Definition of Competency or Understanding of Competency A:
I like Michael Gorman’s definition of ethics, taken from Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary— “The science of moral duty; broadly, the science of ideal human character. Moral principles, quality or practice” (Gorman, 2008, p 16). I appreciate that this particular definition considers ethics as both science and practice, that is, both an ongoing iterative practice yet also an established discipline. Librarianship’s ethical principles can be found in The Code of Ethics of the American Library Association (ALA, 2008) and, depending on one’s profession or where one resides in the world, within many other ethical codes (Knox, 2016, pp 29-31).
The ALA’s ethical code however, also references “values,” as in the document Libraries: An American Value (ALA, 2006b). Gorman again provides rare insight here. Values he declares are simply beliefs, but necessary because they:
The ALA’s values are teased out in a number of documents including the Library Bill of Rights (and interpretations), and the Freedom to Read and Freedom to View statements (2018b; 2007b; 2018a; 1989), the majority of which are contained within the ALA’s Policy Manual, Section B (2010a; 2010b). These documents can be seen in distilled form in the ALA’s Core Values of Librarianship document (ALA, 2006a). One of the more important values embedded there is the concept of Intellectual Freedom, “the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction”; it remains of supreme importance for libraries and librarians because it presupposes a functioning democratic society and informed citizens (ALA, 2007a), and because information is our profession’s stock-in-trade. On an international level, alongside Intellectual Freedom, some of the most shared values of librarianship include “service, privacy, equity of access, [and] stewardship.” (Foster & McMenemy, 2012, p 249).
Because our ethics sometimes come into conflict with our values, organizations like the ALA and IFLA create and update documents on “professional ethics,” which provide librarians with guidance through ethical obligations and dilemmas they might encounter on the individual, organizational, professional, or societal level, depending on the librarian’s particular role (Wilkinson, 2012; ALA, 2018c). Ethical codes can come into conflict with the law (Sturgeon, 2007) and information professionals need to know where they stand. New technologies embedded within a more digitally enmeshed workplace do not seem to change core ethical principles per se, but they increase the many factors that a librarian must consider when making decisions (Ferguson, Thornley, & Gibb, 2016). The more complex and/or numerous the issues, the more there will be a need for well-considered, and regularly updated library policies throughout the profession. Solid ethical policy provides a framework for the growth of the individual information professional, whose numbers provide the basis of a diverse and vibrant professional discipline.
Preparation to Understand Competency A: Coursework and Work Experience
Having been a Public Services Assistant for the XX Library System (XXXX) for over five years, working at all 50 branches within that system, I have come to see ethics, values, and foundational principles at work on all levels. I have taken Intellectual Freedom seminars provided by XXXX and passed through a 6-month PSA mentorship stage that contained a component on ethics. While these experiences exposed me to ALA documents and XXXX mission and value statements, it is the day-to-day work at the library, mostly at various reference desks where I have had to test my mettle with various ethical dilemmas or had to balance ethical obligations, that have forged my ethical praxis.
A good example of this was a patron I interacted with who challenged a book by Donald Trump. He was a former XXXX board member and wanted to speak with a manager. I knew we had a Reconsideration of Library Materials policy but did not want to burden my manager. I engaged him about why he was upset. I found out he was Jewish and upset by Trump’s anti-Semitism. I reminded him that the library does not endorse any particular point of view. Eventually he conceded: he did not really want to challenge the material, he just needed to vent.
The Intellectual Freedom class (INFO 234) helped me to not assume that barriers to access do not exist simply because others have not spoken up. For example, during my summer Internship (INFO 294), while overseeing the progress of three juveniles in a LEGO Robotics workshop, I noticed that two of them were brothers, and their bond threatened to sideline a younger, shyer boy with a different cultural background than the other two. I had to gently remind the brothers a few times to include the other boy in the construction and programming of the robot.
I chose a blog post from my INFO 200 class because it illustrates my ability to articulate the issues surrounding a single ethical principle. The two ethical dilemmas I explicated for INFO 210 I chose because I cite ALA documents and because they indicate how I might deal with such situations. I included my INFO 234 Interview with a Librarian for the Reflections section, where my description of my interviewee’s ethics sheds some light on my own ethical attributes. The analyses of resource selection and reconsideration policies I chose because they illustrate my ability to juggle the ethical components within a policy manual.
