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Cilip have been criticised (and rightly so IMO) this week for promoting their Employer Partners GLL and the Ministry of Defence. Look at @wigglymittens' and @wylie_alan's timelines for good threads on this. I want to talk briefly about the (mis)use of language in this situation.Permalink On Internet Archive
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Cilip's page on the Employer Partners Scheme (which seems to have been put up as a response to the criticism) states that the scheme is a "new name" for the old organisational membership model and that this scheme is just a continuation of old practices cilip.org.uk/page/EmployerPartnersSchemeOn Internet Archive
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The response boils down to 'This has always been happening and nothing has changed'. But something has changed: the name. The use of the word 'Partners' in the new scheme implies a much closer relationship than the old name of 'organisational membership'.Permalink On Internet Archive
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What Cilip don't seem to have appreciated is that saying you are Employer Partners with GLL and that you are entering into a partnership implies a certain relationship of trust and mutual understanding that 'organisational membership' does not.Permalink On Internet Archive
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So while, as the page above suggests, the model for the scheme may not have changed, the new name changes the perception of the scheme and raises the question of ethical issues where people may not have considered ethical issues before.Permalink On Internet Archive
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Don't get me wrong: I'm not being an apologist for Cilip and I think there are serious ethical issues with 'partnering' with GLL and the MoD. But I think the issue is exacerbated by misuse of language and talking at cross-purposes.Permalink On Internet Archive
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It also wouldn't be the first time that Cilip have misused language to misleading ends. See the 'openwashing' section (pp. 5-7) of mine and @moananddrone's Open Repositories paper. Cilip have a track record of confusing issues through misuse of language and failing to clarify.Permalink On Internet Archive
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This has been @SimonXIX banging his regular drum about the importance of use of language in communications, community, and our perceptions of the world. /endPermalink On Internet Archive
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A link to the Open Repositories paper I mentioned: eprints.soas.ac.uk/31178/ /actual_endPermalink On Internet Archive