The Vision and The Name
The Results of Membership Surveys

4  Comments on the Vision

4.1 Introduction

Question 2 asked respondents:

“Have you any comments on the wording of the Vision itself eg are there other areas which you would like to see included?”

Around 500 respondents took the opportunity to add some comments on their questionnaires. Some sent detailed letters and a number also enclosed their amended and annotated versions of the original statement in the Implementation Newsletter.  Of these, about 100 just made comments about the name, but 400 also made comments about the Vision.

Positive Responses

The question invites extension of the Vision, so it may be the case that those not writing a comment at Question 2 were basically happy with the Vision.  In fact a small number of respondents (23) used the space to compliment the IWG on their work:

“Excellent - hits the nail on the head.” [LA]

“It seems to cover the area pretty well.” [LA]

“I think it covers the full range of our activities.” [IIS]

“I believe The Vision is comprehensive and very clear and I can’t think of any more to add.” [LA]

The Rest

But the vast majority who added their comments were critical of some aspect or other of the statements or wanted to add something more to the Vision itself or to wider debate.

To start with there are people who don’t like the very terms Vision and Mission and there are comments relating to almost every sentence and bullet point in the statement.  Some of the comments mostly relate to the content of the statement and others to the way in which it is written.  To simplify matters, we have separated these comments into two main categories - those relating to the content of the Vision and those relating to aspects of style.  A complete listing of the comments made regarding the content are included as an appendix to this report.

4.2 CONTENT

A Matter of Emphasis

At the heart of the debate are many of the same issues that surround the name of the new organisation - the role of the librarian/information professional and the aim and scope of their activity.  A number of respondents are concerned that the document has too much of an ‘information’ bias:

“It stresses the word ‘information’ too much, and that apparently now taboo word ‘library’ too little.”

“The word books seems to have been omitted.”

“My principal concern is that the basic definition is in terms of ‘information’… The Vision mentions ‘librarians’ once and ‘print’ not at all; but print culture is still at the heart of much that many of our members do… so please include ‘published information’ in the definition somewhere.”

But for others it is more than a question of referring to books or published information, it is about a much a wider range of issues that are of concern to librarians, especially those in the public sector:

“It deals with the information role of the librarian but rejects the social role (& the Government’s agenda) completely.  The balance should be addressed.”

“I don’t see a place in this vision for community librarians, children’s librarians, reading promotion and literacy campaigns, and the work of many other librarians working directly with the public.  Where are the elements that make the public library movement such an important part of community life in this vision?”

“It does not cover access to & encouragement to enjoy works of imagination - the world of self-learning is not emphasized.  It is too information biased.”

The terms ‘social inclusion’ was also mentioned in several responses:

“More to be included on the ‘social inclusion’ role of libraries - particularly public libraries.”

“Insufficient emphasis on social and economic role of the library in the new information society - no mention of ‘social inclusion’.”

“Social Inclusion, Lifelong Learning, Reading as a social activity, something about information mapping or routes to information. Development of reading, Literacy/numeracy support.”

And some want the Mission statement to include a specific commitment regarding ‘free’ access:

“Stress free of charge access to information for the ordinary citizen.”

These egalitarian concerns extend to the structure of the document itself:

“Principle of equality should be explicitly stated in opening paragraph as well as forming part of Mission.”

And also to a commitment to international equality of access to information:

“Nowhere is mentioned co-operation with international organisations such as IFLA, FID, UNESCO to ensure fair distribution of information resources around the world.”

Part of the concern is that the Vision and Mission must not just describe the role of the organisation, but must also appeal to people working as library/information professionals in a wide range of contexts:

“Children, those with learning difficulties, prisoners, the hospitalized and the elderly may well need information, but they need so much more.  Will those who specialise in such work feel easy and at home with this Vision?  Or extremely marginalised?”

And some people want a more specific acknowledgement of the fact that the profession does not just consist of public librarians:

“Mention of the fact that members of this organisation work in all kinds of organisations - to dispel the myth that it’s just public librarians.”

“More emphasis on the wide variety of work carried out under the umbrella of ‘libraries’ e.g. schools, music/media etc.”

Others are concerned to mention links with other professional groups, including museums and art galleries and archives and public records.

