This post will be the first part of a two-part examination of the widely accepted code of ethics of librarians. After writing that summation, I feel as if I should issue a disclaimer
DISCLAIMER:
I do not know that all librarians everywhere always practice every part of the ethical code to its highest level. We are human, thus we make mistakes, and we are all different. I am simply sharing with you that which I understand that we librarians agree on and try to practice in our careers.
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you the roadmap for this overall idea. As you read last week, librarians have a broad set of stated ethics for their profession, and I would like to focus on two specific areas within that code of ethics:
1. Librarians are stewards of information.
2. Part of the job of the librarian is to fight censorship and be a key stakeholder in the First Amendment rights of all Americans.
Today I will write about the idea that librarians are stewards of information.
As the interface between people, or library patrons, and the information they seek, we librarians are most responsible for the information at our disposal. We execute these responsibilities in many ways. To wit, I can think of three broad areas: development, preservation, and protection of information.
Collection development asks the question: “What do our patrons want?” This is true of any library – from the special to the public, libraries exist to serve the information needs of their patrons. Librarians must also ask, “How does this fit into our collection?” Libraries all have their strengths, but there are also areas in which the collection would benefit from additional information available to the patrons. There are other steps in this process, but those are the key questions to ask when adding new items to the library collection.
Preservation is another important area for librarians. Preserving the collective memory of the society they serve is incredibly important. More than historians, librarians are responsible for the memory of our society, and that is one of the reasons why we hold ourselves to such a high ethical standard. This concept of preservation applies when librarians go through the collection and decide which items are to be eliminated, kept, or placed in a special collection. To be fair, not all items need to, or should be, kept in the collection. It is part of the job of librarians to make these difficult decisions. Beyond simple item selection, we are also responsible for the physical preservation of these physical objects. Librarians are active in the “rescuing” of items – broken spines, destroyed covers, less than optimal physical conditions – librarians play a role in all these areas. What is the point of possessing these obscure items if the items cannot be used, viewed, and researched by patrons?
Finally, librarians are also ethically responsible for the protection of information. This concept includes the protection of sensitive patron data from prying eyes, including those of the government, businesses, and hackers. In some situations, librarians might be required to keep certain pieces of information confidential within an organization. Furthermore, we are responsible for protecting the information in our collections from those who seek to destroy that information. This leads me to my next post topic: Censorship. Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on that topic!
- Jason Dean
This morning, shortly after I got out of bed, my wife came up to me, and said “Happy first day of fall!” I must admit I was confused, as I had not heard that the first day of fall is August 31st. It has been lovely outside, with cooler than normal temperatures.
