletter page.

Includes articles about Umbrella 2013 and the recent Chartership course in Plymouth.

It’s not too late to enter your successful publicity campaign for the 2013 Marketing Excellence Awards – the deadline has been extended from 31 July to midnight on Tuesday 6 August. Hurry and get your entry in now!

• Marketing Excellence Awards