What Happened to Politics and Ethics? Seven 21st Century Library Philosophers on the Epistemological and Ontological Foundations of Library Science

Abstract

1. Philosophy in the Library: A Healthy Debate or a State of Confusion?Lately there seems to be considerable debate-or confusion, depending on how you understand it-as to what libraries are, what is the proper object of study for library science, and even whether or not library science is really scientific. Enter the philosophers, and who knew there were so many among us! Although Zwadlo (1997) cited a 1934 paper by Danton in which it was reported that only 1 to 5 percent of library publications have any philosophical discussion, the debate about philosophy for libraries renewed in the 1990s, and Danton would be astonished at the number of publications appearing since the year 2000. One of the most noticeable aspects of this renewed interest is a focus on epistemological and ontological issues, a focus that can be traced back to a series of papers published in Library Quarterly in the 1990s (see Radford [1992], Budd [1995], Zwadlo [1997] and Dick [1999]). That was largely an AngloAmerican academic debate (Dick writing in English from South Africa). The task I set myself in this paper was to look at the debate during the past decade, and especially to consider views from beyond the Anglo-American universe. I chose seven books to examine, looking at them in particular for the political and ethical dimensions of the discussion.2. The Library: A Radically Political InstitutionI shall begin with Serbian librarian Zeljko Vuckovic's 2003 monograph Javne biblioteke i javno znanje (which could be translated in English as Public libraries and public knowledge). Like the other authors discussed below, he focuses on epistemological issues; more than any of the others he is concerned with the potential of libraries for political life. The hypothesis the author wishes to explore is the following:Public libraries are the most open and most democratic form of the institutionalization and use of public knowledge. Hence their key role in designing and building a library information system and infrastructure and their strategic importance in economic and social development. Providing free, equal and unrestricted access to the achievements of culture and civilization, to knowledge, ideas and information, the public library contributes to the development of a democratic public and the quality of life in the community, and the practical realization of the concept of rational communication [Vuckovic, 2003, p. 7].Jesse Shera's social epistemology is a guiding theoretical-methodological orientation in the first half of this work as the author proceeds through a discussion of terminology and chapters on the function of the library, public librarianship as a social institution, the development of the idea of public librarianship, and the legal foundations and history of public libraries in Serbia. The second half of the book looks at public librarianship in the context of international legal regimes, UNESCO declarations and IFLA, the public library as part of postmodern culture and the changes and challenges of public libraries in the information society with its digital libraries. A short chapter on the development of technical information systems for public libraries in Serbia is then followed by an even shorter chapter on the philosophical and axiological principles of public librarianship. It is those few final pages that are chiefly of interest to me, since the discussion within the book assumes these principles rather than argues them.The final chapter begins with the question "Why philosophical considerations in an area that is primarily practical and pragmatic, in a service- and client-oriented activity?" (p. 174). It is a question that nearly every one of the authors discussed below asks. The answer, he suggests, depends on the definition of philosophical inquiry but even more importantly on whether one thinks that librarianship needs a systematic theoretical foundation. In the author's view, systematic theory "is an indication and measure of professional responsibility . …