by Health Libraries, For Health Libraries ISSUE 19 AUTUMN 2005 IN THIS ISSUE Beyond the passport scheme…… Chris Thornton 2 Spotlight on New Starters Frances Dowse 3 James Allen 3 Ileana Thompson 3 North West Mental Health Libraries Group Hannah Gray 4 Summary of the National Service Framework for NHS funded library services in England Colin Davies 4 Open Day at Bolton PCT Learning & Resource Library Or ‘Bolton PCT drum up a Thirst for Knowledge’ Lesley Hardman 6 Lancashire Libraries launch the NHS-Public Libraries Partnership Rosharnara Nair 7 Virtual Learning comes to the NW Linda Ferguson 8 Internet Librarian International 2005: Transcending Boundaries: 10th-11th October Mike Hargreaves 9 The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). “Enhancing opportunities, rewarding achievement” Shan Annis 10 First and foremost, a big “thank you” to all of you who sent in contributions in answer to my desperate, last minute plea for submissions. I recall that years ago, at the old regional health authority library, I helped an environmental health officer, who was panicking about finishing course work by the deadline. As he put it to me, “it’s not so much the eleventh hour, it’s more like five to twelve”. Well I had a five-to-twelve moment some weeks ago and your response was terrific! The result is a healthy sized issue with contributions giving a variety of perspectives on national, regional and local initiatives. Colin Davies and Shan Annis give us, respectively, summaries of the National Service Framework for NHS libraries, and CILIP Framework of Qualifications. Mike Hargreaves provides and exciting glimpse into future technological developments as discussed at the Internet Librarian International conference. At a regional level, Hannah Gray has been active in re-establishing the mental health librarians group, and Linda Ferguson has been involved in the Virtual Learning initiative. Projects involving part of the region include the Greater Manchester passport scheme, which Chris Thornton describes, and Roshanara Nair tells us about the formal launch of the NHS- Public Libraries Partnership project. Finally at a local level, Lesley Hardman gives a brief account of the Open Day at Bolton PCT, and there are short introductions by three new starters from as far a field South Manchester, Lancashire Teaching and Wirral. Kathy Turtle five to twelve five to twelve
Transcript
by Health Libraries, For Health Libraries ISSUE 19 AUTUMN 2005
IN THIS ISSUEBeyond the passportscheme…… Chris Thornton 2
Spotlight on New StartersFrances Dowse 3James Allen 3Ileana Thompson 3
North West Mental HealthLibraries GroupHannah Gray 4
Summary of the National Service Frameworkfor NHS funded library services in EnglandColin Davies 4
Open Day at Bolton PCTLearning & Resource Library Or ‘Bolton PCT drum up a Thirst for Knowledge’ Lesley Hardman 6
Internet Librarian International 2005: Transcending Boundaries: 10th-11th OctoberMike Hargreaves 9
The Chartered Institute ofLibrary and InformationProfessionals (CILIP).“Enhancing opportunities,rewarding achievement” Shan Annis 10
First and foremost, a big “thankyou” to all of you who sent in contributions in answer to my desperate, last minute plea for submissions. I recall that years ago,at the old regional health authoritylibrary, I helped an environmentalhealth officer, who was panickingabout finishing course work by thedeadline. As he put it to me, “it’s notso much the eleventh hour, it’s morelike five to twelve”. Well I had afive-to-twelve moment some weeksago and your response was terrific!
The result is a healthy sized issue withcontributions giving a variety of perspectives on national, regional andlocal initiatives. Colin Davies andShan Annis give us, respectively, summaries of the National ServiceFramework for NHS libraries, and CILIPFramework of Qualifications. MikeHargreaves provides and excitingglimpse into future technological developments as discussed at the InternetLibrarian International conference.
At a regional level, Hannah Gray hasbeen active in re-establishing the mentalhealth librarians group, and LindaFerguson has been involved in theVirtual Learning initiative.
Projects involving part of the regioninclude the Greater Manchester passportscheme, which Chris Thorntondescribes, and Roshanara Nair tellsus about the formal launch of the NHS-Public Libraries Partnership project.
