Working to Think Otherwise: Tracing Ethos in Information Professionals’ Reflections on Learning and Practice

Abstract

This secondary analysis of an LIS workforce survey uses Foucault’s concept of ethos as ‘care of self’ to examine how practitioners construct professional identity and ethos through their reflections on practice. It explores tensions arising in LIS discourses (community engagement, information management/ use/practice, professional advocacy) and broader discourses (managerialism, enterprise). It finds that many respondents are reflective practitioners, however workplace cultures don’t always value or support critical reflective practice. This professional activity needs support, since it is crucial to practitioners’ capacity to appreciate difference in knowledge practices and accommodate the situated meaningmaking of others.