Neutrality, Objectivity and the Political Center

"A discussion on the topic of "web site evaluation" from a bibliographic instruction listserv a couple of years ago made me think about the common confusion between neutrality, objectivity, and the political center. Neutrality, in our professional ethics, means being unbiased in our work and separating it from our personal viewpoints. Objectivity, whether we say we believe in it or not, is something we expect in factual information, and evaluate various resources based on our perception of its degree of presence or absence in them. The political center is that balance point in society on individual issues or in political identities, where the mainstream feels that "both sides of the issue" have been properly considered, policies are at their least controversial, and competing power interests are at an equilibrium. This essay will attempt to elucidate the confusion that exists between neutrality, objectivity, and the political center and show its relevance to our discourse about reference service, book selection, bibliographic instruction, and our professional role as librarians."