With regard to the earlier debate on chartership I would like to make a few comments.
A few years ago I started the chartership programme and quite frankly I was horrified that it seemed to demand so little. The "chartership training programme" that I received lacked substance and depth and didn't give me any great benefit. I never finished as I began to question the value of this programme. Three years on and I haven't regretted that decision as I have never been asked for it by my employers. I have undertake other personal development activities such as being a school governor and have found it far more worthwhile and personally very rewarding.
The question has to be asked what is the value of being a chartered librarian?
With more and more "librarians" reinventing themselves as information professionals undertaking tasks that were traditionally never the librarians, I feel the whole word "librarian" is outdated and it has serious image problems. Far too many people think of us as sitting behind desks stamping books all day.
I really think that unless you are going to be a librarian in the public sector, chartership has no value and that having other skills such as internet skills will be of far more interest to an employer.

Thanks for this, Philippa. I like to think that we're addressing both the points which you make. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (the unified LA/IIS body which will replace the "old" LA and the "old" IIS) will bring together the skills-set of librarianship and the skills-set of information science; the necessary groundwork for this will be done through the research into skills and competencies which I've mentioned already in this discussion. The revised framework of qualifications which ChILIP will establish to replace the existing LA and IIS frameworks will be more inclusive and progressive, in terms of personal development, and will also bring in a process of continuing personal and professional development. These two moves should make the Charter and the Chartering process more rewarding for professional practitioners and more relevant for employers.

Thanks for your views.