Ethics in Library

Dr. Sarika SawantSHPT School of Library Science,

SNDT WU MumbaiOne day state level Conf on ‘LIBRARIAN TO

CYBRARIAN- FUTURE OF LIBRARIANS’ organised by D Y Patil University, Nerul, Navi Mumbai

12 Dec 2014

Outline

• Ethics

• Why we are concerned

• Development

• Areas of concern

• Challenges

• Possible solutions

ethics

• What is good/bad

• Code of conduct

Why We are Concerned

influence or control

selection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information.

committed to intellectual freedom

and the freedom of access to information.

the free flow of information and

ideas to present and future generations.

Development of code of ethics

• American Medical Association (1848)

• More than 200 business and professional groups Between 1890- 1925

• ALA code of ethics

• Adopted at the 1939 Midwinter Meeting by the ALA Council; amended June 30, 1981; June 28, 1995; and January 22, 2008.

• 60 countries -------

Ethics revolves around-

• Intellectual freedom & Censorship

• Privacy and confidentiality

• Intellectual property rights

• Respecting fellow library workers

• Non-advancement of private interests

• Distinguishing between personal convictions and professional duties

Intellectual freedom & Censorship

• Right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction

• Censorship is a change in the access status of material, based on the content of the work and made by a governing authority or its representatives. Such changes include exclusion, restriction, removal, or age/grade level changes

Privacy and confidentiality

• Protecting users privacy and confidentiality

• What people read, research or access remains a fundamental matter of privacy

Intellectual property rights

• Libraries are legally and ethically bound to abide by the fair use guideline

• Fair use

• copy must contain the copyright notice, Photocopy,

Respecting fellow library workers

• Respect, fairness, and good faith

• Non-advancement of private interests

• at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing institutions

• do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with the provision of access to their information resources

Ethical Challenge in digital context

• Privacy

• Accuracy

• Censorship and cultural bias

• Archiving/ownership

• Plagiarism

Possible Solution

• Detailed orientation

• Guidelines/policies

• Protection/filtering

• Notices in library areas

• Personal information restricted

• Moralessssss

References

• Puckett, M., Craig J.P. (1993): Information Malpractice. In: Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science (A. Kent, ed.) Vol. 52, Supplement 15, pp. 141-167.

• Rubin, R.R., Froehlich, Th. J. (1996): Ethical Aspects of Library and Information Science. In: Encyclopaedia of Library and Information Science(A. Kent, ed.) Vol. 58, Supplement 21, pp. 33-52.

References

• http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Library_and_Information_Science/Ethics_and_Values_in_the_Information_Professions

• http://faculty.libsci.sc.edu/bob/class/clis724/SpecialLibrariesHandbook/ethics.htm

• http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/proethics/codeofethics/Code%20of%20Ethics%20of%20the%20American%20Library%20Association.pdf

• http://lili.org/forlibs/ce/able/course12/s1-intro-3.htm• http://www.capurro.de/diglib.htm• https://www.google.co.in/img

• Thankss