Finally at a local level, LesleyHardman gives a brief account of theOpen Day at Bolton PCT, and there areshort introductions by three new startersfrom as far a field South Manchester,Lancashire Teaching and Wirral.
Kathy Turtle
five totwelve
five totwelve
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More than three years ago, healthlibrarians in Greater Manchesterbanded together to develop apassport scheme which wouldenable their users to have reference access to all healthlibraries within the GreaterManchester area. Fast forward to2005 and those same librarianshave been taking the next steps inwidening access for their users bytaking part in GMHeLP.
GMHeLP (Greater ManchesterHealth Libraries Project) has beendesigned to underpin ‘The newframework for the developmentand co-ordination of NHS libraryinformation services in the north-west’ (HCLU, 2003)
The project was launched in July2005 and is set to run for twoyears. Although focused on NHSlibraries, help and advice has beensought from higher education colleagues working within GreaterManchester.
Four working groups have beenformed to develop and deliver specific aspects of the project:policies and procedures, training,quality and a shared OPAC. Eachof the working groups reports tothe Governance group which ismanaging the project on behalf ofthe wider GM group.
Allied to the project is both theintroduction of a post to co-ordinate and develop services
to mental health staff acrossGreater Manchester and the creation of a service level agreement with GreaterManchester Ambulance Service(GMAS).
The project aims include:
Provision of full membership rights for all staff and students to any / all NHS libraries within Greater Manchester
Full access to services including loans, ILLs, enquiryand mediated searches, information skills training
Shared OPAC
Common approach to quality including agreed standards and customer charter
Common information skills programme advertised to all staff via the North West’s knowledge centre, ADITUS
Provision of new services to G rea t e r Manche s t e r Ambulance Service
Co-ordination of services to mental health.
A range of statistics has beenagreed and is being collected byparticipating libraries. These willform the basis of the project evaluation papers which theGovernance group will prepareand present to stakeholders. Thefirst of these will be due in July
2006, upon completion of Phase I. Following a low key, internal,launch within each participatingorganisation (through posters andin-house articles), there will be ahigher profile, external, launch inearly 2006. This will coincide withthe establishment of the sharedOPAC and will be advertised tosenior colleagues across GreaterManchester and marketed moreaggressively.
In conclusion, the participatinglibraries have already come a longway; our sights, however, arealready set on achievementsbeyond the scope of the currentproject. And whilst R.L. Stevensonmight consider it ‘better to travelhopefully than to arrive’, ourin ten t ion i s mos t de f in i te lythe latter!
Further information from Chris Thornton0161 276 8726 [email protected]
B E Y O N D T H E P A S S P O R T S C H E M E …
C H R I S T H O R N T O N , C H A I R , G M L I B R A R I A N S
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Spotlight on New Starters
Frances DowseAt Wirral Hospital NHS Trust we havea new Community Outreach LibraryAssistant.
Frances Dowse starts with the Trust onMonday 3rd October. She will workfor 18.5 hours per week with theCommunity Outreach Librarian (BerylStanley) and as a Library Assistantfor 7 hours on Friday at the J.A.Aitken Library, Clatterbridge with theLibrarian who works on Fridays atthat site (Victoria Kirk).
Hopefully you will get to meet Francesat the next HCLU Briefing. We arelooking forward to her starting towork with us.
James AllenHello! I’m James Allen, the newAssistant Clinical Librarian atLancashire Teaching Hospitals, basedat Royal Preston Hospital. You mayremember me from a couple of yearsago when I was the Graduate Traineeat Salford and Trafford – I wrote ahighly entertaining piece for this mag-azine, and presented a fascinatingtalk at a LIHNN/HCLU briefing…
Since then I have been studying forthe MA in Library and InformationManagement at ManchesterMetropolitan University. I have justcompleted my dissertation – by whichI mean both recently, and just beforethe deadline.My role here at Lancs TeachingHospitals is to work with the Clinical
Librarian, Debra Thornton, to developthe Clinical Librarian service. We’renow able to deal with more literaturesearch requests, and be involved inmore clinical groups within the Trust,and so our first priority is to drum upthe extra custom! In particular wehope to become more entrenched inthe process of guideline development– ie. using us at the beginning of theprocess, rather than at the end to correct the references – and to joinsome multi-disciplinary teams whichdiscuss patient cases.
