In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King

The Spring semester at the University of Arizona began last week and I have spent the weekend doing homework for my class, Ethics for Library and Information Professionals. 

We were assigned to read the first two chapters of the textbook, Library Ethics, by Jean Preer. In Chapter 1, the author talks about the code of ethics for specialty librarians and how they can differ slightly from the code for public librarians depending on the materials in their care and/or the governing/funding structure of their organization and/or specific relationships with their constituents.

I was struck by the way the 2005 version of the Code of Ethics for Archivists defined an archivist in its preamble.  It is quite succinct and combines general attributes with specific professional values:

The term ‘archivist’ as used in this code encompasses all those concerned with the selection, control, care, preservation, and administration of historical and documentary records of enduring value.

The papers of Martin Luther King certainly qualify as “records of enduring value” and today, in celebration of the holiday, 200,000 documents, including letters from his children, the I Have A Dream speech (complete with notes), and a draft of his acceptance speech for the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, have been made available online.  Anyone can access them at www.TheKingCenter.org/archive.

And the 300 JPMorgan Chase staff members, college students and veterans hired for this project along with 100 volunteers spent 9 months as 'junior' archivists.  Those involved donned lab jackets and Latex gloves to sort through boxes of personal papers, documents, and handwritten notes. A digital image was taken of each item; it was then indexed and placed in an acid-free container with a bar code.

Thanks to funding and leadership provided by Chase, supplemented by support from AT&T Business Solutions and EMC, these items – national treasures – are available to all of us. We can access them without having to travel to Atlanta, get special permission, or worry that we may be damaging a fragile resource.

But there are other benefits to this project. According to an article in USA Today, the people involved made new friends and had a chance to interact with different types of people. One participant realized that he had been judging people based on stereotypes and now knows that he needs to see each person as an individual.

Dr. King continues to teach and inspire.