Institutions

QOTD: libraries and museums

Lorcan Dempsey 1 min read

CILIP is the UK professional organization for library (and other information) workers. I was interested to read the passage below in a recent submission it made to a parliamentary group looking at public libraries in England. It is referring to MLA, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, a government sponsored body which exists to promote good practice in those domains.

It could be argued that the establishment […] yoked public libraries into an arbitrary relationship with museums and galleries which is proving counterproductive in terms of the other relationships which public libraries in England need to establish at national level – with learning, with health, with communities, with public libraries in other parts of the UK, with the other parts of the library and information sector. [All-Party Parliamentary Group on Libraries, Literacy and Information Management: Inquiry into the Governance and Leadership of the Public Library Service in England The Submission of Evidence by the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals PDF]

The weak opening qualification – “it could be argued” – aside, this is an interesting, and unusually emphatic, position for a library organization to take.
Incidentally, I wonder does the lack of reference to archives here signify anything.

Share
More from LorcanDempsey.net
Libraries and library studies
Institutions

Libraries and library studies

I wrote this piece on libraries and possible educational responses as part of a longer contribution on the informational disciplines and the iSchool. A principal goal was to suggest that libraries present interesting and challenging research and educational questions, which cross disciplines.
Lorcan Dempsey 14 min read
Information: a brief schematic history
Meta

Information: a brief schematic history

In a piece on the informational disciplines and the iSchool, I sketched this very schematic and informal overview of information, broadly construed. My focus is pragmatic, related to library interests. I consider several current issues, including the 'apotheosis of the document' in an AI context.
Lorcan Dempsey 20 min read
So-called soft skills are hard
Institutions

So-called soft skills are hard

So-called soft skills are important across a range of library activities. Existing trends will further amplify this importance. Describing these skills as soft may be misleading, or even damaging. They should be recognized as learnable and teachable, and should be explicitly supported and rewarded.
Lorcan Dempsey 12 min read
icon

lorcan dempsey dot net

Deep dives and quick takes: libraries, society, culture and technology

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to LorcanDempsey.net.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.