My first few weeks have involvedmeeting lots of people in the Trust,remembering how to do literaturesearches, helping to conduct an evaluation of the Clinical Librarianservice, moving house, getting a catand worrying about my dissertation.
Ileana ThomsonMy name is Ileana Thomson and Ihave worked at South ManchesterUniversity Hospitals NHS Trust sinceFebruary 2005 as an ElectronicResources and Systems Librarian.
I come from Romania where, after Idid my degree English andGeography, I worked as acollege/high school English teacherfor three years until 1996 when I gotmarried (my husband is British) andmoved to the U.K.
I have worked in library and information management since 1997(Stockport, Manchester MetropolitanUniversity) and for the InformationCommissioner where I used to makeassessments of possible breaches ofthe Data Protection Act 1998 or theFreedom of Information Act. Whileworking, I did an MSc in InformationManagement and, a year ago, I alsobecame a Chartered Librarian.
With the CV out of the way, I want tosay that I enjoy my present job atWythenshawe Hospital whichinvolves activating access to e-resources, Athens administration,website and library system development and management, userand staff training, enquiry deskwork, promotion of e-resources totrust staff, current awareness service,etc. I am also a deputy to the TrustLibrary Services Manager. There arelots of new things to learn and ideasto contribute. Some of my aims are:creating a unique list of e-journals toinclude all NLH Core Content journals, Aditus journals and librarye-journals, re-organising and developing our website and e-resources and promoting them totrust staff. We are working towardsdeveloping a comprehensive usertraining programme for library usersand towards standardising the training materials in order to supportstaff with evidence based practiceand clinical governance informationresources.
I look forward to joining and contributing to a number of theLIHNN groups.
SUMMARYof the National Service Frame
North WestMental Health
LibrariesGroup
The overall aim of the group isto provide leadership and co -o rd ina t i on i n t hedevelopment of mental healthand Learning disabilitiesinformation, knowledge andpositive practice for mentalhealth service users, providersand commissioners across theNorth West.
The group’s core membership islibrarians, information specialists andknowledge managers in North Westhealth and social care services.
In our first meeting since 2003 we dis-cussed issues such as current aware-ness, user guides, resources, anexpert search service and the provision of library services to mentalhealth professionals.
Please feel free to join us at the nextmeeting if you have anything to dowith any of this!
The details of the next group meeting are:
12th December 2pm – 4pm.
Rm 215, Gateway House,Manchester
Hope to see you there
Contact me if you’d like to know moreand please have a look at our forumspace on the Aditus website for termsof reference and minutes.
The National Libraryfor Health serviceframework for NHS
funded l i b ra r y and information services inEngland defines the core areasof service that underpin therequirements of the NationalLibrary for Health StrategicPlan 2005-2008.
The framework focuses on:
■ the delivery of library and information services to support the needs and expectations of the health staff
■ the further development of partnership working between service providers at every level
■ defining national standards focussed on establishing the provision of a uniformly high quality content and service.
The framework defines seven coreareas of service with each area containing core and developmentalcomponents. The core areas of service will provide the basis fornational standards for library andinformation services. The process ofdeveloping standards will be alignedwith the Healthcare Commission‘Standards for Better Health’ and theInternational Standards for Quality inHealthcare (ISQua).
■ The Department of Health inEngland published a policy documenton standards (Standards for BetterHealth, 21st July 2004) and theNational Library for Health will adoptthis framework for library and information service standards.
■ The UK Accreditation Forum(UKAF) is leading the development ofgeneric principles and standards thatwill provide an internationally accepted basis for the assessment and convergence of the accreditationschemes.
