…to the first issue of CILIP Preview.  This succeeds the former Implementation Newsletter (the last issue of which was No. 6, July 2001) but has the same objective – keeping members informed of progress towards unification.  CILIP Preview , and the backfile of issues of Implementation Newsletter, are also available on the two existing websites – www.la-hq.org.uk and www.iis.org.uk.

Vesting Day

We are making steady progress towards CILIP’s scheduled 1 April Vesting Day.  This is actually Easter Monday and the first meeting of CILIP Council has therefore been arranged for Wednesday, 3 April.  In the meantime there is a lot to do to put into effect the initial structure of governance for CILIP.

As you will know, the name of the new organisation and its Charter and Byelaws were approved by the IIS EGM on 19 July and the LA AGM on 25 October.  They were then put formally to the Privy Council and were approved at its meeting in December.  Three further elements of the governance structure now need to be put in place: a set of Regulations for the conduct of CILIP business (drawn largely from the existing practice of either the IIS or the LA) is being considered by the Councils of the two existing bodies during January; elections for CILIP Council and for Branch Committees are in progress with nominations invited and ballots, where needed; and the initial structure of Committees, Boards and Panels to support the work of CILIP Council is currently under consideration by the newly established CILIP Shadow Executive Board (which will take into account comments received on the note on ‘Modernising governance of the new organisation’ which was included in the last issue of the Implementation Newsletter).

Standing for CILIP

Following the nominations process, we know that all places on CILIP Council will be filled; and some places will be contested.  Over 60 Members have put their names forward to serve on the Council – an encouraging indication that people want to get involved in building our new professional body at national level.

Three Honorary Officers are elected by the membership at large.  For two of these positions the  nomination is uncontested and so Sheila Corrall (University of Southampton) will be CILIP’s first President and Keith Webster (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) will be CILIP’s Honorary Treasurer.  There will be an election for President-Elect between Margaret Watson (University of Northumbria) and Jonathan Willson (Manchester Metropolitan University).

There are three other Honorary Officers.  Two – the Chair of Council and the Chair of the Executive Board – will be elected from and by Council Members.  The other post, of Past President, is ex-officio and for 2002-2003 there will be two Past Presidents, Peter Enser (as IIS Past President) and Bernard Naylor (as LA Past President).

There are 12 places on CILIP Council for National Councillors – and more than 12 nominations have been received, spread fairly evenly across the academic, public, and special/workplace library and information sectors.  Ballot papers for the National Councillors, and for the President-Elect, will be issued to all Members entitled to vote – along with manifestos from all the candidates. 

There is a Branch Councillor on CILIP Council for each of the twelve Branches.  We have one uncontested nomination for most of these, although there will be a contested election in the London and Home Counties Branch where two candidates have come forward.

Each of the 24 CILIP Groups has a Councillor and, again, we have one uncontested nomination in most cases.  However there are two candidates for CoFHE (the Colleges of Further and Higher Education Group) and so there will be a contested election for this seat on Council.  Ballot papers and manifestos will be issued to those Branch and/or Group Members where there is to be an election.

The Affiliated Members have two seats on Council.  We have received two nominations so no election is required.

So CILIP will begin, as it should do, with some degree of democratic participation.  To Members, the message is clear: where you have a vote (for President-Elect and up to twelve National Councillors and/or for your Branch or Group Councillor) make sure you use it! Ballot papers will be issued by the end of January and votes counted on 25 February.  The full composition of CILIP Council will be issued after that date.

Membership renewals

Membership renewal for LA members and for joint LA and IIS members is being handled through the LA.  Membership renewal for those IIS members not in membership of the LA is being handled through the IIS.  The membership databases have been merged (to enable the CILIP elections to take place) and all members should know by now which geographic Branch of CILIP they belong to.  We are using the LA structure of Branches as an interim arrangement until we move to the new CILIP structure of Branches, which in England will be coterminous with Regional Development Agency areas.  CILIP in Scotland and CILIP Wales will be based on national boundaries and we are still in discussion with various interests over how best to serve the interests of CILIP members in Ireland.

Members are allocated to Branches on the basis of their correspondence address.  The situation with Special Interest Groups is more complex because members choose which Groups to join.  We now know that the initial portfolio of CILIP Groups will consist of the existing LA Groups and two of the existing IIS SIGs – UKOLUG and the Patents and Trademarks Group (PATMG).  We intend to ensure that all CILIP members have the opportunity, as soon as possible, to choose from this full list of CILIP Groups.

As part of the ‘launch’ of CILIP, a Member’s Pack is being produced outlining CILIP’s structures and services.  This will be sent to all members in March.

Corporate planning

Every organisation needs to know where it’s going and CILIP is no exception.  The Shadow Executive Board will be starting this process with an ‘awayday’ in early February, the aim being to develop a strategic framework for CILIP activities in the three year period from April 2002 to March 2005 – the so-called ‘transitional period’ when the main elements of CILIP (new Branch arrangements, new framework of qualifications, new Code of Conduct and Ethics etc) will be put in place.  All members of CILIP will have the opportunity to contribute to this process of corporate planning as it evolves.

CILIP branding and corporate identity

You will have seen the logo for CILIP at the head of this CILIP Preview.  The logo is based on two classic typefaces (by Gill and Baskerville) slightly adapted for style reasons.  Style guidelines have been issued to Branches and Groups to assist their forward planning.  Variants are being designed for CILIP in Scotland (the new name for the Scottish Library Association) and CILIP Wales.  If you need further information about the corporate identity or a copy of the style guidelines please get in touch with Tim Owen (tim.owen@la-hq.org.uk) or with Mary Shearer (iis@dial.pipex.com).

Finally, a note on pronouncing CILIP and referring to it in text.  'CILIP' is pronounced with a soft 'c', as in 'cyber'.  When writing about CILIP, please use the full form of the organisation's name the first time you refer to it - i.e. 'CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals'.  Thereafter, you can use just the acronym, but please put it in capitals – ‘CILIP’ – not in lower case as in the logo design, so that it stands out prominently in the text.

CILIP is a new organisation and will have new ‘brands’ in addition to the CILIP brand-name itself.  The monthly magazine sent to all members will be called Update (prefaced by ‘Library and information’ to distinguish it from any other ‘Updates’).  The publishing imprint of the new organisation will be Facet Publishing.  And the website will be found, from 2 April 2002, at www.cilip.org.uk, which will also become the ‘root’ of email addresses for staff based at the Ridgmount Street building in London.

Contacts

The IIS and the LA are now co-located at one address (7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE) although they remain separate entities (with separate telephone, fax and email addresses) until April.  If you have any comments on the process of unification please send them to Bob McKee or Mary Shearer as follows:

Bob McKee Fax: 020-7255-0501 Email: Bob.McKee@la-hq.org.uk

Mary Shearer Fax: 020 7255 0658 Email: iis@dial.pipex.com