Tom Roper's Weblog

Idox and TFPL

Idox, who bought TFPL recruitment a year ago, are to dispose of it, saying that it is, “just not a good fit", I read in Information World Review. The TFPL blog gives the official version.
When, exactly, did enlightenment strike in the Idox board room, I wonder? How did an information industry recruitment agency change from being an attractive proposition, to an unnecessary frippery? Surely the days of predatory asset stripping have not returned? I think this news will set off a shake up among recruitment agencies generally. They offer nothing to candidates, and precious little to employers. I have heard CILIP’s own agency INFOMatch defended on the grounds that it brings income into the organisation. So too would a chain of massage-parlours or betting-shops. However, CILIP’s recent financial difficulties were blamed, at least in part, on a downturn in the recruitment market and INFOMatch's consequent failure to bring in the expected money. Interest declared: I am a former, dissatisfied, client of TFPL, and other recruitment agencies.

PS. CILIP's Library and Information Gazette runs a front-page article on the library and information recruitment "industry", though the text is not online. Why ever not? It is symptomatic of my professional organisation's half-hearted approach to using the web. "Quality, experienced candidates are at a premium". says the spokesman for one agency, 'there are jobs available in fields such as executive search and professional services at junior level which we are struggling to fill".
The lesson of the past nine months is that I am clearly not a "quality experienced candidate". The article also suggests that jobs suitable for newly qualified staff are being outsourced to India, with a consequent effect on the supply of candidates for more senior posts.
The article fails to mention the sale of TFPL at all. I suppose it went to bed before the news was known.

Technorati Tags: idox, jobsearch, outsourcing, tfpl

CILIP: New Business Model and Governance Review

CILIP council yesterday approved both the report of the Governance Review Task Force and that of the New Business Model Working Group. Both reports are to appear on the CILIP website, but they're not there yet. Update: the Governance Review Task Forcepaper is now up here (pdf). The New Business Model paper "may take a few days".
Update: the New Business Model paper was uploaded on 18 December and is at http://www.cilip.org.uk/aboutcilip/newbusinessmodel/

Technorati Tags: governancereviewtaskforce, newbusinessmodelworkinggroup

CILIP communities

Phil Bradley mentions the CILIP communities and says, rightly, that we should make much more noise about them.
I was part of the pilot, but it's now open to all CILIP members. I think part of the problem is that closed communities like these communities are by their nature more inward-looking than the world of blogs that Phil and I inhabit. While that may allow CILIP members to feel safe, it may also make us less inclined to talk to the world outside.

Technorati Tags: cilipcommunities

Choosing the best children's books of the past seventy years

Next year will be an anniversary for two of the more worthwhile and less commercialised book awards, the fiftieth for the Carnegie Medal for children's books and the seventieth for the Kate Greenaway medal for illustration in a children's books. To mark this CILIP, who appoint a panel of children's librarians to decide on the awards, are asking readers to vote for their favourite books from the list of past winners.
There's a form at http://carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegiegreenaway70/nomination70.asp but to use it visitors have to chose from a drop-down list. If, like me, you would prefer to browse a full list before making your choice, there are lists at http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/list.html for the Carnegie medal and at http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/green/list.html for the Kate Greenaway. I'm voting for Arthur Ransome's Pigeon Post for the Carnegie and Anthony Browne's Gorilla for the Greenaway.

