O. Carteaux

Student Learning Outcome No. 1: Ethics and Philosophy

 

When I first started my journey into Library and Information Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, I didn't know to much other that the basics surrounding LIS and libraries.  I knew that librarians and archivists were those responsible for making access to information available to all kinds of communities, and that they also were responsible for the preservation and housing of that information, but I never realized how complex the idea of ethics could be when applied to Library Science. On the surface, it seems like a cut and dry issue: make information available, and preserve that materials whenever possible, and make sure that materials are not stolen, defaced, or otherwise misused or compromised. Of course, there is considerably more to it than that. Not only do librarians have to take on the role of thinking about patrons regarding these things, but those concerns often carry over to donors, the institution that the libary is a part of (and therefore held accountable to), and the subject itself of the materials that they are responsible for. 

 

Ethics/Philosophy

 

When putting together this website, I at first had a hard time trying to figure out what I would talk about in this section. Ethics and philosopy are such broad topics, and there are so many issues and convictions I have in relation to each - the ethics of the issues in Library Studies are those that help shape my personal philosphy. Choosing just a few to talk about is quite a task. Did I want to mention the ethics of security, in which I could talk about biometrics and the ethical implimentation of having a record of patron's physical appearence, or even genetic material? Should I mention the ethical implications of that issue when it comes to disabled people, or how it strangely echoes ideas that are spelled out in dystopian novels like '1984' or 'Brave New World'? Or even how  implimenting biometric recognition, especially regarding that of genetics, can have the possibility of infringing on human rights? 

 

I realized that I did want to talk about that issue, but there are so many other issues that loom more to the forefront of my experience - so much so that I really want to examine them here, and like most libraries and archives, space is limited, and time is not a luxury for me. Thereofre, I decided to talk about a few of these issues that I have dealt with the most, that are conseqiently the ones that seemed to have shaped my personal philosophy in Library Science and as a future archivist. These issues tend to bleed into all aspects of my life as well. Perhaps they have both influenced each other - but I cannot deny that their importance is one that will follow me throughout all of my experiences.

 

Copyright 

 

There are so many kinds of information that librarians and archivists are responsible for, and therefore all sorts of different kinds of libraries. One thing that comes into play regarding ethics that every library has had to deal with in countless ways is copyright. This is also something that I had to deal with exgensively as General Manager at WUAG 103.1 FM, in regards to making music available to people, and what kinds of freedoms WUAG had over their music holdings - something that I started to really think about when I was still General Manager and working on a project for LIS 644, Digitial Libraries. My idea was to create a digital archive (althogh small at the time) of the vinyl collection at WUAG - a collection that has, to this point, fallen to dissarray and relative disuse. Because, as GM, I was constantly thinking of ways to better the station, making more materials available for a larger group people - many of the DJS at the station are underclassmen who often shy away from vinyl, whether because they don't know how to actually play it, or because the archive itself is so disorganized - that the idea of making music available in a way that it had not been before was quite exciting. It could boost our listener base, increase what we could play over the air, and make our programming that much more diverse. 

 

I was also thinking about it from a librairan's perspective. I had access to this collection that was in desperate need of organizing and preservation. The hisorical value to the station, as well as people who are interested in the station and it's place at UNCG and in the Greensboro community, was something that I thought I had hit on as being pretty important. So I went through the prosess of digitizing about 20 7' records and putting them up on the internet, organizing them, and creating a template for the basic vision that I had in mind. Of course, none of these items were available to the public - I had made sure that the audio was protected and unavialable, as to not tempt the copyright gods and their wrath. It was only when my professor mentioned that this could be something that I could do as an independent study that I really started thinking about the breadth of the project, and that it was an actual possibility. Before it had just been an exercise in learning about digitizing materials and collection building, thinking about the metadata involved, and all aspects of the materials that would be made available to people, especially on a web based platform. 

 

Thus the natural course is that the project has carried over into my work in my independent study this semester, which involves digitization and organization of that same vinyl collection at WUAG. The original plan included looking for Jackson Library on campus at UNCG to possibly house the collection, and writing an LSTA grant for the project, but it quickly became appearent to me that there were resrictions on the station regarding the rights that WUAG held in regards to the materials that I was working with. Because of the FCC and copyright laws regarding ownership of the audio I am planning for diitization, the library cannot house all of the material that I am planning on including in the archive. The rights that the station holds are reserved for airplay only, and not for sharing through a catalog, thus making the plan that I was writing that much more complicated, and cutting out Jackson Library's involvement in the aspect of housing all the materials, as well as barring me from finding funding for the project through a grant with LSTA. The archivist and librarian in me wants to make everything available for everyone, and it occured to me that this is going to be a constant issue regarding the materials that I will be working with in my current field. I understand the need for copyright and why it works the way that it does - however, it often complicates things, to put it mildly. Finding ways around it, working with it, is something that I am still trying to figure out, and probably will be for a long time to come. 

