I'm your Music and Academic Services Librarian - and I'm a chartered librarian. That means I'm a member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
So, apart from my music qualifications, I also have a postgraduate librarianship diploma, and the postnominals denoting my membership of CILIP. Most chartered librarians use the initials, MCLIP - Member of the Chartered [Institute] of Library and Information Professionals.
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| FCLIP, proudly elected |
After doing my PhD, I decided to go for bust and apply to be elected a Fellow of CILIP - so now I'm FCLIP.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, before CILIP was CILIP, it was the Library Association. It sounded a bit old-fashioned, but people knew who we were and what we did. CILIP is now having a consultation to see how they could improve our professional association's name again. Do I want to be an Information Pro? Not really. Or a member of the Information People? Give me strength! The first sounds like Pro Plus in the stacks, and the second more like KwikFit or the worshippers of a book-loving deity than a professional organisation.
I mean, there's the Law Society. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. The General Teaching Council for Scotland. And the General Medical Council. They all have a certain 'gravitas', as befits a profession in which you've worked hard to gain recognition.
I completed CILIP's survey earlier today. I couldn't come up with a suggestion for a new name, off the top of my head, with a cursor flashing in front of me.
But how about The Association of Chartered Information Professionals? Or, The Information Society?
Because I really don't want to be a Fellow of the Information People, or a Fellow Information Pro, thank you very much! Watch this space ...
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