Technorati Tags: bookawards, carnegie, kategreenaway

CILIP in London: Tony Benn

CILIP in London organised the evening event, a speech by Tony Benn. He entered the lecture theatre, mug of tea in hand and wearing what I thought was an NUM tie, though I was too far away to be sure.
Introduced by Peter Beauchamp, President of Cilip in London, he gave a characteristic Benn performance. He described libraries as universities which anyone can enter without A levels, and the record of the nation's experience. He pointed out how, with rapid advances in knowledge, all six billion of us go to bed each day more ignorant than we were that morning.
He said there were only three questions worth asking: what's going on, why and what should we do about it? He described his diaries and archives, telling us how a Miners Federation of Great Britain leaflet from 1935 proved invaluable many years later. His diaries now consist of some 13 million words, spoken into a tape-recorder every night; he felt he had to do it daily so as to be accurate. Crossman, he reminded us, used to leave writing his diaries till the weekend. He felt, as do bloggers, that he should not edit retrospectively, even if he later proved to be wrong. His archives are costly to maintain, not least in the cost of storage, occupying several damp garages, and he faces the problems of changing technologies, from the early wire-recordings through tapes to CDs.
He discussed freedom of information. Governments have always wanted to control what we know, and he cited the 1491 Heresy Act as an example. which forbade lay people from reading the bible. The nationalisation, as he described it, of the Church of England by Henry VIII, which was as much about control of information as the king's marital difficulties; later Milton advanced a theoretical basis for the freedom of press and after the Restoration, Charles II started the Royal Mail to be able to read his subjects' letters. The founders of Hansard were imprisoned for reporting parliamentary debates and Google is now being told by the US government to reveal enquiries to the security services. Governments want to know all about us, but what if we want to know about them? Existing freedom of information legislation is, he said, inadequate, allowing government to make charges for providing information and to suppress information it does not want to disclose. He cited the case of Walter Wolfgang, who made the best speech at the 2005 Labour Party conference, consisting of one word, "Rubbish", who was thrown out of the conference, interviewed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and consequently can now not travel to the US.
Are there any real secrets in government, he asked? Apart from the details of the budget, personal information and details of negotiating positions, he thought probably not. The most secret document he ever saw as a minister was a centrifugal method for enriching uranium; the same week he saw this highly classified document, it was published in the New Scientist. Malice, gossip and rumour are damaging, accurate information is not. He suspected ministers do not want the public to know quite how ignorant they are, while civil servants do not wish it to be known how powerful they are. The younger generation have to live in a world where we have the power to destroy the human race, never possible before, but equally have the power to solve the world's problems, to provide free HIV drugs for Africa, to protect New Orleans from floods. to illustrate this, he quoted from a letter sent to him while he represented one of the Bristol constituencies, at the time when the Soviet Union had landed a vehicle on the moon; if the USSR could do this, asked the constituent, was there any possibility of a better bus service in Bristol? (He quoted this same example when I heard him at Tolpuddle earlier this year).

Questions from the floor:
How public libraries could comp[ete with other local government services for resources. Tony reminded us of the introduction of museum charges, and said public libraries should be defended, being universities for so many people.
What will happen to your archive when you die? Someone will take them over; and he has been talking to the British Library
Would you encourage others to keep a diary as you do? He felt that most political memoirs were worthless, citing Douglas Hurd and David Blunkett's efforts as examples. He uses his archive every day
Why do so few young people vote? He thought it was not apathy, but that people no longer feel represented but managed by politicians.
I there were greater transparency in government, would ministers be more cautious? No, he thought. Some claimed that it might undermine cabinet cohesion, but he thought rumour, gossip, malice [of which there must have been a great deal in the Wilson cabinet, and indeed in every other-TR] were worse. These battles have to be fought in every generation, there is always the possibility that the victories won by Milton and Hansard, Milton could be reversed.
What about the History Matters campaign? He felt a historical understanding to be essential, though not the history of the rich and powerful. For example the lessons of the first British imperialist adventure in Afghanistan in 1834, new Labour have the illusion that history began in 1997
He mentioned Paul Robeson's visit to SOAS, where we met, the English Revolution, and the Tolpuddle martyrs.
How can public libraries stay free in the face of threats of privatisation from the World Trade Organisation. He thought the privatisation of libraries awful: democracy is revolutionary, citing the example of Birmingham where power at the polling station developed public services, by contrast now any one with a few million can buy a city academy.
Does he read other people's diaries? No, he uses books mostly for reference and finds writing terribly slow. Authenticity doesn't always come out of a book.
Are you a member of your public library? I use it, but I'm not registered. He uses the House of Commons library and has high praise for the staff there, though he is conscious of an old tradition there, where the librarians seem to be guarding against theft. There is a high desk he likened to that at a police station.