 

There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. Even though Jackson Library on UNCG campus may not be able to house the audio files that WUAG holds, there may be a possibility of making available to people the album covers and DJ notes and reviews that are part of the album cover itself. Because these changes were done at WUAG, they are the property of the station, and therefore original materials - and something that the station can make available to outside parties, if even as image files. These materials have the added benefit of being historically relevant as well as unique, and so therefore valuable to any number of people that could gain access to them. At this point, I still need to discuss the whole of the possibility of this idea with my contacts at Jackson Library, but I feel that having a catalog housed at Jackson of these images is a definite possibility, and would be beneficial to the station as well as the Library - not to mention everyone that could have access to these images. 

 

I still find myself stuggling with rules regarding copyright and the implications that not only they have for my personal projects, but also what it means regarding access for archives and libraries everywhere. I am slowly learning more about this issue, and know that it is somthing that I will always have to look out for, and be mindful of regarding any collection. I think it's even kind of exciting in regards of trying to find a way to make projects still possible despite these restrictions, as is much about working in archives - it is a puzzle that must be figured out, a labyrinth of twists and turns, dead ends, and patches of bright light that finally lead to a solution that sometimes is far more complex and more beneficial than the original idea. 

 

Censorship 

 

 

As General Manager at WUAG and constantly having to think about the FCC, censorship was something that was very present in everything that we did at the station. Media outlets, because of the fact that they broadcast ( publicly, in terms of radio) to a large number of people, always have to maintain a level of censorship. We have all heard of George Carlin's 'Seven Words You Can't Say on Televison', which also applies to radio as well. Graned, some of the words that he referenced are now no longer taboo, but the idea still applies - censorship is a very real part of our world in these aspects. 

 

I was recently working on a project through the Duke Archives, where I am doing my practicum/internship, transcribing an interview with Michele Montas, who was involved in running and broadcasting on Radio Haiti for 30 years. The interview is a very interesting one - she was a journalist during the Jean-Claude Duvalier dictatorship, and spoke at length about censorship and self-censorship, and how it was linked to the governmental and social environment of Haiti at the time. Although the situation in Haiti was incredibly dire, and the censorship that she faced was much more intense than anything I can even imagine, it did again remind me that like copyright, censorship is something that everyone has to deal with - sometimes it is much more repressive than others. It is also something that will always continue to be an issue, becuase there will always be people that are attempting to censor materials, or other people's voices - and therefore it becomes an ethical issue. Just because the reasons behind implimenting something like censorship are not repressive, it does not mean that the censorship itself will not be, and I think that is important when toeing the fine line of objective censoring. Because no censorship can ever be completely objective, it is therefore by it's very nature repressive, and a matter of abject opinion of the group or person governing the constraints that are placed on materials. Something interesting to think about regarding collections and materials - and what kinds of materials are being made available to what patrons. 

 

Personal foundations and philosophy

 

One thing that I have come to realize during my time is the program is that much of my personal philosophy and ethics is echoed in the foundations of Library and Information Studies. I have also come to realize that the importance of access, perhaps above all else, is what drives me and is present beind everything that I do - from my work in my classes, such as LIS 688 Special Collections Rare Books and Manuscripts, where one of our assignments had to do with reworking a finding aid for specific archives; to my current practicum, where I am working to organize a collection so that it can be used by sholars and students. The idea of accessability is behind everything, and drives many of the reasons that we do what we do in library science. If we are unable to make materials accessible to patrons, what good is everything else? What is the use of making sure materials are preserved, if there is no way to use or find them? It is important to not only make these materials available, but also make sure that they are reliable - from the metadata, to any other information about the materials themselves. We provide a service for our patrons - to make information and materials both accessable and reliable in an organized manner that promotes learning and growth  - whether it be for entertainment purposes, scholarly projects, professional interests, educational research, or anything else. 

 

 

LIS 600 Foundations of Library and Information Science: Biometrics

LIS 600 Foundations of Library and Information Science: Personal Statement

LIS 610 Collection Management: Templesmith Library Collection Policy

LIS 650 Library Management and Administration: Final Treatise

LIS 688 Special Collections Rare Books and Manuscripts: Elizabeth A. Ludwig Finding Aid

LIS 690 Independent Study: WUAG Vinyl Archive Digitization Plan 

LIS 691 Practicum: Duke University Archive of Documentary Arts