LIBR 200 – Unit 5
[Discussion Forum # 3 – Discussion Post]
by Patricia Ayame Thomson
“ALA Code of Ethics and Personal Values”
After reading the “ALA Code of Ethics, Library Bill of Rights, and Library Services for the Poor,” I’m glad and somewhat relieved to find that my views and values are in alignment with those in the principles mentioned above, which are based on democratic and equal rights for everyone. I also concur that respect for privacy is one of the most important ethical concepts in librarianship. As Dr. Rubin states “Respect for privacy is a fundamental concept in a democratic society. Without privacy protections individuals may decide not to seek out information because they feel that subsequent public exposure may subject them to censure or intimidation. Librarians, therefore, try to protect user privacy as much as possible” (p. 333). If library patrons do not have privacy protection, there may be any number of reasons they would not utilize the library, primarily those who need it most. For example, people with language barriers, low-income status, illness, unemployment, discrimination, awaiting legal citizenship, being homeless, etc.
Social Responsibility
As an actress as well as an individual, I have personal experience with “feast or famine” first-hand, so I feel I can advocate and examine ideas from various points of views on social issues. Due to extreme competition as well as the nature of the business, for many years I was either “Queen for a Week” while working on a guest-star appearance on a television show, for example. On the other extreme, I went from audition to audition, not knowing how I was going to pay the rent. It states under “Social Responsibility” (#11) in ALA Code of Ethics that “ALA recognizes its broad social responsibilities. The broad social responsibilities of the American Library Association are defined in terms of the contribution that librarianship can make in ameliorating or solving the critical problems of society; support for efforts to help inform and educate the people of the United States on these problems and to encourage them to examine the many views on and the facts regarding each problem. . .” My point is that I empathize with people who are less fortunate and homeless in direct relationship to my personal experiences. As Oprah Winfrey says, “There but the grace of God go I.”
Health Care Reform Bill
I believe it is not only timely, but necessary to mention the passage of the “Health Care Reform Bill” as a significant and important step towards progress in American history. I mention the bill becoming the law of the land in relation to Policy Objective #13 in the ALA “Library Services for the Poor.” Objective #13 stating that “Promoting the implementation of an expanded federal low-income housing program, national health insurance, full-employment policy, living minimum wage . . .” According to the ALA Library Services to the Poor, isn’t the passage of the “Health Care Reform” bill in fact, fulfill one of the important objectives of the ALA code by meeting “The urgent need to respond to the increasing number of poor children, adults, and families in America'”? (ALA Code of Ethics, Section 61)
My Experience with Unions
I have been a dues-paying member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG,) the Actors Equity Association (AEA,) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) since the mid-1980s. The above-mentioned unions have specific provisions that actors must comply with, otherwise membership may be revoked. One primary rule stipulates that as members of the union, we cannot work on non-union productions.
More importantly, the unions provide members with protection and regulations relating to work conditions. For example, there must be a twelve hour turn-around time to rest between shoots. The production company must provide meals within a certain period of time, or they will be fined and the members receive additional payment. If actors work beyond a specific number of hours, they will get overtime. If called to work on weekends or holidays, they will receive “Golden time,” etc. These specific regulations protect actors from abuse and unreasonable long-hours, as well as ensuring respect and proper treatment during shoots.
As another example, the Screen Actors Guild has fought hard for “residual income” which is payment from reuse of film and television shows, at the expense of losing income during strikes. Prior to 1960, actors appearing on television shows did not receive residual income. An often-mentioned example is Adam West for his appearances as “Batman” on the television series with the same name. In light of my experience with unions, I can see how the unenforceability of the ALA Code of Ethics is one of the weaknesses as mentioned in Dr. Bernier’s lecture.
Unenforceability of ALA Code of Ethics
The reason I mentioned the unions was to illustrate some of the differences in purpose and enforceability. At the same time, I also realize there is a significant difference between a union and a code of ethics. In Dr. Sturgeon’s article he states “Critics of 1939 code claimed it dealt with irrelevancies and was too long, unhelpful in difficult situations, and unenforceable.”
According to Dr. Sturgeon’s article, Dr. Bernier’s lecture, and Dr. Rubin’s textbook, many amendments have been made to the ALA Code of Ethics over the years, but the primary ideology and objectives appears to have remained the same. As Dr. Bernier mentions in his lecture, “Compare that to the 2008 version, ‘The principles of this Code are expressed in broad statements to guide ethical decision making. These statements provide a framework; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations.’” (p. 324) I understand the fact that it is practically impossible to create a single code that applies to every potential situation that may arise in the professional environment. As Dr. Rubin mentions, “This chapter is not intended to determine once and for all what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in a given instance” (p. 324).
Based on the reading assignments, I discern that a code of ethics is “a framework” inculcated by librarians and information professionals. I especially like Dr. Rubin’s description of librarians as “Moral agents, responsible to themselves, others, and the society as a whole” (p. 324). Not that I’m going to adjust my value system or behavior in any significant way, however I understand the importance of keeping the code in the back of my mind in order to apply them to individual circumstances when they arise. Dr. Rubin also mentions that most of our ethical values are those we’ve received as children, and therefore “Consequently, as situations arise, we act almost automatically in most instances . . . It also suggests that the same type of socialization is needed if the ethics of the profession are to be followed” (p. 346). Based on Dr Rubin“Once the ethics of one’s profession are inculcated, acting in accordance with them should also follow normally as part of our everyday behavior” (p. 346). In that case, it reasons to follow that librarians and information professionals become quite familiar with the code.
Privacy Protection
Obviously, the world as we knew it changed with the terrorist attack on 9/11 and so has regulations regarding privacy issues including the “Patriot Act” legislation. Where do we cross the line with government intervening and searching our records in order to ensure national security? Privacy issues are complex, and I don’t presume to have the answers.