His speech has also been described by Ruth Rikowski. Readers may care to compare her account and mine http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=articles&sub=Tony%20and%20Caroline%20Benn

Technorati Tags: freedomofinformation, tonybenn

CILIP Member's Day: the afternoon

I've listened to a number of President's addresses over the years, delivered by presidents of CILIP (those of Maggie Haines and Debby Shorley stick in the mind as particularly fine examples) and of the precursor organisations, the Library Association and the Institute of Information Scientists; as an employee I have also heard several Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons presidents hold forth. There is a speech day atmosphere to these sorts of events, and, as with school speech days, unless a Maggie or a Debby speaks, the proceedings are usually dull. This year's presidential address, given by the current office-holder, Martin Molloy a public librarian from Derbyshire, chair of the Reading Agency and the government’s Advisory Group on Libraries, managed to be both dull and unpleasant..
Having said that he considered the important thing about CILIP to be the professional support and friendship it offers, he then made veiled and nasty attacks on other office-holders. He asserted that the role of President was undefined, (puzzling in itself, as in recent years I understand that the job has indeed been closely defined, as the presidential section of the website used to describe), that not enough people came forward to do it, that few vote in the elections, and that while the office should command respect, he implied that some presidents may use the office to advance personal careers and agenda, an extraordinary and irresponsible statement to make, and one which clashed oddly with his final statement, an appeal to support CILIP and its presidents. The rest of his speech was commonplace and uninspired.
The sourness caused by this was dispersed by the awards of fellowships, which showed the breadth of the profession, including public,m government, school, art , health and university librarians, as well as trainers, someone from the British Library and a bibliographer. Honorary awards went to Karen Blakeman, Maggie Haines, John Hobson, Sharon Markless, Karen Usher and Margaret Watson.
As for the AGM, annual general meetings provide lean pickings for the blogger. There were 107 members present, and we stumbled through a report on CILIP's work and the accounts. Edward Dudley made some points well about the way in which the current distribution of funds favours parts of the country with fewer members against the metropolis. The snappily named New Business Model Working *arty will consider this, promised Bob McKee, the Chief Executive.
Most of the AGM was taken up with finance. Nigel McCartney gave a clear account of the difficult position we find ourselves in, as the number of members declines and income from CILIP enterprises is unreliable. The £2 million deficit on the pensions fund has been resolved by mortgaging the headquarters and form now on CILIP will have three year rolling budgets and a business plan.

As described in the morning workshop, subscriptions for 2007 will move towards harmonised rates, finally achieving that in 2008. For most individuals, there will be a 3.5% increase [though in fact members on higher salaries will in fact have a reduction-TR] and the prompt payment discount will be abolished. An amendment on overseas members' rates was not put.