Evidence
Blog Post: Stewardship and Preservation as an Ethic of the Reference Librarian
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xyDi6KMXwyjtRYOMNss-1Z3fJJQh0KLZwCd04w-E-B0/edit?usp=sharing or
https://ischoolblogs.sjsu.edu/info/encyclopediabrawn/2016/07/23/stewardship-and-preservation-as-an-ethic-of-the-reference-librarian/
This blog post for the Information Communities class (INFO 200) examines stewardship and preservation as an ethic of the reference librarian community. I begin by identifying stewardship and preservation as fundamental principles of librarianship, and then go on to trace how these ethical concepts came to be. I consider how learning processes and information-seeking behaviors themselves served to form the basis for these two ethical concerns. I illustrate how the process of learning and seeking out information might have worked over time to create a conducive environment that would enable these ethical concepts to take root.
Once I have established these ethical principles and how they came to be, I am able to articulate some of the problems facing those who want to be informational stewards and preservationists, including shortcomings in both practice and policy. I touch on several related core values of librarianship including access, privacy, democracy, diversity, service, and social responsibility. I conclude by describing how a perhaps unintentional abdicating of certain ethical responsibilities, such as service, and ignoring others, such as learning and knowledge, might be part of our present ethical conundrum.
Ethical Dilemmas
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A4e912738-4335-4ccf-a981-16f2021ed141
For this exercise in Reference and Information Services (INFO 210) I was to choose two ethical dilemmas and describe their context, key issues, different positions, conflicting ethical codes, stakeholders, and then describe how they might be resolved favorably. In the first scenario I point out how personal convictions and professional obligations are clashing, in particular the one between religious values and the advocacy of rationalism. I tease out the complexity of obligations that weigh on the librarian, including when an obligation to one’s organization seems unreasonable. I invoke the ethic of Intellectual Freedom as appropriate here, especially as it relates to the development of collection policies and procedures.
In the second scenario I assessed an ethical dilemma in which everything that could go wrong for the librarians did go wrong. The ethical codes at odds in this situation had to do with access versus privacy; privacy versus social obligations; and morality versus the law. These ethical codes were complicated by a lack of clear policy and a failure by the librarians to adequately take the library user into account. I describe the information one needs to know in order to make an informed professional decision regarding Internet access and computer filtering. I identify the key issue as a serious challenge to insufficient library practices and procedures. In the end of this scenario I describe the context that needs to be created in order for challenges to be met with any success. I touch on ALA and IFLA recommendations and underscore vibrant policies and procedures as a prerequisite for libraries to function as democracies.
Reflection on Interview with an XY Library Regional Manager
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:b8a53660-8a6d-4eb1-83bc-5e8731edaa22
For the Intellectual Freedom Seminar (INFO 234) I conducted an interview with the Regional Manager of the XY Library (XYL), Mr. Smith; at the end of the interview I reflected on what I learned. I revisit and reassess what Mr. Smith said, how he said it, what he emphasized, and then proffer some thoughts and observations on him as an informational professional with a firm grasp on his own professional ethics.
I learn that Mr. Smith teaches Intellectual Freedom (IF) at the University of ZA and has an interest in ethics that began at age eight when he read John Milton’s Areopagitica, which he considers the first work on IF. Beneath all of his answers to my queries regarding Intellectual Freedom, I note that he underscores that our values depend on our taking individual patron desires seriously. I see how an economic barrier to access can be knocked down directly (materials checkout without ID or library card), learn that security staff can be trained to think and act according to our ethical guidelines (Intellectual Freedom training), and discover that a major public library can refuse CIPA funding, still choose to filter children’s computers, and at the same time refuse to deny children (of any age) the right to access the Internet unfiltered.
I find Mr. Smith’s demeanor to be humble and thoughtful, noting that when he does state his own personal beliefs that they are often well-considered replies to multi-faceted scenarios. For instance, I point out that when he finally reveals that he finds any library fines to be a barrier to access, he couches his belief within a long-term vision that emphasizes mercy over justice and favors the individual over community. I wrap up by observing how Mr. Smith’s ethics come to be embodied in his physical posture (comfortable, confident) and how he communicates (clearly), and extrapolate that an adherence to librarianship’s ethical canon requires one to become more open of mind, expansive in one’s thinking, and flexible in one’s professional life.
