Library Ethics » (New Edition)

JEAN PREER is Professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University-Indianapolis. She holds a Ph.D. and a J.D. from George Washington University and her MLS from Berkeley. She has also taught at The Catholic University of America. She has published many articles and chapters of books including Lawyers and Education: Black Colleges and Desegregation in Public Higher Education(Greenwood, 1982).

The evolution of ethical standards for librarians parallels the development of librarianship as a profession. Our most important professional values have been tested and debated in the course of formulating and adopting our codes of ethics.

This book includes historical precedents and current examples of ethical issues facing the profession. It looks broadly at the many arenas in which librarians face ethical choices, helping practitioners identify an ethical dilemma and providing guidance on how to respond, how to separate personal belief from professional responsibility, and how to make exceptions in a principled way. Where appropriate references are inlcuded to the codes of ethics of other professions: journalists, booksellers, and lawyers.

1 Professionalism, Identity, and Values 1

2 Service: By Whom 27

3 Service: For Whom 51

4 Access: What Information 79

5 Access: Which Format 111

6 Conflicts of Interest: Philosophical 133

7 Conflicts of Interest: Financial 159

8 Confidentiality 183

9 Future 211

Library Ethics Timeline 219

App Codes of Ethics 225

American Library Association 225

ALA Code of Ethics for Librarians (1938) 226

ALA Statement on Professional Ethics (1981) 228

ALA Code of Ethics (1995, modified 2008) 229

ALA Library Bill of Rights (1948,1961,1980, 1996) 230

American Association of Law Libraries Ethical Principles (1999) 231

Association of College and Research Libraries Code of Ethics for Special Collections Librarians (2003) 233

Medical Library Association Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship (1994) 235

Society of American Archivists Code of Ethics for Archivists (2005) 236

A Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto (2006) 238

Further Reading 239

Index 247