Keywords
Citation
Turner, R. (2001), "A Chartership Reader", New Library World, Vol. 102 No. 1/2, pp. 68-72. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2001.102.1_2.68.1
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
This handy volume from the Library Association’s Career Development Group is a collection of articles about the routes to becoming a Chartered Librarian which have previously been published in professional journals between 1988 and 1997.
Kate Wood, the compiler, briefly surveys the importance of and broad nature of Chartership, including implications arising from the merger of the Library Association and the Institute of Information Scientists.
The articles cover various aspects and perspectives of the routes to becoming an Associate of the Library Association. The role of the Career Development Group and the Registration Liaison Officer is discussed in two articles. The vital role of the supervisor is rather briefly addressed by one individual’s personal view – a more substantial review of this key player would be useful.
Chris Atton and Colin Harrison have their articles on the Chartership programme and writing the Professional Development Report (PDR) reproduced. David Fisher gives a candidate’s view of producing the PDR. Of special interest to the candidate are articles on the Library Association Registration Board and the scrutineers, which explain what happens to your PDR.
Obviously, it is very convenient to have these articles brought together and they are an important supplement to the Library Association guidelines for candidates. A small criticism is that someone who is a candidate for Chartership might have the ability to locate and retrieve these articles for themselves. It would also have been useful to have more personal experiences of those who have successfully become Chartered Librarians, especially those in one person units.
The article reprinted here about working in a one person library is curiously not specifically about Chartership. The collection might also have had a chapter on the importance of continuing professional development after Chartership. But, these quibbles aside, this is pretty much an essential read for anyone considering becoming a Chartered Librarian.