Advance Information Equity and Justice
1.1 Identify situations where systemic information inequality exists.
The identification of systematic information inequality, in my book, is a core fundamental job all information professionals work to fix. Information Inequality exists within all libraries, archives, and museums, it is unavoidable, but the number of these gaps can be prevented. Though working with community members of different backgrounds, having clear avenues for patron feedback, and routine review, those working within these fields can improve upon their systems in place in order to make it easier for patrons to find the information they need. At their core, these professions require adaptability and outreach as times change. No longer can information professions be neutral parties, instead they must actively seek out how to improve their spaces and how accessible their institutions really are.
Over the course of my studies, I have worked to fulfill this outcome through the evolution of current institutional systems and the gaps that might be present. I spent time writing advocacy essays working on ensuring that my local library addresses gaps within the system where users from a Latino, immigrants facing housing disparity, could be better assisted. I also worked to create programming that could be used for my library to create a more accessible reading time for children with disabilities whose primary language is Spanish. Other ways I have worked to identify information inequality is through evaluations of my local library based on their physical and online accessibility as well as the presence, or lack of presence of assistive technologies.
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1.3 Create and support policies that reflect principles of a just and equitable information society.
To me, the act of creating and supporting material that reflects a just and equitable information society is done through the act of filling gaps. This is done in tangent with PLO 1.1 as information professions need to first seek out the gaps that prevent users from accessing the information, they need which in turn allows the information professional to build bridges allowing better access of information through programming and policy creation. I believe that in order to create such bridges one must recognize the unfair, uneven playfield that different patrons from within the community and to work with them as nobody can, or should, build bridges alone. Whether it is a library, archive, or museum, each institution thus needs to create and support policies that allow for better information access.
Since I connected 1.3 and 1.1 together, I believe the best examples of my work here are with my advocacy essay and my library program for marginalized community members, both of which offer up programming that can be conducted through my local library to support different community groups in order to support a just and equitable information society. Both programs offer up ways the library can provide better resources directed at each group, such as providing Spanish language housing fliers with websites, services, and information community members might need.
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1.2 Interrogate and internalize professional ethics, values, standards, and principles.
Reflection and review are powerful tools within an information professional’s arsenal. At all times they need to look back at their own professional ethics, values, standards, and principles to ensure they are following the right guideline. These guidelines come from our own personal morals, the ethics of the institutions we represent, and the ethics and guidelines presented by the profession. I think this can be done through reflecting on the question: “why do we do what we do?” Information professions, no matter the field, need to remind themselves of the core ideas they work to represent, and if they feel they are not living up to those standards, they should work to make the change they want to see.
Over the course of my studies, I engaged in numerous ways with self-reflection and internal analysis regarding my own morals, ethics, beliefs, and the beliefs of professionals within the library field. At the end of my first term of the program I created a Statement of Professional Philosophy which highlights my desire to work around helping users access institutional information artifacts and preservice their own information artifacts. I also wrote reports on two different interviews I did with different library professions. The first interview, done with an academic reference librarian, highlights many different reflective practices as I worked to consider the differences between my own ethics and learning and that of a professional currently working in the field. The second interview is an example of talking about how one reflects on their own practices while asking themselves how to conduct work to their own standards.
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1.4 Demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning via engagement with users, communities, colleagues, and professional networks.
A commitment to lifelong learning is a two-part idea as there is the commitment to engaging in one’s own lifelong learning and the commitment to helping others through their own journeys through lifelong learning. Through committing to both one is proclaiming their desire to better themself and those around them. It is to commit to helping the communities they serve and to learn from those communities. To do this requires a rejection of the neutral, passive librarian and instead shift their focus to active participation. To commit to this active participation means to ensure users within the community have access to the materials they need, to work together with them to improve the library spaces, to reach out to the community, and to develop one’s own small community within ones own professional sphere.
I believe my final reflection IST 564: accessible librarianship is a great example of reflecting on my own beliefs related to lifelong learning. Throughout the reflection I discuss how the course changed my beliefs resulting in me becoming a strong advocate for lifelong learning through interaction with one’s own community. I also directly state how I plan to commit to lifelong learning and why it is critical to consider lifelong learning in relation to equity and justice.
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Learning Transfer:
The work I’ve done regarding equity and justice has engraved into me how unjust and unequal information access can be. Because of this, there is a great deal of work that needs to be done regarding recognizing and fixing these issues. Liberians and archivists are not neutral positions, but positions that require one to become advocates for those within their communities for just and equitable information society. Information professionals must connect with their communities and utilize lifelong learning as tools for how they can create a more just and fairer platform for those facing information insecurity. I have learned a great deal regarding how to find the gaps within information access using several different resources (most important being to listen to patrons and the community). I have reflected on how my own ethics, beliefs, standards, and principles reflect a burning desire to improve upon information accessibly. I have worked on creating programing and policies that can be actively implemented within my own local library community to improve upon its quality of life. Finally, I have committed myself to engaging with lifelong learning, both for myself and for the communities I will be a part of. I think with these core fundamental ideas the library, or archive, can be a place of growth and change where new ideas are welcomed with open arms. I strongly believe that entrenchment is an ever-worrisome problem present within the information community, a community who ever loves their systems, and thus should be engaged with through reflecting on the reason information professionals do what they do: to allow better access of information for all.
Ian Murray 