I recently completed a CILIP consultation survey on the value of a Body of Professional Knowledge (BPK). The consultation is one stage of CILIP's Future Skills project - a project which will "review CILIP's qualifications and ensure every member gets the recognition they deserve from their employers and society for a unique suite of highly valuable, relevant and endurable skills." (CILIP, 2012) The existing BPK came out in 2004, just after I had begun the second year of my BA library degree. One of our tutors was involved in its creation so it was discussed in a lecture (and I think we may even have had a small assignment on it). Its aim has been to establish "the unique knowledge which distinguishes library and information professional from other professional within other domains" (CILIP, 2004). For anyone who hasn't seen it you can view a copy here.
When I first saw it in 2004 I found it very hard to understand. Visually I found it hard to relate the description with the diagram of the core schema because of the way they had chosen to emphasise certain words. Some were in italics, some were in bold and there is no clear connection between how these are chosen and the key words/phrases from the diagram. Having studied it since during my chartership, and again now, I find it easier to comprehend. However, when the first question of the consultation survey asked "What does the current BPK mean to you?" I'm afraid I ticked "hard to understand". As a general overview of the areas involved within the profession it's not bad, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone new who wanted to see at a glance what knowledge and skill-set is required.
The second question in the survey asks "What are you looking for from CILIP BPK?" The existing BPK identifies the following areas of knowledge:
- information organisation, e.g. classification schemes, taxonomies and subject indexing
- information dissemination through publishing
- information generation controlled by information need and user behaviour and facilitated by operations such as metadata, hyperlinks, abstracts, tags, etc.
- information resource management including acquisition, cataloguing, storage and disposal
- information service provision including information retrieval and portal/website design
- profession-related policies, laws, codes of practice, etc.
- generic/transferable skills of computer and information literacy, research, interpersonal skills, marketing, management, training and mentoring
It is time for the BPK to be updated - there are new skill-sets relating to information technologies, digital literacy and web2.0 that have since developed and the main areas outlined above can be teased out more. I think the BPK needs to be multi-purpose. It should outline the key areas but then be more specific so that individuals, organisations and employers can use it as a basis for the specific skill-set a professional requires. That way it can then be accessible and useful to those within the profession and be used as an advocacy tool to promote what we do.
I cannot claim to have any experience of organising events or presenting at them. My role now is very practical-based so I'm even struggling to come up with a topic that I could speak on. I have, however, attended a variety of different events. These include:
Roadshows and showcases: British Library Document Supply Service Roadshow promoting their new service development and ordering interface; Heritage Open Day promoting new developments and features in the Library Management System; RSC London eLearning Schowcase promoting the innovative work of organisations in the field of e-learning; London Dawsons Day.
Meetings: Heritage User Group meeting; CoFHE LASEC (Colleges of Further & Higher Education London And South East Circle) meetings; Kingston University Partnerships Day.
Training events: Copyright for beginners run by CILIP; Teaching information literacy in HE run by CILIP; Upskilling frontline staff run by NIACE; Dealing with distressed/angry people run by Kingston University.
I would like to have attended CILIPs' eBooks Executive Briefing. There are a couple of speakers from Colleges and would have been interesting to hear how they have been promoting and using e-books. Unfortunately, we do not have the budget for someone to attend. Therefore, I am relying on a write-up or materials being available after the event. I think that in a time where many people are finding that they can no longer afford to send staff to events it is vital that materials are made available online afterwards so that those unable to attend can at least have access on some level to the discussions that took place or services that were showcased.
On a local level every day at work involves some form of advocacy, whether it's interacting with students and promoting the benefits of using the resources available to them, or whether it's compiling promotional material or reports to show the rest of the College the importance of the LRC and our impact on the College's success. It's also interesting to see that the International Baccalaureate programs advocate information skills and the presence of libraries in educational establishments. It is vitally important that the important role of information professionals is out there but out there in a way that makes us relevant to the people we're advocating to! When we deliver a induction to students on using LRC eResources, before we give any demos, we cover "What's in it for me?". Services and professionals need to directly show how and why their impact is relevant.
