Week 8: Reading Reflection

"Dangerous Questions at the Reference Desk" Mark Lenker, 2008.

My primary though throughout this article was "So ... where do these things stop?" The text presupposes a fundamental divide between the reference librarian and the available library materials (or just the internet access provided in the library). It also assumes that patrons with an obviously "dangerous" question are likely to approach the reference desk, which seems rather unlikely to me. When it comes down to it, librarians are just another resource--a lively, sparkling, brilliant, awesome resource... but in some ways we're just a path to information, same as a library catalog or Google.  Even if we don't help someone find instructions for building a bomb or growing marijuana, he can still find the information on his own. This seems more a question of personal liability and ethics than a larger policy question--with emphasis on the liability aspect.

On the other hand, I really appreciate that the emphasis of "virtues analysis" is placed on the librarian him/herself as an ethical being, rather than an evaluation of the patron. I've read a couple of blog/twitter posts from people (not any of our star bloggers) who were pretty darn sure they could tell which people were asking for information about illegal substances/actions for research purposes and which people wanted to break the law--the answer to the latter basically being "teenagers" in every case. Considering how upset I got at those people, I really value Lenker's article for avoiding this kind of evaluation, and placing the burden of ethical decision on the librarian.

Two small notes: "vice" seems like a rather poor word choice in the present day, considering the connotation has shifted from "negative personal quality" to "self-indulgent habit." Similarly, I can't help laughing at the Victorian quality of the "virtue" vocabulary--"personal dissoluteness" rings in my head in the voice of a disapproving nineteenth century matriarch, disparaging her grandson for his drinking habits. But maybe I just read too much.