NLH Consultation on core areas of service
Healthcare Commission Standards forBetter Health
ISQua standards for accreditation
Diagram presents the convergence national developments in standard and theNational Library for Health standards
NATIONALSTANDARDSFOR NHSLIBRARYSERVICES
Working Group
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work for NHS funded library services in EnglandSeven core areas of service
Underpinning the seven core areas ofservice are:
1. Quality – this is the foundation stone of the NLH and the national qua l i t y p rog ramme w i l l e n cou rage l i b ra r y and information service staff to adopt change and drive improvements through a shared vision.
2. Partnerships - at national and local level are also essential to provide a joined-up and seamless service. The National Library for Health will aim to achieve greater integration of NHS funded information services, bringing together the full range of library and information services.
3. Collaborative - working with other local library and information providers such as Public Library services has the potential to provide a wider service offer.
NHS organisations have a responsibility to ensure that thelibrary and information servicesdefined in the framework are in placeto support informed healthcare decision-making by health workers,patients and the public, as well as tofacilitate work based learning andcontinuing professional development.
Colin DaviesHealth Care Libraries Unit
Access to libraryand informationservices
Resources
Library and information staff
Organisationalknowledge
Public andpatients
Information skills
Information technology
The National Library for Health (NLH) is a networkedlibrary and information service for the NHS availabletwenty four hours a day, seven days a week. It bringstogether all NHS funded library and information services (local and national) to provide a single service to all who support the delivery of care to NHSpatients.
The NLH (nationally and locally) will provide highquality evidence-based resources that support thechanging needs and priorities of the NHS. The rangeof online resources will increase and both nationaland local purchasing of content must be based on anefficient procurement model that ensures value formoney.
Library and information staff are the most importantresource within the NHS library and information service. They must strive to make a full contribution tothe work of the healthcare team, and should be fullyrecognised as an integrated part of the team.
Library and information services need to focus onmobilising the knowledge base of health care in aform that health and social care staff can use, and onmanaging information to support corporate goalsand priorities.
NHS library and information service could have animportant complementary role in the delivery of information to the public. This requires effective liaison across the broad spectrum of informationproviders.
All health workers should be given the opportunity todevelop information literacy skills. Library and information services must work within their localhealth community and within local organisations todeliver a co-ordinated programme of information-handling skills training.
The National Library for Health has adopted opensystems architecture as standard. The developmentand/or procurement of local IT systems must be basedon open systems architecture and be Z39.50 and/orSOAP compliant.
“
6
On Friday 30thSeptember 2005we he ld ou r a n n u a l
Open Day aimed atnew PCT staff, andalso to raise the profile of the Serviceto other potential PCTusers.
This year we decided tocombine the event with the Macmillan - World’sLargest Coffee Morning
The e ven t was we l l publicised. Each member ofTrust staff arrived at workone morning to find aninvite on their chair!
On the day itself we welcomed 65 members ofstaff from various Trustdepartments, many of themnew faces. Each visitor was given apack to take away that included basicinformation about our joint LibraryService with the Education CentreLibrary, RBH, a bookmark developedby Library staff, Passport booklet,INFOcus Web Directory and a PublicLibraries Partnership leaflet. Each visitor was also encouraged to take a
laminated Public Libraries PartnershipPoster to put up in their place of workor staff room.
Since this event several members ofstaff have returned to join the Libraryand also to gain membership of theBolton Libraries Access Scheme.
Members of staff from thePublic Health team offered tohelp brew up so that Michaeland Lesley (Bolton PCTLibrary staff) could marketthe Library and its wealth ofresources to the visitors.
The day was well worth the hard workand effort.
A total of £130.00 wasraised towards theMacmillan CancerAppeal.
