1 Professional Values Statement Maggie Willis LIS 600

Introduction:
A value is defined as An enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence (Lester 338). As such this paper is a difficult one for me to write because I didnt previously think of myself as having values, I mean I knew I had them around somewhere I just didnt know where they were or even what they were. The idea of a definable value system was never really a huge factor of my thinking before, either personally or professionally, but I now realize the necessity of a collocation of all of the various value-oriented thoughts and motives underlying my decision to enter into the information profession in order to have a reliable foundation on which to base my motives and justify my actions in the professional arena. I have chosen three core values which I think represent my current mode of thinking as regards the information environment and which I believe to be essential to the future of librarianship. I believe that freedom of access, a commitment to learning, and a striving for excellence in professional service to the community are all highly valuable tenets within the context of information professionalism and librarianship. These three ideas form the basis for my personal beliefs regarding the importance of the library profession and will serve as guides throughout my studies and career motivating me to achieve the highest level of professional excellence possible.

Freedom of Access:
The freedom to disseminate and access information equally among all people and including all information as well as a variety of media is an essential element in maintaining an open society. As stated in our textbook: The concern over the increasingly restrictive regulations on use and transfer of information is at base an ethical issue that addresses the balance of the rights of the individual and the rights of society (Lester 370). Freedom of speech is a right guaranteed in the first amendment and as such can be interpreted to include not only the giving of information but the receiving of information as well. Librarians are in the practice of providing information as asked for and therefore have an obligation to society to be as objective as possible in their assessment of relevance in order to hold as ideal, above all else, the satisfaction of an information need. Intellectual freedom is a high priority of mine due to my beliefs in the value of differing viewpoints as well as my antipathy towards increased levels of the control of ideas. As John Stuart Mill so eloquently comments: the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier

2 impression of truth, produced by its collision with error (Mill 19). Without unrestrained access to all aspects of an issue it is impossible to make a truly informed decision, this being equally true for individuals as well as a society. A librarians role within the information complex involves constant contact with the issues inherent in the provision of information to a diverse population. As Nassehi states in his article on the knowledge society it has to be recognized that expert cultures no longer have the power to present definite knowledge without alternatives (Nassehi 447). A library as a societal tool used to provide information can fall into the trap of control where the library as an organization or the individual librarians within it, feel obligated to guide the thinking of society according to certain concepts of which they consider universal but are often not. As John Stuart Mill reiterates: there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it may be considered (Mill).Censorship by any means limits thought and therefore limits existence. Censorship and access restriction are usually thought of in cases of intent in which the library or librarian intentionally limits the availability of information but can also include more nebulous methods such as cataloging and labeling concerns as well as neglect by librarians to give information on resources they disagree with or fall outside of their worldview. Another emerging aspect of the access debate is the role information technology plays in access. In our textbook it notes: Information literacy includes information technology competence, for it implies the ability to use existing technology at a certain ability level in order to compete successfully with others who can take advantage of information and information technologies (Lester 355). The limits imposed on those who cannot use relevant technologies to access the information they need is also a form of access limitation that needs to be addressed by libraries and librarians. Often libraries are the only societal institutions in which this problem can find remedy. The fact that underprivileged or undereducated people do not have the same access as their more wealthy counterparts is a serious issue within the context of the information environment. Freedom of access is one of the most pressing issues in any information environment in that information that cannot be used loses its validity and ceases to exist as information. Information in libraries should maintain a level of availability which is agreeable to the community being served by the library and as such it should be the modus operandi of librarians to not only provide information but to fight against its limitation.

Only Connect
I think this underlying theme of the novel Howards End by E.M. Forster serves to perfectly illustrate my views on this most idealistic of the three values I have chosen. From our textbook we have the statement: Claude Levi-Srauss was to argue that language and myth are the primary carriers of the collective conscience, the underlying structure of human behavior. If language and myth are among the determinants of human behavior, then information serves to fuel those determinants (Lester 250). As a society we need information not only to survive but to rise above mere survival into the realms of intellectual existence. Libraries, especially the public sort, are great vehicles for the dissemination of ideas among a section of the populace who, although not always actively seeking them in the ways considered relevant within the realm of academia never the less can benefit greatly from their discovery.

