Implementation Newsletter

Newsletter of The LA/IIS Implementation Working Group

Issue No 5
February  2001

• This is the fifth issue of the Newsletter designed to keep members informed of progress towards unification. The content of this and previous issues is available on the website of each organisation.
  [www.la-hq.org.uk] [www.iis.org.uk]
• This issue covers the meetings of the Implementation Working Group (IWG) held on 31 October 2000, 12 December 2000 and 17 January 2001. It also covers the results of the survey (on the vision and the name of the new organisation) which was included with the fourth issue of the Newsletter.
• CONSTITUTION
  The Constitution Working Party has produced a draft Charter and Byelaws for the new organisation which was submitted in December for consideration by the Privy Council and the Charity Commission. LA Council on 11 January considered a report which outlined the main components of the revised Charter and Byelaws and agreed (in principle and subject to consideration of the full text) to seek to adopt the revised Charter and Byelaws at the Association's AGM on 25 October. The next step for the LA will be consideration of the full text of the proposed Charter and Byelaws at the next Council meeting on 4 July. The Chair of IIS Council has circulated a letter to members of the IIS on the work of the Constitution Working Party and IIS Council on 18 January agreed to consider a draft Charter and Byelaws at its next meeting on 29 March.
• VISION AND NAME
  Responses to the survey included in the fourth issue of the Newsletter have been independently analysed and reported to both Councils. The vision statement has received a measure of approval which - in the view of IWG - is sufficient to take both organisations through the unification process. The new organisation can, of course, choose to review the text of its vision statement once it comes into being post-unification. On the name of the new organisation, the poll was topped by "the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals" with a number of other names getting some measure of support. A short list of five names as follows:
  • the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
  • the Library and Information Society
  • the Library and Information Association
  • the Chartered Institute of Information Professionals
  • the Society of Information Professionals
  has been submitted to the Privy Council for their comments. In order to be acceptable, each element in the eventual name has to be capable of a clear written legal definition. The IWG will consider the issue of the name again once comments have been received from the Privy Council.
  The full report on the results of the survey is now available on both the LA and IIS websites.
• QUALIFICATIONS
  The fourth issue of the Newsletter outlined the initial thinking on the framework of qualifications for the new organisation. The IWG has now agreed that, as part of the process of developing this framework, research should be commissioned into the skills and competencies required in the changing employment marketplace. This research activity is currently being scoped and costed. There will be more detail on this important matter in the next issue of the Newsletter.
• COUNCIL AND COMMITTEES
  The composition of the Council of the new organisation has been outlined in previous issues of the Newsletter and will be included in the proposed Byelaws. The IWG has now turned its attention to the structure of the Committees which will report to the Council. A small Working Group on Committees is being set up to look at this issue and report back to the IWG. There will be further information on this in a future issue of the Newsletter.
• REGIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
  The IWG has agreed to recommend that regional Branches of the new organisation (in England) should be coterminous with Regional Development Agencies. However it is important to note that there will be no requirement on Special Interest Groups to follow this geographic structure. All SIGs will, as at present, be able to determine their own geographic sub-structures.
• SHADOW BOARD
  Once both organisations have taken the necessary formal steps to confirm unification and adopt the proposed Charter and Byelaws, a "shadow" Executive Board will be established to deal with any matters arising in the run-up to Vesting Day on 1 April 2002. A key task for the shadow body will be to conduct the election which will be required, in order to put in place the Council and the Honorary Officers of the new organisation with effect from 1 April 2002.
• DIALOGUE
  As the dialogue on unification develops, individual members may wish to put their views. Each meeting of the IWG has a standing item when comments from members are considered. In addition a discussion list has been set up on : http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/lis-unify.html

If you have any comments please use the discussion list or send them to:

Survey Report

Introduction

lis-unify discussion list

Implementation Newsletter

• Issue 1
• Issue 2
• Issue 3
• Issue 4
• Issue 6

The Vision and The Name:
The Results of Membership Surveys

Revised proposals for a new organisation for the library and information profession