Lesley Hardman
Coffee, cake and the latest evidence - what more could staff from Bolton PCT want
”Open Day at Bolton PCT Learning &
Resource Library(Or “Bolton PCT drum up a Thirst for Knowledge”)
“
”
7
The Harris Library in Prestonwas host to dignitaries fromthe local Council and thehealth & public libraries sectors, at the launch on the10th of October, of two healthinformation schemes: theNHS-PLP partnership and theBook Prescriptions Scheme.The photograph shows yourstruly, Roshanara Nair (PLPProject Manager – seated),David Rushforth (ProgrammeManager for the BibilotherapyProjects – standing left ofgroup), County CouncillorJean Battle & Richard Jones,(Head of Adult andCommun i t y Se r v i c e sDirectorate in which theLibrary Services sit)
The Council was going to be puttingout a press release and there wasgoing to be an article in Vision, aCouncil paper which is distributedfree to all households in Lancashire.(If you live in Lancashire, you mighthave already seen this.) The Libraryhad produced a special leaflet for theoccasion and there was a display ofvarious books of interest to mentalhea l th pa t ien t s . There wererepresentatives from the local NHSTrusts and from HCLU. Sally Curry,the National Partnerships Manager,INSPIRE also attended. She has beenmost impressed with the lead the NWhas taken in forging partnershipsbetween health and other sectorlibrary services. Witness Addlib,ALLIS, and now these two projects.
She kept saying so to everyone at thegathering and you should have seenthe broad grin on Richard Jones’sface! (There was probably one onmine as well. Good job I couldn’t see it!)
Just to give a brief update on the partnership project which I am managing. As you all probablyknow, the project has been funded byCumbria & Lancashire (C&L) SHAand has been running now for over ayear. It officially comes to an end inMay 2006. The main objective is toturn the public libraries into accesspoints for the electronic informationresources which are available forNHS /SC staff, while at the sametime, improving the skills and knowledge of the PL staff to enablethem to give quality health information to patients and carers aswell. To this end, training has beenprovided by thel o ca l NHSLibrarians to thepublic librarystaff, to raise theirawareness of thehealth informationresources andalso of the services that theNHS librariesoffer. Workingrelationships havebeen establishedbetween the twog roup s o f librarians in thearea and theanticipation is that
these relationships will endurebeyond the life of the project.Funding has been provided for thepurchase of recommended bookstock(for NHS / SC staff), to be housed inthe public libraries, and to facilitatethis, a list of recommended titles wasdrawn up by the librarians in C&L.
As part of the official remit, the project has been implemented inLancashire, Cumbria, Blackburn &Blackpool Public Library Services.However, right at the beginning of theproject, we at HCLU decided not torestrict the project to C&L and also toinclude social services wherever possible, although we couldn’t provide any funding for non-C&Lareas from the project budget. In theend Colin Davies provided somefunding from the Jericho project forthe Greater Manchester (GM) areaswhich implemented it. continued...
Lancashire Libraries launch the NHS-Public Libraries
Partnership
Roshanara Nair (seated) with, left to right, David Rushforth,Jean Battle and Richard Jones
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The three Northwest Strategic HealthAu tho r i t i e s ( Cumbr ia andLancashire, Greater Manchester andCheshire and Merseyside) have procured a Virtual LearningEnvironment (VLE) with an integratedLearner Management System (LMS)from a company called Teknical foruse by all NHS staff in the NW.
The NW Health Care Libraries Unit isproviding project support for the VLEImplementation Team. RoshanaraNair is acting as VLE Project Officerand Linda Ferguson as VLE ProjectCo-ordinator.
The VLE consists of a managed service delivered using the Internet sothere will be no need for major ITi n s t a l l a t i on s w i t h i n NHSorganisations. Learners will be able toaccess the VLE from any setting andat any time. The VLE will enable delivery of e-learning programmes aswell as providing full tracking andreporting of how the programmesand resources are used by learnersand organisations. In addition, theVLE should be able to support the distribution of national e-learningdevelopments such as the formerNHSU products.
The VLE Implementation Team is currently writing to Trust Training andDevelopment Leads (copied toDirectors of HR), to invite expressionsof interest from Trusts who would liketo be early implementers. The deadline for applications is Friday11th November 2005. The VLE willbe available for early implementersites from February 2006 and in this
initial phase, we hope to be able tooffer the following packages:
In addition, work is currently underway to enable access to the following statutory/mandatory training courses:
■ Health & Safety■ Fire Awareness■ Manual Handling
Don’t be surprised if either Roshanaraor I contact you for your help withsuch things as contact details for Truststaff! We will keep you updated onfurther developments.
Linda FergusonNW Health Care Libraries Unit
cont....