Technorati Tags: fellowships, martinmolloy, puppy

CILIP Members' Day: Workshop C

Today was CILIP Members' Day, marked not only by the events at SOAS and Ridgmount Street, but also by Ken Livingstone unveiling of a plaque to Bob Marley, Marley and the Wailers apparently having stayed in Ridgmount Gardens a few steps away from our profession’s HQ (not sure it's much to celebrate myself: I always thought of them as reggae-lite, and their Rastafarianism was just plain obnoxious).
I chose a morning workshop run by John Wooley and Louisa Myatt on CILIP's portfolio of products and services, and new ways of managing membership. It was, I must say, not so much of a workshop, more of presentations with not very much time for questions.
John gave a very upbeat view of CILIP enterprises, a major income source for the organisation, he claimed, made up of recruitment services, publishing, training and development, conferences and events. They have more than 35,000 customers, including growing international sales and £3.5m turnover from six businesses. He reminded us of the relaunched Gazette, Update's new special features, changes to lisjobnet.com, more training and development courses and commercial conferences.
The recruitment market is changing, and hard copy advertising revenues falling everywhere, John said. According to ABC figures 50% of recruitment advertising is now online and 12 million of us look for our next job online. Spending on online advertising is just under £1b, and is expected to exceed £2b by the end of this year.
For advertisers, a niche recruitment market is the Holy Grail and CILIP cannot afford to lose our advantage. There are new opportunities to bring in money. The new format of Gazette, designed by the Press Association Design Services cut print costs by 15%, and meets the new Royal Mail size requirements; advertisements have been moved to back, and can now be in full colour. New editorial content concentrates on recruitment and CPD, products and software, with a closer focus on CILIP activity and people and there are special features on major shows.
Lisjobnet.com [not always up to date, in my experience-TR] contains all the vacancies in the Gazette and those available through Infomatch and has around 500,000 hits a month, and 35,000 visits. They offer e-mail updates, [though mine have mysteriously stopped...and why no RSS feeds?-TR] Online only advertising would be a tenth of the price of print.
On editorial, he said that the Gazette works to a strict word count, including nothing over more than 750 words, Update, on the other hand is aimed at the whole LIS sector. They now use specialist freelance correspondents. Update is highly rated as a membership benefit, but brings in no revenue.
He said he was frequently asked why we don’t restrict access to lisjobnet.com to members, but he felt this would be counter-productive and that we should maintain open access.
Infomatch, the recruitment agency is reviewing operations and will offer an enhanced programme [does this mean they might actually put me forward for something-TR]
On the publishing front, Gazette will be offering a new Buyer's Guide while Facet publishing now have more than 200 titles, with thirty new titles every year, chief among them the New Walford and some new media titles.
Training and development have new branding and are now offering short courses outside London, in Glasgow Sheffield and Birmingham, as well as bespoke onsite training which is to be relaunched.
Are they good value for money? They are gaining market share from TFPL and Aslib and, at the CILIP members' rates are 40% cheaper than tfpl, 28% less than Aslib.
Conferences and events used to run at a loss, but now help CILIP's cash flow, as sponsorship income and delegates' fees come in first before bills have to be paid. They also have new income streams from sponsorship, commercial conferences, executive briefings, suppliers’ showcases the new lunch and learn. They have generated £50k of new business from sponsors and delegate numbers are up. He concluded by listing the results of a review of affinity benefits.
Questions covered the relationship between Update and Gazette, the possibility of holding events aimed at CEOs and other senior managers CILIP wants to influence, as well as the relationship between income generation and services
While we have a loyal membership base, said Louisa Myatt, there is a small and slowing overall decline in membership, so we need to make it easier and quicker to join, to respond to membership more promptly. Members now expect more and expect answers more quickly. A new membership database went live on. on 9 October and allows CILIP to store data on individual members interests and preferences, and to compare out information with external sources for example postcode data. Only 25% of members pay by direct debit, and the aim is to increase this proportion. For the first time there will be rolling renewal, so the membership year will run for twelve months from the date of joining, and the membership form will be simplified, There will also be reform of the subscription system, moving to a flat rate in 2008 and simpler subscriptions that more accurately reflect the cost of and value. The prompt payment discount is to be abolished, as it has proved too popular, around 14,000 members taking advantage of it and rates for affiliates and retired members will increase, in the case of the former to become harmonised with other members, in the case of the latter to reflect the true cost of serving them. There will however be a prize draw for ten free memberships.
CILIP's marketing effort has been aimed at clarifying the organisation's message and articulating the benefits of membership: access to knowledge, support for career, recognition and status, networking and community, promoting standards and excellence. These have been summed up by Grimwood Associates in the slogan, "CILIP membership, investment in your professional future". This will be adapted for the different sectors of the profession. The membership web pages will be redesigned. To promote better awareness of CILIP, some targeted campaigns are planned, including using existing members to sell the benefits of membership to others. One problem is that many potential members, particularly those in non-traditional roles, don't know we exist. There are plans to influence employers. CILIP held its first graduate open day recently, at which 100 delegates turned up out of 170 registrations. They continue to have a presence at Online, at the Library & Information Show and at Internet World. On the Saturday before Online, the Guardian will, in its Work section, carry a CILIP feature. Our awards, Carnegie and Greenaway are both approaching significant anniversaries.
Someone asked about advocacy, to which Louisa answered that advocacy and PR went together, both being essential to change
Several people there were worried about the prices of CILIP courses, especially for the unwaged. An unwaged rate is not always available or advertised, a point with which I find myself in much agreement. The reply was that everything CILIP does now has to bring in income (or be cash-positive in the jargon). John felt that the courses run by groups, which were cited as examples of cheaper offerings, were not of the same standard ads CILIP courses and that "you get what you pay for". Franchising hadn't worked, and online only training would be very expensive. Someone suggested sponsorship as a solution.
A member who was both librarian and a local authority councillor suggested that we were poor at lobbying in local government. There was enthusiasm for an online yearbook and directory of libraries, though John pointed out that there we might lose income (I pointed to the example of Health Libraries Group and the Health Library and Information Services Directory, formerly a dead-tree directory.

