i387c managing information services and organizations

ischool

blackboard

library

Module 5. Unit 2: Professional Ethics

Always do right--this will gratify some and astonish the rest. (Mark Twain, 1901).

The American Library Association states:

We significantly influence or control the selection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information... we are members of a profession explicitly committed to intellectual freedom and the freedom of access to information. We have a special obligation to ensure the free flow of information and ideas to present to future generations.

Some of the major points contained in the ALA Code of Ethics state that we:

• Provide equitable service and access including "accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests."
• Protect each library users' right to privacy with respect to information south or received.
• Respect intellectual property rights.
• Do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, or colleagues .

The full text of the Code of Ethics can be found on the American Library Association site at http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ethics.html.

It is only through articulation of clear policies and development of selection of materials and hiring of personnel that uniformity and fairness can be assured. Other examples of professional code of ethics or discussion of the need for a code include the following:

• American Society of Information Science and Technology (ASIST)
• Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Ethics Links to Librarian and Information Managers Associations
• International Webmasters Association
• On Optimism, Credentials, and Ethics, Andrew Dillon

Assignment