Resource Selection Assignment
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://sjsu0-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/roger_weaver_sjsu_edu/EWI8d4XGLUdBkXQl7p0z0VYBrvN9TtOM-sSq8TcQHw_iWg?e=HOeWgD
This assignment for the Intellectual Freedom Seminar (INFO 234) involved choosing and analyzing two public library collection development policies and two library reconsideration policies. For the collection development policies, I examine and compare how the various passages of the policy manuals parse out ethical language, and how such language hews to established ethical codes (like the ALA’s Bill of Rights or the First Amendment), interprets these codes, or avoids them all together. For instance, both libraries I chose articulate selection criteria and procedures in a language that emphasizes inclusivity and seek to minimize exclusivity, yet both use different phrasing and emphasis; both cite the concept of Intellectual Freedom and reference ALA policy documents. In another section I compare reconsideration policies and note that while both roughly follow ALA guidelines, one library does not convene a committee for review, and for the second library there is no review by a Board of Trustees, a subtle but important difference.
I consider the two library reconsideration policies on their own yet point out when relevant materials that are absent can be found embedded within a companion policy. I find both policies refer to at least one ALA document. What I find a more interesting question is the degree to which the reconsideration policies are detailed and transparent, and how they might affect or relate to patrons or staff. For instance, the first policy uses some legal language that indicates that patron’s rights as users are being defended, but also that the bar for challengers will be quite high. In the second policy the steps for formal reconsideration of materials are clearly laid out, step-by-step, yet the muddy language makes it difficult to determine whether staff members may join patrons in making such a challenge.
Conclusion
My working knowledge about how professional ethics come into existence, are maintained over time, and translated into an everyday practice has applicability in any work situation or environment. My ability to articulate how learning processes and information-seeking behaviors translate into the ethics and practice of stewardship and preservation means that I can contribute towards making valuable community assets manifest wherever I work. My ability to connect librarianship’s professional policies to day-to-day library ethical dilemmas ensures my usefulness just about anywhere I might be employed. Understanding how one comes to embody and sustain one’s ethical principles gives me a key tool for use in my professional life, a subtle one that I can pass on to others in our field. Finally, since my personal ethical praxis and my library’s policies are often communicated through words and language, my ability to confidently control these towards interpersonal and policy-related ends should serve me in my career endeavors.
References
American Library Association. (2010a, August 17). ALA Policy Manual. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/policymanual
American Library Association. (2010b, August 4). B.1 Core Values, Ethics, and Core
Competencies (Old Number 40). Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/policymanual/updatedpolicymanual/section2/40corevalues
American Library Association. (2008, January 22). Code of ethics. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics
American Library Association. (2006a, July 26). Core values of librarianship. (Accessed June
19, 2016). Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/corevalues
American Library Association. (2018a, September 16). The freedom to read statement. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/freedomreadstatement
American Library Association. (1989). The freedom to view statement. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/rt/vrt/professionalresources/vrtresources/freedomtoview
American Library Association. (2007a). Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A. (Accessed
January 24, 2020). Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorship/faq
American Library Association (2007b, July 30). Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights.
Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations
American Library Association (2006b, June 30). Libraries: An american value. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/americanvalue
American Library Association. (2018b, September 10). Library bill of rights. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
American Library Association. (2018c, September 10). Professional ethics. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/tools/ethics
Foster, C., & McMenemy, D. (2012). Do librarians have a shared set of values? A comparative
study of 36 codes of ethics based on Gorman’s enduring values. Journal of Librarianship & Information Science, 44(4), 249 - 262. http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=84254995&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Gorman, M. (2008). Professional ethics and values in a changing world. In Haycock, K. &
Sheldon, B.E. (Eds.). The Portable MLIS: Insights from the Experts. (pp. 15-22). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.
Haycock, K., & Sheldon, B. (2008). The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. Westport:
Libraries Unlimited
Knox, E. (2016). Ethics. In L.C. Smith & M.A. (Eds.), Reference and information Services: An introduction. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Sturgeon, R. (2007). Laying down the law: ALA's ethics codes: Are enforceable rules needed
for information professionals? American Libraries. 38(10). 56-57. http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=502927504&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Wilkinson, L. (2012). It’s not just privacy, porn, and pipe-bombs: Libraries and the ethics of
service. Sense and Reference: A Philosophical Library Blog.
http://senseandreference.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/its-not-just-privacy-porn-and-pipe-bombs-libraries-and-the-ethics-of-service/
I like Michael Gorman’s definition of ethics, taken from Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary— “The science of moral duty; broadly, the science of ideal human character. Moral principles, quality or practice” (Gorman, 2008, p 16). I appreciate that this particular definition considers ethics as both science and practice, that is, both an ongoing iterative practice yet also an established discipline. Librarianship’s ethical principles can be found in The Code of Ethics of the American Library Association (ALA, 2008) and, depending on one’s profession or where one resides in the world, within many other ethical codes (Knox, 2016, pp 29-31).