P u b l i cl i b r a r y
authorities in Merseyside that havecome into the network have boughtthe books from their own resourcesbecause they decided they shouldhave those titles anyway. So far thepartnership has been established inOldham, Stockport, Bolton, Wigan,Bury, and Knowsley, i.e. training hasalready been delivered in theseareas. Sefton, Wirral, Halton &Warrington will start the training programme sometime soon, hopefullybefore Christmas. Manchester Citylibraries & Tameside need to waituntil next financial year - for variousreasons, including other training commitments.
The response from the public librarieshas been very positive and enthusiastic, and the NHS trainershave been very pleased with theresponse to the training they haveprovided. We have had a specialleaflet and a poster done for the partnership which most of you I hopewill have seen by now.
It is very much a case of “So far, sogood!” A formal evaluation is beingplanned for late spring next year andI am confident that when we have theresults of the evaluation, we will beable to bring on board those fewauthorities which are currently standing on the sidelines!
So watch this space!
Roshanara NairProject ManagerHCLU
Virtual Learningcomes to the North West
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Internet Librarian International 2005:Transcending Boundaries: 10th-11th OctoberAf ter spending e ight and aha l f hou r s t r ave l l i ng t oLondon on the Sunday, on at ra i n t ha t r an ou t o f t easomewhere to the nor th o fC rewe , I was s ca r ce l yencouraged , on a r r i va l , t of i nd t ha t t he pubs i nKens i ng ton now cha rge£2.69 for a p in t o f b i t te r.Ven tu r i ng i n t o t he d i n i ngroom the fo l lowing morn ing Imet wi th the t rag ic reve la t ionthat breakfas t was to be o fthe cont inenta l var ie ty, and Ibegan to harbour some ver yb l eak t hough t s abou t myat tendance a t the conference .
I needn’t have worried though, becausewhat was to come over the following twodays would prove to be a breath of freshair. With few exceptions, every presentation I attended at the conferenceproved to be thought-provoking, entertaining, professionally engaging,and pretty much as current as one mighthope to expect.
After a brief welcoming speech the delegates were treated to a presentationby Ronald Milne on the Bodleian Library’sGoogle digitisation project. He had somevery positive things to say about partnership projects generally, and specifically about the technological andfinancial benefits ofworking with Google,although he fielded anumber of questionsfrom the floor fromde lega tes c lear ly s u sp i c i ou s o fGoogle’s motives.
That was followed bya t h r ee - handed presentation whichreally set the tone forthe whole conference.Two ene rge t i cAmericans (Aaron
Schmidt and Michael Stephens) introduced us to the basics of blogs andwikis, and Brian Kelly from UKOLN delivered an enthusiastic assessment ofpod-casting and instant messaging (IM).All three proved to be highly engagingand had lots to say that was new to themajority of the delegates in attendance.
Two case studies followed, with MayChang and Christopher Ham describingsome of the options available whenchoosing Open Source blogging software, and Rachel Bridgewater andAnne-Marie Deiterling giving a candidlyfrank account of the ups and downs oflaunching a wiki. These were especiallyuseful presentations in that they providedan insight in to working with these tools ineveryday situations.
The second day set off at the same blistering pace with a colourful assessment of Google’s evil empire fromStephen E Arnold. He was concernedabout the way Google ranks its searchresults, noting that search engine resultsare diverging, and he worried aboutGoogle’s recent forays into non-searchengine territory. Generally he felt that theinformation community would be well-advised to be less credulous andtrusting where Google was concerned. Aninteresting counterpoint to the openingsession of the previous day, the presentation was interrupted by a genuinefire-alarm, but the audience was so transfixed by Arnold that nobody moved!Standing around outside, waiting for thefiremen to discover an inadvertent cigar-smoking guest, the joke circulatingamongst the delegates was that they’d
probably find the Google ownersinside with a lighter and kindling.
