Instrumental Values: Professional ethics in collaborative cultural work

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The ethical and moral values of cultural organisations have been in the spotlight recently, including for example public debates over the ethics of museums accepting commercial sponsorship from international oil companies whose own business practices have been morally scrutinised, and on the ethical responsibility of arts and cultural organisations to respond and contribute to political issues including Brexit. Museum and library sectors in England both have codes of ethics prescribed by their respective professional bodies the Museums Association and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Both codes describe a set of principles that are particular to each sector, including responsibilities to information and its users; stewardship of collections; and individual and institutional integrity. The Museums Association's revised code of ethics published in 2015 was described as its "social contract" with the public. At the same time, there has been growing momentum across the cultural sector behind a more integrated, active role in fulfilling public policy and cross-government agendas by working in collaboration with different organisations and public services. This has been embraced by museum and library sectors, with many examples of collaborative projects making a real difference in terms of outcomes relating to health, wellbeing and other social indicators.What happens to the ethical values and codes of practice of one sector when they collaborate with other professional groups? How does this impact upon their shared collaborative objectives and achievements? These are the type of questions that will be addressed by the 'Instrumental Values' project. Focusing on museums working in health care settings and prison library services, the research will create two case studies on cross-sector communities of practice and their shared values, knowledge, practices and skills. A series of in-depth interviews will be undertaken with museum, library and collaborating professionals to explore the impact of public policy agendas on collaborative professional learning and the outcomes and implications for relevant sectors. Research findings will be shared throughout with participating professional and research communities via various knowledge exchange activities and events, culminating in a published book on professional ethics in collaborative cultural work.