Technorati Tags: CILIPenterprises, marketing, membership, puppy

Clip Board

I'm honoured to see that this blog is mentioned in this month's Library and Information Update (though not in the sections available online) in Edward Dudley's Clip Board column. Edward's' theme is how librarians talk to one another.
Elsewhere, Chris Armstrong's intervention in the debate on public library supply is attracting attention. I've been out of circulation for a while, so missed Richard Charkin of Macmillan's speech to the National Acquisitions Group, in which he seems to swallow the Tim Coates line in toto, to wit that public libraries are filled to bursting with overpaid managers who spend the book fund on expense account lunches.
I was going to stand in the elections for CILIP Council this autumn, but had to withdraw my candidature, but if I were standing, a major part of my platform would be to help to build an organisation that can make forthright, public, convincing rebuttals of Coates and Charkin. Once there was a Triple Alliance of the old Library Association, the Library Campaign and the trade unions that organise library and information workers. We need that alliance again.

HLG: Tuesday afternoon

Tuesday afternoon opened with a plenary at which Peter Morgan gave a very clear summary of open access and institutional repositories. Peter runs Cambridge's DSpace repository when he's not being a medical librarian.
He made some interesting points about the differences between computing and library approaches to repositories, noting that librarians who run repositories think of different ways to use them, particularly to manage other digital resources in institutions. He also pointed out some of the growing tensions between archivangelists and librarians, and drew our attention to a new SHERPA resource, JULIET, which sets out for authors the open access requirements of each of the British research councils.
Then we heard from Danielle Worster on the Seniors Health Research Transfer Network (SHRTN) project in Ontario.

Technorati Tags: eastbourne, hlg, hlg2006, HLGEastbourne2006

HLG: Tuesday morning

The morning opened with another keynote speech, this time by Bernard Barrett of the Irish Health Sciences Libraries Group, who gave his confessions of an information scientist. Bernard spoke about his experiences working outside a library, in mental health in Ireland. , developing guidelines and policies, identifying areas where there might be a lack of evidence and on service development.
He picked up some of the themes about professions that Ian Snowley had mentioned the previous day. He felt that the vocabulary of "user" and "support" used in library and information service discourse holds us back, and that it was more helpful to speak of colleagues and fellow team members when H called on us to be precisionists and ended with his ten confessions of faith, which I'll link to when his presentation goes up.
Next, I attended the sessions on international collaboration, where Emma Farrow spoke of her experience in Sri Lanka, and the work that PHi is doing in Uganda and Sierra Leone, and Tony McSéan spoke on the HINARI project (and also told us of Mike and Bernie Winters' legendary p[performance in the same auditorium...at the start of the act the straight man of the two appeared and began a monologue; when the second poked his head through the curtains and grimaced at the audience, a member of the audience was heard to shout, "oh no, there's two of them".
After the break I went to a very comprehensive presentation by Ina Fourie of the Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, on current awareness services.

Technorati Tags: eastbourne, hlg, hlg2006, HLGEastbourne2006