The rest of the morning was given overto presentations on European
continued...
l-r, Michael Stephens, Brian Kelly and AaronSchmidt, speakers at the conference
10
cont...collaborative initiatives, including aninteresting description of a private sectorpartnership from Denmark, partnershipsin the public library sector from Denmarkand Germany, and an overview of theEuropean Library project. The afternoonfeatured an extremely interesting presentation by Martin Hayes from WestSussex County Library Service, andRobert Bull from DS Ltd (UK), whodescribed a project that aimed to bringtogether a diverse range of local studiesda taba se s wh i ch had e vo l v edindependently over a number of years. DSLtd had designed a suite of software thatallowed nine different databases to besearched simultaneously using a singlesearch interface.
In all, this proved to be an extremely useful conference to attend, particularlyfrom the perspective of NHS / HE partnerships. Knowledgeable and intelligent presentation, early introductionto state-of-the-art technologies and applications, valuable case studies frompractitioners in the field, ……. and as ifall that wasn’t enough, a series of cateringcalamities meant that all the conferencedelegates were upgraded to a full Englishbreakfast on the second morning!
Food for thought, you might say.
I’ve attached a short list of web addresses,referencing sites that are hopefully inkeeping with the spirit of the conference.The conference’s home page has a link toa conference wiki where various slide-shows and papers have recentlybeen posted.
As the Registration Liaison Officer1 for theNorth West I feel obliged to share withNW colleagues the exciting news thatCILIP have changed the regulations forChartership and have actually brokendown some of the elitism surroundingchartered status. From April 2005 joiningChartership (MCLIP) and Fellowship(FCLIP) will be Certification (ACLIP) andvoluntary Revalidation of the Chartershipand Fellowship. CILIP have also introduceda Mentor Scheme. More of that later.
Most of you will be familiar with the termsChartership and Fellowship and I knowmany of you are already chartered orworking towards chartership. I also knowthose of you who have, as yet, deferredaspiring to this ‘gold standard’ for libraryand information professionals… and youknow I know who you are!
A note of reassurance for those of youworking towards Chartership under the2002 regulations. You have until 2008 tosubmit your portfolio of evidence. Anyoneregistering after April 2005 must followthe new regulations
The main changes brought about by thisnew framework are Certification,Revalidation and the Mentor Scheme, so Ishall explain briefly what these are.
CertificationAccording to CILIP, Certification “is arecognition of the contribution made inlibrary and information work by para-professionals.”2 Wow! Good news I say.This means that as from April 2005 libraryassistants and library staff without alibrary and information related degree canobtain Certification and, after two moreyears (full-time equivalent) experienceworking in a library or information rolethey can register for chartered status. Inmy opinion, a breakthrough for libraryand information staff everywhere.
How to obtain CertificationTo apply for Certification you will need tobe an Affiliated Member of CILIP.
You will either:have been working in library and information work for five years or more(full-timeequivalent) [Category 1 applicants]orhave been working in library and information work for two years (full-timeequivalent) and have participated in work-based training or other staff development[Category 2 applicants]
Guidance on how to apply for Certificationcan be found on CILIP’s website
You will need to refer to this guidance forfurther information, the registration formsand supporting documents but, briefly, youwill need to submit the following:
Category 1 candidates:■ an application form■ your Curriculum Vitae (CV)■ a personal statement demonstrating experience and/or experiential learning■ a Personal Development Plan (PDP)■ a supporting letter, which should evidence achievement and indicate potential for future development whereappropriate.■ you may also include copies of relevant certificates or equivalents
Category 2 candidates:■ an application form■ your Curriculum Vitae (CV)■ a personal statement reflecting the outcomes of your learning■ a Personal Development Plan (PDP)■ copies of certificates or equivalents■ a supporting letter which should evidence achievement and indicate potential for future development whereappropriate
Copies of all the documentation are on thewebsite including anonymised examples of a Personal Development Plan and aPersonal Statement to help you.
The Chartered Institute of Library
“Enhancing opportu
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The Mentor SchemeA mentor is an “experienced and trustedadviser or guide” Oxford EnglishDictionary.
