Close to the Finish Line!

Posted July 30, 2020 by Sarah Callanan

We are getting close to the end of the semester everyone!  We are in Week 7 and the summer term ends in just a few days!  As you can imagine, I am feeling the pressure!  Even though my class is ending in a few days, there is still so much left to do!

As I’ve said in previous posts, summer classes are condensed courses—you are learning two weeks of material during a one-week period, so you are taking in a lot of information.  LIS 475: Organizational and Information Ethics has been a very interesting class.  The early weeks were less focused on library and information-related content, and were more focused on introducing us to the concept of what ethics is and ethical frameworks.  We didn’t really start talking about information ethics or anything super-related to libraries until later in the course.  We’ve covered so many topics in this class already, such as Ethical Frameworks, Ethics and Organizational Culture and Management, Ethical Decision Making and Legal Compliance, Information Ethics, Privacy and Access, Digital Equity, Intellectual Freedom, Intellectual Property and Ethics, and Ethics, Technology and Society.  This last week we are covering Navigating Ethical Dilemmas. 

This class has been more of a thinking class. A lot of my time in this class has been spent thinking of hypothetical scenarios, different perspectives, and what I would do in particular situations.  As is stated in the description for this course, “The course will assist professionals to clarify and apply their own moral standards and ethical norms, beliefs, and values to unfamiliar, complex situations in which the appropriate application of these values may not be obvious. The course makes no effort to dictate what is ‘right,’ ‘proper,’ and ‘just’; that is left to the individual’s own moral standards of behavior and ethical systems of belief.”  Many of the things we discuss in class fall into grey areas with no right answers.  This class has been full of thought-provoking challenges and I have really enjoyed it. 

As is the norm for the majority of classes I’ve taken at SLIS, there is a final project for this course, and it’s a big one.  We have a huge paper due on Sunday and a presentation!  Wish me luck for the final push!