LIS Principles and Ethics

 

Hot Topic Presentation Assignment (Link to PDF)

For the first assignment, I presented on the challenge public libraries had faced (and were still facing at the time of presentation) in balancing facility accessibility to patrons while still honoring workers’ rights to safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. This presentation focused on the LIS principles of access to information alongside the value of workplace safety and general wellbeing of library workers and presented the solution of an equitable approach by library management. This project helped me understand the value of looking at both current practices as well as historical approaches to gain a better understanding of the values and ethics of the LIS field as it applied to this specific situation.

 

Ethical Framework Group Presentation (Link to PDF)

For the second assignment, I presented on the ethical framework of “The Social Contract” alongside classmate Juliana Rhinehart. As part of an ongoing effort in the class to learn the foundational philosophical ethical frameworks and how they apply to information professionals, I covered the definition of social contract theory and its components as well as a timeline of the major philosophical thinkers who contributed to this ethical framework and the social context from which these theories came to be. This set the foundation for Juliana’s coverage of modern thinkers of this framework and then we co-lead a group discussion both on reasonings in the framework as well as exploring scenarios through this lens. This presentation as well as the class as a whole gave me a new process for determining the ethics involved in information work and how to determine the best course of action using the frameworks we learned about.