Mentors will now replace the role of supervisors. The mentor is an essential rolein CILIP’s framework of qualifications. Theyare not expected to run training events orinstruct the candidates but to help themrealize their own potential through encouragement and direction. This is thekey purpose of the Mentor Scheme: tosupport individual CILIP members throughthe Framework of Qualifications processes.The key outcome for all mentoring partnerships within the scheme will be thesuccessful completion of a CILIP qualification.
Mentoring is a compulsory requirement forall Chartership candidates. It is also available to applicants for Certification,Revalidation and Fellowship.
A list of mentors for candidates to choosefrom is on the CILIP website along with further guidance for both candidates andmentors. There is also advice on how tobecome a mentor. Our own LindaFerguson is the mentor’s support contact.http://www.cilip.org.uk/qualification-schartership/FrameworkofQualifications/mentor
Revalidation At the moment Revalidation is voluntarybut I suspect it will soon become compulsory so all you Chartered membersout there – beware!
In the words of the CILIP RevalidationHandbook, the Revalidation Scheme“offers CILIP Members formal recognitionthat they are maintaining and furtherdeveloping their professional knowledgeand expertise.” 3 Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment (CPD) underpins theRevalidation Scheme. The handbook goeson to say: “The primary responsibility forCPD and the revalidation process lies withthe individual. Each Chartered Memberwill present evidence of their CPD; it is notexpected that members will have to take onextra work or undertake further studywhich is not already required within their
work situation or personal developmentplan. Revalidation is voluntary and applicants should apply for revalidationafter a minimum of three years (or full-timeequivalent) of professional experience as aChartered Member, and after each subsequent three-year period.
Participants in the Revalidation Schemewill receive a statement of participation atthe end of each year within the three-yearcycle. On successful completion of thethree-year revalidation period you willreceive a Certificate of Revalidation.” 3
The Scheme is seen to have three majorbenefits:
■ individuals are able to demonstratetheir commitment to improving andenhancing their knowledge and skills toboth current and future employers
■ employers will benefit by having aworkforce which demonstrates explicitly itscommitment to continuous improvementand which thereby brings dividends inincreased effectiveness and efficiency atwork
■ the information profession as a wholedemonstrates its commitment to continuousprofessional development, raising the status of the professional body to one,which views its validation as a currentdynamic activity, not one rooted in history.
It may seem like a real chore to undergorevalidation every three years, but I thinkit’s a real opportunity to enhance ourmuch-beleaguered profession and ourselves.
ConclusionsOverall, I think the new Framework ofQualifications is a positive move by CILIP.
Certification opens up the possibility ofobtaining chartered status to a much widerrange of library and information staff.There are benefits to becoming Chartered,not least when applying for jobs with better pay and prospects and not to mention the demands of Agenda forChange and the KSF 4
Revalidation gives us the chance to demonstrate our continuing commitment toprofessional development and is a step onthe way to Fellowship for those of us whowish to pursue that path.
The Mentor Scheme provides support andguidance to candidates undertaking CILIPqualifications and also gives those of uswho wish to give others the benefit of ourexperience the chance to become aMentor.
My closing comment is “And about timetoo!!” It’s about time that all library staffincluding ‘para-professionals’ have a faircrack at taking control of their continuingprofessional development.
References
1 Registration Liaison OfficerEach CILIP Division appoints a RegistrationLiaison Officer who is responsible for providing advice and support, in total confidence, for those working towardschartered membership status. The RLO alsoorganises local courses on professionaldevelopment.
2 Certification handbook.Last updated: 25 February 2005http://www.cilip.org.uk/qualification-schartership/FrameworkofQualifications/certification
3 Revalidation handbook.Last updated: 25 February 2005http://www.cilip.org.uk/qualification-schartership/FrameworkofQualifications/revalidation
4 KSF. Knowledge and SkillsFramework. Can be downloaded from the Departmentof Health websitehttp://www.dh.gov.uk
Shan AnnisAssistant Director CPD. NW Health Care Libraries UnitRegistration Liaison Officer. CILIP North West.
and Information Professionals (CILIP)
nities, rewarding achievement”
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LIBRARY AND INFORMATION HEALTH NETWORK NORTHWESTNEWSLETTER
EDITORIAL BOARD
Kathy Turtle (Chair)Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
