Hi, everyone. This is Scott Young. I'm here today talk about On Ethical Assessment: Locating and Applying the Core Values of Library and Information Science. So I'm Scott Young, I'm the User Experience and Assessment Librarian at Montana State University. This is the Library Assessment Conference 2020. And we're online. So hi, again, Scott Young. Today's talk is about values-based decision-making in the practice of library assessment. So I can be found online, that's my handle, sco_yo. And my website, scottwhyoung.com. These slides, this video recording, and a transcript is available on my website at this URL. I have long, long link and the short link there. The materials will also be available on the conference website soon. So I'm talking today about a research project that I'm doing now. And the presentation today is one part of a bigger project. And so what I'm getting at initially is some of these questions related to values, so what they are—they include which values which values matter to LIS professionals, then which values matter to library assessment practitioners? And then how do those values support ethical decision-making in library assessment. So to get at those questions, today, I'm going to talk briefly about professional identity and some of the characteristics of a profession. Then I'm going to look at some original research that I've done to highlight professional values. And so I'm going to talk a very brief history about LIS professional values. And then I'm going to talk about values in action and some of the practical applications of of the values. Okay, so starting with professional identity. So going back to 1957, the sociologist Greenwood outlined five basic attributes of a profession: systematic theory, authority, community sanction, ethical codes, and culture. So my focus here is on ethical codes. And so even though this was written some time ago, it's a really important concept that's still relevant today. And the idea of an ethical code being definitional for a profession is really important. And so it's sort of our claim as a profession—or our claim to values come from our identity as a profession. So more recently, the librarian Preer says, "I believe that a measure of profession's development is its understanding of the values that govern its practice." So starting with this idea, LIS is a profession, we have values, and it's important for us to understand what they are. So let's talk about that a little bit—professional values. So I draw on Seminelli for the definition: "the values of a profession are the beliefs of the group." And for the practitioners in Library and Information Science, understanding these values improves our ability to recognize ethical situations and to make ethical decisions. So let's do a very brief history of LIS professional values. The earliest published set of values for our profession is most commonly cited as Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science. But following that publication, the discussion of professional ethics and shared values appeared only infrequently throughout much of the 20th century. During this time, a few writers issued some calls-to-action for our profession to commit greater attention and greater resources to studying values and ethics. For example, Library Journal editor, Moon in 1968, wrote that the LIS profession "does have ethical questions to grapple with, and should find a way to formulate a position on some of them." As evidenced in the literature, however, the LIS profession did not really demonstrate a widespread interest in ethics or values until the introduction of automation and new information technologies more fully showed themselves as the century drew to a close. So in the 80s and 90s we start to see a lot more articles and attention about values in our profession. So in a speech in 1989, ALA president Summers enumerates a set of professional values. For him, he sited individual autonomy, privacy, equality, freedom, access. And he closed his speech by talking about a challenge that we face in trying to embrace technology without losing our basic values, and about how technology can alter those values. So there was this question in the 80s and 90s, about the values that are inherent, or original, or essential, or basic, or core. And this becomes fertile ground for debate in the 90s leading up to the turn of the millennium. Many practitioners and writers take up this question. I include a hearty set of references at the end of this presentation.

But no consensus emerged as to which values were the most important, or even what should be included in a core set. So as the response—as a response to this growing, but inconclusive debate around core values, this question was elevated to the national level. And the ALA convened a couple tasks forces in the early 2000s. And those task forces produced what's now known as the ALA Statement on Core Values. And so here they are, these are the ALA core values. They are referenced in our literature. Whether we agree with them or not, they're a point of reference, there's something for us to respond to. So in responding to them, what I kind of came at this with is a question of—which are more important in which different situations. And so they're these are unranked these these values. We don't know which supersede others if they come into conflict in certain situations. And so that's kind of the questions that I'm asking. So what I did then was I looked at all the literature that mentions professional values published between 1931 Ranganathan's five laws and 2004, the publication of the ALA Core Values. And this is what I found, I found that there are 36 values in fact mentioned and here they are ranked one to 36 by frequency of mention in the articles. So here they are. The boldfaced are the ALA core values. So we see a cluster at the top, the top five are all included in the Core Values, then mix in their stewardship and individual autonomy. That's kind of interesting number nine. And then we have a couple more down the list The Public Good at 14, diversity, 26. Diversity is a newer value that we're citing. But there's some interesting ones on the list here number 20, care. Number 32, beauty. Number 33, rights. Neutrality is on the list at number 35. So this is an interesting finding. This is kind of the heart of my presentation today and the paper that will be in the proceeding. Here's a visual representation of these values. So service was mentioned 12 times, Access nine. And then so on down the list. The long tail in the graph represents the lack of consensus around the values. But the fact that we have some agreement at the top does suggest that there's some some possibility for us to identify an actual core set that is maybe tighter than 12. But now that we kind of see what values are on the table, I really love this Emily Drabinski, quote, "Values are continually produced and reproduced in the library discourse." And they are "ideas to be struggled over in both discourse and practice." So let's take a look at what some of that struggle is, what these values look like when they're put into practice. I found sort of three main purposes for values for us: practical ethics, values as a stabilizing force, and then vocational awe. So looking at first practical ethics, "values are strongly held beliefs that serve to guide our actions." And as a practice-based profession—profession, practical ethics is is the predominant way that we kind of see ethics, ethics as values in practice, values in action. And so this is the main focus of the literature. And this represents the sort of principle purpose of articulating a set of values for us—as a grounds for practical and professional ethics. So in this way, values can help guide our everyday action, and our decision-making. So Fister in 2012, for example, cites "our traditional values" as a way to guide the "practical steps" needed to build a more just world that LIS professionals wish to inhabit. So our professional values can provide a framework for ethical conduct, policies, and services. In addition to that, the library literature reveals an interest in examining the past and the future of library values as a means of creating stability through time, especially in the face of change driven by technology or economic pressures. Enumerating and adhering to a set of professional values reflects a desire to root the unknown future of libraries in a knowable past. Through uncertain change, shared values are seen as a way to guide the profession into a future as the foundation of professional activities and services. In addition to signaling internally, professional values can also serve as a tool for communication and engagement with those outside the profession. So in this, there's a secondary call to share our values to external stakeholders, such as publics, other campus entities, and wider communities, so as to communicate our lasting value as a profession and to build trust.

