CiG RIP
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 4:28PM I've just received an email from the City Information Group stating it has gone into insolvency - another victim of the credit crunch. Although I have not been a member for several years, I am sorry to see it go. In the past I have attended a number of their events and found them very useful.
CiG's demise has got me thinking about the role/value of such groups in the information/library world. The ease with which information professionals can now network online with like-minded colleagues perhaps undermines one of the key benefits of professional bodies. With services such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Ning, information professionals can network and share information with others without having to pay membership dues. I know there are frequent debates amongst CILIP members about the value of being a member. I suspect that the pressure will only increase on such bodies to demonstrate the value they offer to members in the fragmenting information landscape.
For the record, I'm a paid-up member of CILIP and the SLA.
