This is a transcript of the speech Nick Poole, CILIP Chief Executive, gave at the CILIP Government Information Group AGM and Members Day on 27 September 2016.
Thank you for inviting me to come and speak to you at the AGM today. As someone who has worked in the Civil Service and in Whitehall I have a particular and personal interest in the work of the Government Information Group (GIG), and so it is good to come and talk a little about what lies ahead for CILIP and for our community.
First of all, I wanted to thank you, both as members and as the GIG Committee for the time and effort you put into the group. I have really appreciated GIGs active participation both in our strategic planning, the development of the Membership model and now the implementation of the Knowledge and Information Management Special Interest Group – of which more in a moment.
I wanted to use today’s presentation to talk a little about the future. When we published the CILIP Action Plan 2016-2020 in June of this year, we chose the title Securing the Future – because it is my view that in the future we’re heading into, society, businesses and Government are going to need our skills and professional ethics more than ever before. But I don’t think we can assume that we will be included in that future – I think we have to go out and secure it for ourselves.
In the UK and internationally, we lie in turbulent times. For those born in the 1970’s and 1980’s, this period of political and economic uncertainty is unprecedented in their experience. Whatever the outcome of current Party political discussions, we look ahead to a complex process of renegotiating our position not just in Europe but in a changing world.
Ideas of the future society we want to build should be based on evidence, not prejudice
Looking ahead to that process of renegotiation, I think there is one priority that takes precedence over all others – which is that our ideas of the future society we want to build should be based on evidence, not prejudice.
A Government that is built on knowledge, evidence and data is a Government that makes better, more accountable, more successful decisions. Ultimately, I believe that our democracy is strongest when it is built on a culture of evidence and the free exchange of knowledge.
The other great, and in my view underestimated, pillar of our democracy is the Civil Service. History tells us that in times of change, it is the Civil Service – with its professionalism and dedication – that keeps the machinery of Government working smoothly and that ensures that policy becomes real measurable change.
And like all institutions, the Civil Service, the structure of Government Departments are themselves experiencing great changes. I actively followed this year’s Civil Service Live conference and was struck by the relevance of their themes – managing change, promoting diversity and equality, leadership, building positive working cultures – to the preoccupations across our profession.
All areas of Government depend on access to quality information
What really struck me, in all of those discussions, is that there is not one single area of Government, policy or Departmental activity that doesn’t depend fundamentally on efficient access to quality information.
But having met and spoken with Senior Civil Servants and Parliamentarians and advisors, I think it’s fair to say that they don’t yet make the connection between this need and the skills and competencies which library and information professionals provide. I still meet too many people who believe that a digital box will solve what is fundamentally a human problem.
How do we link this need to the skills of library and information professionals?
So the question which I wanted to bring to you is how do we – how do we as CILIP, you as the Government Information Group and all of us as individuals – create that connection between the emerging need for quality information and the skills which we have as librarians and information professionals?
I think the Impact Toolkit about which we have heard from Helen Berry is a great start – we have heard from professionals who have used it to strengthen the case for their skills. But we want to go further.
Priorities
Looking ahead, I see 3 priorities for CILIP and 3 milestones which we need to hit. The priorities are:
- Continuing to invest in the skills and CPD of information and library professionals, building a thriving and diverse workforce and ensuring that we can continue to attract talent into it;
- Building awareness among managers and decision-makers about how to make use of those skills to deliver their goals and objectives, and;
- Raising the level of information literacy in the general public so that they can be empowered to work with us and take control of the information in their lives
Milestones
And the 3 key milestones which I believe we need to hit in the next 4 years are:
- Becoming an organisation that looks and feels like the ‘home’ of a profession which spans all types of information professionals, including librarians and knowledge managers;
- Launching a fresh new offer to our membership in January 2018 that offers benefits tailored to the needs of our profession, that is more accessible and affordable and that represents the way our profession works today, and;
- Offering a credible policy programme for the 2020 General Election process (or sooner if necessary) that has the support of policymakers and represents the full extent of the interests of the information and library sector.
We aren’t standing still. We’re working hard to put the building blocks in place which will enable us to deliver on these milestones. These include the new Knowledge and Information Management Special Interest Group, which will enable us to create and sustain a dedicated programme of work around this community. I am delighted that GIG has agreed to play an active role in shaping that Group.
Policy and campaigns
We’re building relationships with policymakers, including rebuilding some bridges that were burnt in our recent past. It is gratifying to have been invited not just to speak with DCMS, but the Departments for Education, Business, Energy, Innovation and Skills, and the Department for Health. We are looking to work more proactively with the Cabinet Office from next year and as part of this process we have provided detailed responses to 14 Government consultations this year covering everything from the Investigatory Powers Bill to the Migration Advisory Committee.
In Scotland and Wales, our CILIPS and CILIP Cymru Wales colleagues have secured recognition of libraries within their programme for Government. Last year, I attended an event Stormont organised by our colleague Gerardine Blee at CILIP Ireland at which Assembly Member Nelson McCausland spoke eloquently about the importance of accurate information to their deliberations. I note that this was a theme that was picked up in your journal – GKIM Matters in the excellent comparison of Government libraries in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
We’re looking ahead to our programme of policy and campaigns for 2017 and beyond – including the new campaign promoting the role of information professionals in healthcare, announced at the recent Health Libraries Group conference.
Investing in our sector’s skills
We’re also investing in our sector’s skills – leading in 2019, we will be working with colleagues across the policy environment to develop a UK Information Skills Strategy which defines how we will open up our profession, attract top-quality talent and meet the future skills needs of employers. We’re kick-starting this with a joint event with CityLis, learning providers and employers in December.
I asked my team for a briefing about their engagement with Government libraries and was heartened to hear that we have been invited to talk to the Committee of Departmental Librarians about the Professional Knowledge and Skills Base and our CPD support. I note that we have had particularly productive discussions with the Ministry of Defence about the emerging role of information skills in their work.
I have been following two important developments with great interest. One is the Government Knowledge and Information Management Professional Skills Framework – which provides a really important mechanism for embedding information skills alongside wider Civil Service Competencies.
The other is the publication of a set of Knowledge Principles by the Government Knowledge and Information Management Working Group to sit alongside the existing Information Principles – which I think reflects a growing understanding of knowledge and information management and librarianship in Government and how they relate to each other.
I believe that every Department should have a library, staffed by a team of skilled and professional librarians – information professionals who can help people find the information they need. I have been really struck in the recent political debates in the UK by the consistently high quality of balanced information provided by the House of Commons Library. I have also been struck, as I am sure you all have, by attempts to diminish the role of information, expertise, data and evidence in public life and to replace it with polemic and ideology. This is a fad which I believe we must organise ourselves to counter.
I welcome this opportunity to learn more about the needs and priorities of CILIP GIG members. We have a stronger voice and we are determined to use it to support you in your work. At the same time, we want to do more to support you in making the case for your skills. I look forward to your questions and ideas.
Thank you.