The ALA’s ethical code however, also references “values,” as in the document Libraries: An American Value (ALA, 2006b). Gorman again provides rare insight here. Values he declares are simply beliefs, but necessary because they:
- Provide a basis for bringing disparate library professionals together as a discipline and through daily interactions
- Provide metrics for assessing “services and plans” and
- Provide psychological confidence for individuals and groups (2008, pp 17-18).
The ALA’s values are teased out in a number of documents including the Library Bill of Rights (and interpretations), and the Freedom to Read and Freedom to View statements (2018b; 2007b; 2018a; 1989), the majority of which are contained within the ALA’s Policy Manual, Section B (2010a; 2010b). These documents can be seen in distilled form in the ALA’s Core Values of Librarianship document (ALA, 2006a). One of the more important values embedded there is the concept of Intellectual Freedom, “the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction”; it remains of supreme importance for libraries and librarians because it presupposes a functioning democratic society and informed citizens (ALA, 2007a), and because information is our profession’s stock-in-trade. On an international level, alongside Intellectual Freedom, some of the most shared values of librarianship include “service, privacy, equity of access, [and] stewardship.” (Foster & McMenemy, 2012, p 249).
Because our ethics sometimes come into conflict with our values, organizations like the ALA and IFLA create and update documents on “professional ethics,” which provide librarians with guidance through ethical obligations and dilemmas they might encounter on the individual, organizational, professional, or societal level, depending on the librarian’s particular role (Wilkinson, 2012; ALA, 2018c). Ethical codes can come into conflict with the law (Sturgeon, 2007) and information professionals need to know where they stand. New technologies embedded within a more digitally enmeshed workplace do not seem to change core ethical principles per se, but they increase the many factors that a librarian must consider when making decisions (Ferguson, Thornley, & Gibb, 2016). The more complex and/or numerous the issues, the more there will be a need for well-considered, and regularly updated library policies throughout the profession. Solid ethical policy provides a framework for the growth of the individual information professional, whose numbers provide the basis of a diverse and vibrant professional discipline.
Preparation to Understand Competency A: Coursework and Work Experience
Having been a Public Services Assistant for the XX Library System (XXXX) for over five years, working at all 50 branches within that system, I have come to see ethics, values, and foundational principles at work on all levels. I have taken Intellectual Freedom seminars provided by XXXX and passed through a 6-month PSA mentorship stage that contained a component on ethics. While these experiences exposed me to ALA documents and XXXX mission and value statements, it is the day-to-day work at the library, mostly at various reference desks where I have had to test my mettle with various ethical dilemmas or had to balance ethical obligations, that have forged my ethical praxis.
A good example of this was a patron I interacted with who challenged a book by Donald Trump. He was a former XXXX board member and wanted to speak with a manager. I knew we had a Reconsideration of Library Materials policy but did not want to burden my manager. I engaged him about why he was upset. I found out he was Jewish and upset by Trump’s anti-Semitism. I reminded him that the library does not endorse any particular point of view. Eventually he conceded: he did not really want to challenge the material, he just needed to vent.
The Intellectual Freedom class (INFO 234) helped me to not assume that barriers to access do not exist simply because others have not spoken up. For example, during my summer Internship (INFO 294), while overseeing the progress of three juveniles in a LEGO Robotics workshop, I noticed that two of them were brothers, and their bond threatened to sideline a younger, shyer boy with a different cultural background than the other two. I had to gently remind the brothers a few times to include the other boy in the construction and programming of the robot.
I chose a blog post from my INFO 200 class because it illustrates my ability to articulate the issues surrounding a single ethical principle. The two ethical dilemmas I explicated for INFO 210 I chose because I cite ALA documents and because they indicate how I might deal with such situations. I included my INFO 234 Interview with a Librarian for the Reflections section, where my description of my interviewee’s ethics sheds some light on my own ethical attributes. The analyses of resource selection and reconsideration policies I chose because they illustrate my ability to juggle the ethical components within a policy manual.
