Articulating the Philosophy, Principles, and Ethics of LIS
As I have stated in previous sections, the code of values of the American Library Association (ALA) and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) are aspirational professional practice mandates. Interpretation of and positionality to each value is a matter of personal consideration and ethical wherewithal. This contributes to why I believe many view librarianship to be a calling, a profession that speaks to ones inner id. However, we must check our good intentions with intentionality, and our professional philosophy, principles, and ethics must live in a continual conversation between the individual, the profession, and society. My time in the SLIS program has emphasized the need to cultivate this awareness within myself, not only professionally but personally. This is why, as I stated in my philosophy of LIS practice, I am glad to have waited for this moment in my career to pursue an MLIS, grounded in my lived experiences and framed by a global pandemic. My exploration of why I want to be and how I can be a librarian and an archivist has been iteratively impactful throughout the SLIS program. Looking back through my work over the past two and a half years, I see not only growth but a more granular expression of intent and purpose.
In my second semester, while taking LS501 Information in Communities, I contemplated my emerging understanding of librarianship from our course readings in three short essays. I see these writings informing my ensuing personal awareness of my professional obligations. Verbalizing the connection I saw between philosophy and practice instigated the process of self-identifying my core values and principles that have come to define my relationship with the profession. Whether manifesting in an understanding that the historical privileging of the archive can only be dismantled through combating ingrained or systemic power structures, coming to terms with the illusion of neutrality in the work we do and the need to redress past societal and professional injustices, or that the greatest potential access must be provided but with intentionality and cultural sensitivity, I see that conversation and collaboration should serve as tools in the fulfilling of our professional ethics.
Lastly, in LS557 Archival Appraisal, taken during my fifth semester at SLIS, I was tasked with crafting an archival appraisal policy and implementation plan. Envisioning how I would define and support an archive’s collecting goals and objectives from their application, enforcement, and assessment, provided me the opportunity to call upon the professional philosophy I have been cultivating. I set forth a reparative collecting strategy to be implemented at my current institution, one that exists in spirit if not in written form. The exercise informed my understanding of educating the public about what we do and how we do it, providing accountability that can be measured by those whom we profess to serve and preserve. If we do not have a framework directing our professional philosophy, principles, ethics, or values, we cannot meet them with meaningful intent. In the end, archivists must understand societal changes will continuously affect professional practice, requiring the profession to utilize our framework of ethics to identify and address them as they arise to ensure our viability.
In my second semester, while taking LS501 Information in Communities, I contemplated my emerging understanding of librarianship from our course readings in three short essays. I see these writings informing my ensuing personal awareness of my professional obligations. Verbalizing the connection I saw between philosophy and practice instigated the process of self-identifying my core values and principles that have come to define my relationship with the profession. Whether manifesting in an understanding that the historical privileging of the archive can only be dismantled through combating ingrained or systemic power structures, coming to terms with the illusion of neutrality in the work we do and the need to redress past societal and professional injustices, or that the greatest potential access must be provided but with intentionality and cultural sensitivity, I see that conversation and collaboration should serve as tools in the fulfilling of our professional ethics.
Lastly, in LS557 Archival Appraisal, taken during my fifth semester at SLIS, I was tasked with crafting an archival appraisal policy and implementation plan. Envisioning how I would define and support an archive’s collecting goals and objectives from their application, enforcement, and assessment, provided me the opportunity to call upon the professional philosophy I have been cultivating. I set forth a reparative collecting strategy to be implemented at my current institution, one that exists in spirit if not in written form. The exercise informed my understanding of educating the public about what we do and how we do it, providing accountability that can be measured by those whom we profess to serve and preserve. If we do not have a framework directing our professional philosophy, principles, ethics, or values, we cannot meet them with meaningful intent. In the end, archivists must understand societal changes will continuously affect professional practice, requiring the profession to utilize our framework of ethics to identify and address them as they arise to ensure our viability.
Work Samples
![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
evan_leavitt_ls-501_yates_final_essays.pdf |
![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
evan_leavitt_-_ls557_-_final_-_apprasial_policy.pdf |