Use of RL

Posted earlier in PAARLyahoo group email discussion thread.

It seems RL as a topic had a second life. I'm happy to note that both sides of the proposition had a passionate adherents. It speaks well for our beloved profession that growing number of our colleagues have started to share their opinion openly, whether pro or con is immaterial on the current topic thread.

The issue at hand could be viewed both from a macro or organizational level and from an individual or personal level. The opinions of Juliet, Ricky, Jay et al belongs to the latter while the rest for the former. It is a given (also our solemn duty) that as a duly acknowledged professionals by PRC that we practice individual or personal level excellence that met/exceed the expectation of the various stakeholders (admin, faculty, parents, students, etc.) of our noble profession.

On the organizational / professional level, initiatives like the use of RL (or RIP - Registered Informational Professional) must be viewed as a parallel group efforts to further advance/promote the "brand of excellence" we are noted/known for in our institutions and to complement that individual level.

Is the use of RL legal? In the absence of any specific provision in our RA9246 prohibiting such practice, it is my humble opinion that it is LEGAL to affixed RL after our lastname or any other initial as maybe later agreed upon, use, and represent our collective/specific identity as a profession duly regulated by PRC.

Is it ethical or moral to do so without a law authorizing it? The answer is YES. Long before the passage of RA6966 & RA9246, our profession existed without a law authorizing it but it does not follow that those who practice it before its passage are immoral or unethical. The more urgent that we start using RL now before other professions claim "prior use & practice" and thus forbid us from affixing the same.

What will be ILLEGAL even if you are a PRC license librarian is when you affixed after your lastname the initial RN or DDM because those initials are reserved/taken for the professional identity of nurses and dentist respectively.

PS:

see also http://plaistrlc.blogspot.com/2007/09/comments-on-use-of-rl.html

and http://plaistrlc.blogspot.com/2007/09/use-of-rl-as-initial-for-registered.html