Evidence
Blog Post: Stewardship and Preservation as an Ethic of the Reference Librarian
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xyDi6KMXwyjtRYOMNss-1Z3fJJQh0KLZwCd04w-E-B0/edit?usp=sharing or
https://ischoolblogs.sjsu.edu/info/encyclopediabrawn/2016/07/23/stewardship-and-preservation-as-an-ethic-of-the-reference-librarian/
This blog post for the Information Communities class (INFO 200) examines stewardship and preservation as an ethic of the reference librarian community. I begin by identifying stewardship and preservation as fundamental principles of librarianship, and then go on to trace how these ethical concepts came to be. I consider how learning processes and information-seeking behaviors themselves served to form the basis for these two ethical concerns. I illustrate how the process of learning and seeking out information might have worked over time to create a conducive environment that would enable these ethical concepts to take root.
Once I have established these ethical principles and how they came to be, I am able to articulate some of the problems facing those who want to be informational stewards and preservationists, including shortcomings in both practice and policy. I touch on several related core values of librarianship including access, privacy, democracy, diversity, service, and social responsibility. I conclude by describing how a perhaps unintentional abdicating of certain ethical responsibilities, such as service, and ignoring others, such as learning and knowledge, might be part of our present ethical conundrum.
Ethical Dilemmas
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A4e912738-4335-4ccf-a981-16f2021ed141
For this exercise in Reference and Information Services (INFO 210) I was to choose two ethical dilemmas and describe their context, key issues, different positions, conflicting ethical codes, stakeholders, and then describe how they might be resolved favorably. In the first scenario I point out how personal convictions and professional obligations are clashing, in particular the one between religious values and the advocacy of rationalism. I tease out the complexity of obligations that weigh on the librarian, including when an obligation to one’s organization seems unreasonable. I invoke the ethic of Intellectual Freedom as appropriate here, especially as it relates to the development of collection policies and procedures.
In the second scenario I assessed an ethical dilemma in which everything that could go wrong for the librarians did go wrong. The ethical codes at odds in this situation had to do with access versus privacy; privacy versus social obligations; and morality versus the law. These ethical codes were complicated by a lack of clear policy and a failure by the librarians to adequately take the library user into account. I describe the information one needs to know in order to make an informed professional decision regarding Internet access and computer filtering. I identify the key issue as a serious challenge to insufficient library practices and procedures. In the end of this scenario I describe the context that needs to be created in order for challenges to be met with any success. I touch on ALA and IFLA recommendations and underscore vibrant policies and procedures as a prerequisite for libraries to function as democracies.
Reflection on Interview with an XY Library Regional Manager
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:b8a53660-8a6d-4eb1-83bc-5e8731edaa22
For the Intellectual Freedom Seminar (INFO 234) I conducted an interview with the Regional Manager of the XY Library (XYL), Mr. Smith; at the end of the interview I reflected on what I learned. I revisit and reassess what Mr. Smith said, how he said it, what he emphasized, and then proffer some thoughts and observations on him as an informational professional with a firm grasp on his own professional ethics.
I learn that Mr. Smith teaches Intellectual Freedom (IF) at the University of ZA and has an interest in ethics that began at age eight when he read John Milton’s Areopagitica, which he considers the first work on IF. Beneath all of his answers to my queries regarding Intellectual Freedom, I note that he underscores that our values depend on our taking individual patron desires seriously. I see how an economic barrier to access can be knocked down directly (materials checkout without ID or library card), learn that security staff can be trained to think and act according to our ethical guidelines (Intellectual Freedom training), and discover that a major public library can refuse CIPA funding, still choose to filter children’s computers, and at the same time refuse to deny children (of any age) the right to access the Internet unfiltered.
I find Mr. Smith’s demeanor to be humble and thoughtful, noting that when he does state his own personal beliefs that they are often well-considered replies to multi-faceted scenarios. For instance, I point out that when he finally reveals that he finds any library fines to be a barrier to access, he couches his belief within a long-term vision that emphasizes mercy over justice and favors the individual over community. I wrap up by observing how Mr. Smith’s ethics come to be embodied in his physical posture (comfortable, confident) and how he communicates (clearly), and extrapolate that an adherence to librarianship’s ethical canon requires one to become more open of mind, expansive in one’s thinking, and flexible in one’s professional life.