Issues of Status

When it comes to elements that are not covered by the Vision and Mission statement, there are several recurrent strands.  The first concerns the professional status of the profession:

“Maintenance of professional standards, maintenance of ethical standards…”

“The promotion and encouragement of ‘best practice’ (legal & ethical issues) of and by members.”[IIS]

“There is no reference to Code of Professional Conduct or Ethics.”

For several respondents, professional status is inextricably bound up in issues of pay:

“There is still far too little emphasis on the status, hence the credibility, hence the remuneration of librarians.”

“There should be a definite commitment to protecting salaries - which impacts on quality of service.”

“Safeguarding minimum salary for chartered members.”

“To inform, to promote, to reach out, to unit its members.”

And there is also a view that the statement should include the organisation’s links with other similar bodies in the UK and overseas:

“Liaison with other existing information organisations eg Society of Indexers, Aslib, also international liaison.”

A different concern is that the organisation should also make explicit its own internal commitments:

“Please include a statement showing that the society does not encourage ageism and/or roleism.”

4.3 STYLE

A large number of members feel that the statement is too long and too verbose:

“Too long-winded.”

“Needs to be shorter, less wordy, and more concisely to the point.”

"My overall feeling is that the vision is too wordy and looks like it has been designed by a committee to keep all interested parties happy."

"We felt that the Vision met the aims as stated quite well.  However, as one of the stated aims of The Vision is to be exciting and attractive, it could have been less wordy, and punchier."

Some specifically mention a lack of Plain English and too much jargon:

“The Campaign for Plain English may have a few words to say about The Vision!  It is jargon-laden and manages to say very little in a lot of words.”

“More Plain English, less ‘management speak’.”

But beyond objections to the overall style, there are also concerns about individual words that are used in the document, in particular, commanders of formal and informal knowledge, e-navigators and the reference to the Millennium at the end of the Vision.

“Having read it several times there are parts of it I do not understand.  To give some examples - What is a commander of formal and informal knowledge?  Indeed what is informal knowledge?  What does the first bullet point mean?  This suggest an archival role though I suspect that is not intended.  I struggle too with the meaning of the second bullet point.  The draft as a whole attempts to pack too much into a single sentence and loses the main point in so doing.”

“Some wording seems odd - e.g. ‘filter’ - what does it mean - select?…What does ‘safeguard’ mean - physically protect or conserve? …I had to read it three times to grasp it…”

"The use of the trendy term 'e-navigators' is perhaps a mistake in that its currency may be short-lived and it may be meaningless or unknown to many members.  There are also considerable negative connotations linked with the word 'filter' in the fourth paragraph."

Sometimes the objection is not that a word is ambiguous, but that it is inappropriate, notably the term commodity:

“I am not happy with information being described as a commodity.  It is an economic resource, but not a commodity as most intellectual property law recognises.”

Another concern for several members was the reference to the Millennium at the end of the Vision.  People felt that this would quickly look old-fashioned:

“Drop ‘for the new Millennium’ from the last para - it will soon date if it has not already.”

In terms of the overall changes that are suggested they range from cutting out the odd word to cutting out whole paragraphs and in the most extreme case removing all but the last paragraph:

“First of all the vision is FAR TOO LONG!  While the first three paragraphs provide useful background and scene setting, they are too detailed in my view for a vision statement.  I would cut out the first three paragraphs and merely include the last paragraph “The Library and Information Society aims…for the new millennium.”

Another member who thought the statement too long suggested a model which the authors could follow:

“Mission Statement especially should be brief - see Basic Skills Agency (www.basic-skills.co.uk).”

4.4 OTHER MERGER ISSUES

The LA Information Services Groups (South East Section) wrote expressing concern about tying in the new organization’s branches with the Regional Development Agency areas, because the ISG (SE) currently covers the Home Counties which is part of three RDA’s - Greater London, Eastern England and South East England.  A suggested solution is to combine London with the South East to cover two RDA areas.

“City Information Group “Agree with UKOLUG that the wording lacks impact and therefore is not inspiring, particularly to anyone not already committed to the information profession.  It would not, therefore, in our view appeal to employers and help justify payment of membership.  Note: Much of the wording comes from the LA’s Corporate Plan.”

Appendix A. Individual Comments