However, I do know for example, that Google keeps records of every single one of our searches conducted, which sounds like a balancing act on the “big brother” line. As Dr. Gorman puts it regarding intellectual freedom and others “None of these freedoms can survive in an atmosphere in which access is monitored and individual use patterns are made known to anyone without permission.” On the other hand, I heard on the news today that China is going to ban Google, presumably due to the exact same reason mentioned above.
Censorship in Controlled Societies
For example, in the novel and film “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie about the Chinese Communist Revolution, books were burned and voices were silenced. Individuals with higher education became a threat to communism and imprisoned in hard labor camps, due to the singleness of mind ideology of communist cabinet members. As a result, intellectual and cultural freedoms were abolished.
To cite another example depicting the aftermath of the Chinese Cultural Revolution is the film To Live starring Gong Li. It says on the TeachWithMovies Web site, “Banned in Communist China, To Live details the life of a Chinese family from the 1940s through the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. To Live or Huozhe (1994) is based on the novel Lifetimes, by Yu Hua.” (Web site, TeachWithMovies.com, Inc.)
In a similar vein, I recall the British-Indian novelist and essayist, Salmon Rushdie’s fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988). “It was the centre of The Satanic Verses controversy, with protests from Muslims in several countries. Some of the protests were violent, with Rushdie facing death threats and a fatwā issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, in February 1989.” (Web site: Wikipedia)
I do not want to live in an oppressed society like the ones portrayed in literatures and films, nor should anyone else in our free country. The underlying issues of censorship illustrated in the above-mentioned examples are all the more reason to protect and promote intellectual freedom, as well as, the “First Amendment Right” to freedom of speech.
Technical Privacy
I wish every computer user, especially system designers, were able to abide by and uphold the “Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics,” mentioned in Dr. Rubins textbook. However, this code is also unenforceable at this point in time. As technology increases, so does the prevalence of cyberspace theft. On a news report it said that Seattle is the #1 city that cyberspace theft takes place. Following cities are #2 Boston, #3 Washington D.C., #4 San Francisco, and #5 Raleigh, N.C. The news report warned not to pay bills using Wi-Fi devices.
As far as copyright is concerned, Dr. Rubin warns that “competitors may attempt to access information that is the property of another organization through deception or other inappropriate means, violating the privacy rights of these organizations” (p. 333). Just as polarity exists in the world, good people as well as unscrupulous and immoral people exist. Acknowledging the reality of our society today, I agree that it is even more important to protect the privacy of patrons especially the circulation records.
My Preconceived Notion about the Library
Having said the above based on what I’ve learned, I have an admission that I have to make about an incident that occurred sometime during my first week of employment at the library. One morning, I ran in to my supervisor’s office to say “This film is practically pornographic! I think the selection staff should take a second look!” Although it was well-intended, I’m afraid my statement was based on (what I now understand as) preconceived ideas and stereotypes about the library being conservative. I didn’t know that libraries and staff members promoted intellectual freedom and are fundamentally open-minded. As Michael Gorman states in Dr. Haycock’s textbook, “We stand, above all, for the notion that human beings are improved by the acquisition of knowledge and information and that no bar should be placed in their way. We stand for the individual human being pursuing whatever avenues of enquiry she or he wishes” (pg. 20).
Potential Ethical Conflicts
Although I had some qualms about providing information regarding controversial issues, I understand that it is not our place to judge the information being requested or the person requesting it.
Recently at our library, I witnessed a man who came to the “Information Desk” asking the librarian for information on how to make LSD. We have a two-tiered reference system, so the librarian at the “Information Desk” sent the man upstairs to the primary “Reference Desk.” I heard afterwards, the man requesting the information admitted he was intoxicated (on what I don’t know) during the reference interview. At that point the Inspector nearby stepped in to remove the patron from the library, since it’s against the law to be intoxicated inside library premises. The librarians neither withheld the information requested, nor did they condone his actions when he admitted he broke the law. What I’ve learned from the above example is that the law is upheld both inside and outside of the library.
There are numerous controversial issues in American society today. As Dr. Gorman puts it rather succinctly, “I am sure that I am not alone in being distressed by the great tide of fundamentalism, superstition, and plain craziness in the world today. From religious bigots to faith healers to militants of all stripes, the world seems to be full of people who are convinced that they know the One True Way and are aggressively intolerant of those who do not share their beliefs and prejudices.” Living in such a society, I’m sure I’ll come across suspicious-looking people seeking questionable information. However, I realize I am not in a place to judge, censor, or impose any of my own beliefs and values on others. With experience, I believe I can improve dealing with these situations. However at this point if a situation arises that nags at my moral conscience, I will discuss it with my supervisor.
I think a good concept to remember may be expressed by Dr. Gorman when he wrote, “Ours is a supremely rational profession and should resist the forces of irrationalism both external and internal” (Hancock & Sheldon, p. 21). I am learning that there are many aspects and points of view to every issue. I hope to help provide patrons with equal access to information, so they can explore, inform, and make decisions themselves upon investigating various aspects of the issue.
[Conclusion]
Becoming a “moral agent,” I believe the ALA Code of Ethics will be a useful tool and guide that will manifest itself naturally in my behavior as I gradually adopt the code. I wanted to convey that I understand the fundamental principles of the code by ending with the beginning of Chapter 8 in Dr. Rubin’s textbook, “But if indeed we have no philosophy, then we are depriving ourselves of the guiding light of reason and we live only a day-to-day existence, lurching from crisis to crisis, and lacking the driving force of an inner conviction of the value of our work” (p. 323).
Reference:
Rubin, R. (2010). Foundations of Library and Information Science, 3rd Ed. Neal-Schuman Publishers