Resource Selection Assignment
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://sjsu0-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/roger_weaver_sjsu_edu/EWI8d4XGLUdBkXQl7p0z0VYBrvN9TtOM-sSq8TcQHw_iWg?e=HOeWgD
This assignment for the Intellectual Freedom Seminar (INFO 234) involved choosing and analyzing two public library collection development policies and two library reconsideration policies. For the collection development policies, I examine and compare how the various passages of the policy manuals parse out ethical language, and how such language hews to established ethical codes (like the ALA’s Bill of Rights or the First Amendment), interprets these codes, or avoids them all together. For instance, both libraries I chose articulate selection criteria and procedures in a language that emphasizes inclusivity and seek to minimize exclusivity, yet both use different phrasing and emphasis; both cite the concept of Intellectual Freedom and reference ALA policy documents. In another section I compare reconsideration policies and note that while both roughly follow ALA guidelines, one library does not convene a committee for review, and for the second library there is no review by a Board of Trustees, a subtle but important difference.
I consider the two library reconsideration policies on their own yet point out when relevant materials that are absent can be found embedded within a companion policy. I find both policies refer to at least one ALA document. What I find a more interesting question is the degree to which the reconsideration policies are detailed and transparent, and how they might affect or relate to patrons or staff. For instance, the first policy uses some legal language that indicates that patron’s rights as users are being defended, but also that the bar for challengers will be quite high. In the second policy the steps for formal reconsideration of materials are clearly laid out, step-by-step, yet the muddy language makes it difficult to determine whether staff members may join patrons in making such a challenge.
Conclusion
My working knowledge about how professional ethics come into existence, are maintained over time, and translated into an everyday practice has applicability in any work situation or environment. My ability to articulate how learning processes and information-seeking behaviors translate into the ethics and practice of stewardship and preservation means that I can contribute towards making valuable community assets manifest wherever I work. My ability to connect librarianship’s professional policies to day-to-day library ethical dilemmas ensures my usefulness just about anywhere I might be employed. Understanding how one comes to embody and sustain one’s ethical principles gives me a key tool for use in my professional life, a subtle one that I can pass on to others in our field. Finally, since my personal ethical praxis and my library’s policies are often communicated through words and language, my ability to confidently control these towards interpersonal and policy-related ends should serve me in my career endeavors.
References
American Library Association. (2010a, August 17). ALA Policy Manual. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/policymanual
American Library Association. (2010b, August 4). B.1 Core Values, Ethics, and Core
Competencies (Old Number 40). Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/policymanual/updatedpolicymanual/section2/40corevalues
American Library Association. (2008, January 22). Code of ethics. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics
American Library Association. (2006a, July 26). Core values of librarianship. (Accessed June
19, 2016). Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/corevalues
American Library Association. (2018a, September 16). The freedom to read statement. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/freedomreadstatement
American Library Association. (1989). The freedom to view statement. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/rt/vrt/professionalresources/vrtresources/freedomtoview
American Library Association. (2007a). Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A. (Accessed
January 24, 2020). Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorship/faq
American Library Association (2007b, July 30). Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights.
Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations
American Library Association (2006b, June 30). Libraries: An american value. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/americanvalue
American Library Association. (2018b, September 10). Library bill of rights. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
American Library Association. (2018c, September 10). Professional ethics. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/tools/ethics
Foster, C., & McMenemy, D. (2012). Do librarians have a shared set of values? A comparative
study of 36 codes of ethics based on Gorman’s enduring values. Journal of Librarianship & Information Science, 44(4), 249 - 262. http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=84254995&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Gorman, M. (2008). Professional ethics and values in a changing world. In Haycock, K. &
Sheldon, B.E. (Eds.). The Portable MLIS: Insights from the Experts. (pp. 15-22). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.
Haycock, K., & Sheldon, B. (2008). The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. Westport:
Libraries Unlimited
Knox, E. (2016). Ethics. In L.C. Smith & M.A. (Eds.), Reference and information Services: An introduction. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Sturgeon, R. (2007). Laying down the law: ALA's ethics codes: Are enforceable rules needed
for information professionals? American Libraries. 38(10). 56-57. http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=502927504&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Wilkinson, L. (2012). It’s not just privacy, porn, and pipe-bombs: Libraries and the ethics of
service. Sense and Reference: A Philosophical Library Blog.
http://senseandreference.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/its-not-just-privacy-porn-and-pipe-bombs-libraries-and-the-ethics-of-service/