So, finally, the emerging concept of Vocational Awe. So this adds a useful critical dimension to this discussion. First introduced by Ettarh in 2017: Vocational Awe is the idea that "libraries as institutions are inherently good. It assumes that some or all core aspects of the profession are beyond critique, and it in turn underpins many librarian's sense of identity and emotional investment in the profession." That's a quote from Ettarh. So one of those core aspects is core values. Vocational Awe—and when we see vocational awe as applied to core values—I'm kind of riffing on Ettarh a little bit—looking here at how values that are canonized, idealized, and then they can be weaponized. So Vocational Awe authorizes that LIS is a sacred calling, and that its values are canonical, and thus incontestable. The core values of access, Ettarh points out, has not been achieved equally in American society, as non-white citizens have been systematically denied access to libraries for much of the 20th century. When LIS values are positioned as an unquestionable canon, Ettarh argues that such a positioning prevents the profession from examining and addressing its historical and contemporary flaws, including these practices that perpetuate race- and gender-based oppressions. Vocational Awe further shows that LIS values represent a hegemonic ideal of practice that excludes those who object to the core values or wish to expand beyond the set of core values. So just as certain values are included in the canon, others are excluded. And the core values—they don't come from nowhere. They reflect a certain cultural perspective, that being a Western, enlightenment tradition. So rather than expressing universal truths from a neutral point of view, the LIS Core Values maintain or contain inherent cultural biases that over time had been idealized into a dominant norm of behavior. This normative behavior can exclude librarians of historically minoritized identities, resulting in negative effects for those who do not conform to the ideal. So when values are canonized, and idealized in this way, they can become weaponized against dissenting views or practices that seek to change or challenge these dominant modes of librarianship. So, my research shows that service is the most referenced value. And indeed, service may be said to be the dominant mode of our work, even to the detriment of workers themselves. So Ettarh describes the effect of overwork and under-compensation when she theorizes Vocational Awe. In this way, the library professional is compensated not in material goods or a healthy workplace, but rather the good feelings of working for a profession that espouses good values. So when service for example, is upheld as the highest priority, taking precedence over healthy relationship-building or workplace democracy, negative impacts can be seen in staff retention, morale, and productivity. And that point draws on Ortega and Kendrick, again cited at the end of the slides. So taken together the canonization, idealization— idealization, and weaponization of the Core Values—they complicate the Core Values as potential pathways for professional and societal growth. Okay, that takes us to the end, I covered a little bit ground here on professional identity, a little bit about professional values, and then talking about what this looks like in action. So there's a lot more here, this is just a little taste, the proceedings will have all of this in more detail. And I'm going further than just these questions, I want to get at how the values relate to decision making in our practice of library assessment. So I want to look at the common ethical dilemmas that we as assessment practitioners encounter. I want to look more at how we respond to those dilemmas, what actions we take to resolve the any value conflicts that we find. And I want to try to develop a new framework or some sort of decision aid that can support a values-based assessment practice. So I'll end by just saying, if you want to get involved in this research, as a participant, please contact me. Or I also have a contact survey here at cutt.ly/assessment-survey. That's cutt.ly/assessment-survey. And it's just an email request. So if you want to share your thoughts, let me know. So that's what I've got today. Thank you so much for listening and watching and a big thanks to the conference organizers for creatively pivoting to to allow this presentation. I'm really happy to share this work and be a part of this assessment community. So you can find me online at these places and there's a Q&A, I'll talk with you there. Hope you're doing okay, wherever you are.