The connection of others to new thoughts or modes of thinking is a beautiful element of existence. Education and connection are seen mainly to be achieved in a professional setting by teachers but librarians are also educators of sorts bringing literacy and enhanced access abilities to populations often marginalized by the educational system due to class restrictions as well as different modes of learning which dont always fit well with all people. The opportunity to introduce someone to a way of seeing they had previously been oblivious to can be seen as the supreme ideal within any information profession whether direct education or a more indirect manner such as librarianship. The text book comments on the validity of ideas in society and the desire for information dissemination with: The printing press, the public library, and other technologies and information institutions not only inform and educate; they raise expectations (Lester 357). Librarians have the opportunity to bring about a more universal consciousness of the realm of ideas within society that no other information profession can so boldly claim. I think Ranganathans third law of library science every book its reader and my personal views on the value of librarians within the area of education can be illustrated by this quote form the Argentine author and longtime librarian Jorge Luis Borges: A book is a thing among things, a volume lost among the volumes that populate the indifferent universe, until it meets its reader, the person destined for its symbols (Borges 513). Without librarians to introduce readers to books (and all other information media) symbols lose their meaning and information collection and preservation loses its purpose.

Service:
In my personal view the entire raison detre of a librarian is service to the community. In the view of Ranganathan: the very life of a library is in the personal service given to the people (Ranganathan 67). His first law of library science, Books are for use, also aptly illustrates this point implying in his text that librarians exist to facilitate use (Ranganathan 1).The overarching theme running throughout librarianship is service: service to the community in the provision and accessibility of information. In an era when machines can check out books and search engines can write your report for you the one aspect that remains an essential element in differentiating librarians from computer systems and in retaining the relevancy of librarianship is service. A comparison can be made between librarians and independent businesses in that with the increasing prevalence of corporations and the loss of person-to-person contact although we gain access to more with lower cost one thing that is unavoidably sacrificed is service. A search engine cannot tell you if information comes from an authoritative source and can only search within the parameters with which it was designed. It cannot communicate as a librarian can with a patron and has no experience on which to build its ability to understand a question in order to help find an answer. Only librarians can follow the fourth law of library science Save the time of the Reader. A search engine does not care about your time or the specificity of your request. As Ranganathan mentions: the existence of libraries is justified only by the extent to which their books are used by readers (Ranganathan 10). A library in which readers do not feel comfortable and cannot access the materials is not a library but a collection. The job of the librarian is not merely to collect and organize as well as preserve and guard but to strive towards use. Librarians are public

4 servants, not counting those who work within the private realm, and as such should sacrifice all to the altar of service. Librarians should always be willing to help a patron no matter the absurdity or difficulty of the request with the same level of respect and service dispensed equally among all. As is mentioned in our reference textbook: the user values the behavior of the librarian often more than the answer (Cassell 29). Many people count on librarians to help them and see this as the purpose of librarianship. Ranganathan describes the proper procedure for this as: the moment a Reader enters the library, whatever is in hand must be stopped instantly and the impression given to the Reader should be one of welcome and attention (Ranganathan 61). I think this is a perfect example of the way a librarian should view their relationship towards patrons and the service aspect of their job. As the ALA Code of Ethics mentions as its first point We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests (Lester 346). This is a good indicator of the librarian communitys commitment to service and one I hope to maintain throughout my own career as a librarian. Libraries are meant to be used; they are tools for information collection and more importantly information access. As Ranganathan states: it is the library staff that ultimately make or mar a library (Ranganathan 34). A library collection is less than useless without a helpful staff to assist seekers in their search for information. A librarian who offers little help or treats the patron with a lack of respect risks alienating that patron from the world of libraries and from information searching in general where a librarian who acts within the concept that respect is just minimum and the main purpose of their job is to assist in locating information will be able to positively affect the entire information future of the patron turning them on to a world they didnt know existed as well as convincing them of the utility and validity of the library in an increasingly diverse information environment where libraries are seen as less relevant due to the internet, e-readers and other factors.

Conclusion:
As is hopefully evidenced in the body of this paper I highly value the aspects of librarianship included within the concepts of intellectual freedom, education and literacy, and service. While these are the three core values that I most identify with at this point in my education they are not the only three I respect but my choices are mainly based on depth of feeling and ability to articulate the extent to which I believe in these particular values and why I consider them important within the context of librarianship and to me as a future librarian. I hope to base my future goals in education as well as the tenets of my professional attitude within my library career on these values and strive to achieve a more than respectable level of excellence in regards to each one throughout my professional life.

Bibliography
Borges, Jorge Luis. Selected Non-Fictions. Ed. Eliot Weinberger. New York: Penguin Books, 1999. Cassell, Kay Ann and Hiremath, Una. Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century: An Introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2009. Lester, June and Koehler, Wallace C. Fundamentals of Information Studies. 2nd ed. New York: NealSchuman Publishers, Inc., 2007. Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. Ontario, Canada: Batoche Books, 2001. Nassehi, Armin. "What do We Know about Knowledge? An Essay on the Knowledge Society." Canadian Journal of Sociology 29.3 (2004): 439-449. Ranganathan, S.R. The Five Laws of Library Science. London: Edward Goldston,Ltd., 1931.