Ethical perspectives of library and information science graduate students in the United
States
Author(s):Renée N. Jefferson, Sylvia Contreras
New Library World; Volume: 106 Issue: 1/2; 2005 Research paper. Retrieved from San
Jose State University online database February 4, 2006. Emerald
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study was to examine the ethical perspectives of library and information
science professionals prior to their entry into the profession.
Design/methodology/approach – The population consisted of 46 graduate students enrolled in a library
and information science program during summer 2003. Three scenarios related to general, legal, and
health ethical issues were used. Participants were randomly assigned to a scenario. First, they read the
scenario and provided initial reactions. Second, they read the professional code of ethics related to the
scenario. Finally, they re-read the scenario and provided reactions based on the professional code of
ethics.
Findings – The initial reactions of participants to the scenarios were similar to their reactions after
reading and applying the assigned code of ethics. For example, participants initially reported that the
library director should permit staff to attend the American Library Association conference in Toronto even
with the SARS issue (85 percent), After reading the Health Sciences Code of Ethics, they selected
promoting access to health information and working without prejudice to support their positions.
Originality/value – The findings of this study illustrate the influence of codes of ethics on students' ethical
perspectives. Investigating the professional ethics of future library and information science graduate
students is of value to students and faculty.
Article Type: Research paper
Keyword(s): Professional ethics; Librarians; Information science; Graduates.
New Library World
Volume 106 Number 1/2 2005 pp. 58-66
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited ISSN 0307-4803
Introduction
Many professional organizations are guided by ethical or professional codes. Professional codes in
medicine, law, and business have been readily embraced for years. They serve as the framework for
professional conduct and provide guidelines in the ethical decision-making process. Iacovino
(2002)
maintains that ethical and professional codes are the oldest form of Western ethics. The American Library
Association (ALA) etched a professional code of ethics in 1938. Subsequently, library specialties such as
law and health sciences have also created professional codes geared towards law and health sciences
librarianship.
Ethical and professional codes are not meant to replace law or morality but to serve as guidelines for
professional conduct. According to Finks (1991), professional ethical codes should define the limits of
acceptable conduct and give guidance to what kind of actions are regarded as right or wrong in the
occupation. The ALA Code of Ethics provides broad statements that guide ethical decision making and
serve as framework for the profession. Iacovino
(2002 p. 5) asserts the following:
… that a set of professional ethical standards developed by a professional community that is prepared to
critically revise them can provide the individual professional with ethical guidance, may assist new
professional or those still studying, assist in the revision of professional thinking and play a part in the
regulatory controls over consistent professional practice.
It is crucial that library and information science students recognize the importance of the codes and
guidelines that govern the professional organization(s) in which they aspire to join. These guidelines
provide the ethical principles that will assist them in the many of the professional decisions they will make.
Carbo and Almagno (2001) state that as new information specialists enter the work force they must
learn to develop and hone their own individual sense of ethics, live an ethical life, and be educated about
ethical issues in their profession life. The success of the new information specialists is not based solely
on their ability to interpret or apply the principles of the codes. Professional success is based on many
factors. However, the codes should serve as a guide for their continued pursuit of knowledge and
awareness.
Finks (1991) asserts that very few of us today have a firm idea of the content of our present code and
even fewer of us use it as an ethical compass in our professional lives. According to
Iacovino (2002),
ethics are not just how we “feel” about something; it is a reasoned process. It may become habitual or
intuitive once we have a set of values to apply consistently.
Iacovino (2002 p. 6) asserts the following:
… that ethical principles enable us to reach normative judgments. They guide our thinking by providing us
with the basis for determining how we should act when an ethical issue is arises. They do not provide
definitive answers; only answers that can be justified by way of argument depending on the ethical view
points adopted, and the decision-making models and process employed.
Literature on ethics in library and information science focused primarily on its history and evolution
(Carbo
and Almagno, 2001), reviews of codes and procedures (Koehler, 2003; Iacovino, 2002;
Finks, 1991), or its interpretation and implementation (ALA, 2001; Weingand, 2001; Wengert,
2001), The target audience was librarians and information specialists who had entered the profession.
The purpose of this study was to examine the ethical perspectives of library and information science
professionals prior to their entry into the profession. Of particular interest was to ascertain differences in
responses to an ethical scenario prior to and after reading a professional code of ethics.
Method
Participants
Forty-six graduate students enrolled in a library and information science program volunteered to
participate. All participants were enrolled in an information resources and services course during the
summer 2003 session. The course is an elective and may be taken at any point during their program of
study. Approximately 90 percent of the participants had at least two courses prior to enrolling in the
information resources and services course. A majority of the participants (74 percent) were currently
working in a library and information science agency. Positions held ranged from library assistant in
reference, circulation, and technical services to library systems administrator and archivist.
Participants were primarily female (89 percent), with only 11 percent male. The mean age for the group
was 38 years, ranging from 22 years old to 54 years old. The undergraduate degrees of the participants
represented a variety of areas: liberal studies, 50 percent; social sciences, 18 percent; natural and
physical sciences, 18 percent; business, 3 percent; and education, 3 percent.
Materials
A web survey was used to collect the data. Participants were asked to respond to three ethical scenarios
that focused on general, legal, and health-related issues:
1. Scenario 1. General issue. David is a young adult librarian at McCormick Public Library. He works
closely with the school media specialist at the local high school. One day David was approached
by Nicole, a junior honor student. Nicole wanted to know how to locate a term paper web site
where she could purchase a paper about James Joyce. She was missing part of the web address
and wanted David to help her locate the complete URL. David helped Nicole locate the correct
web address. He then telephoned the media specialist at the high school and reported his
encounter with Nicole.
2. Scenario 2. Legal issue. Janet is a legal librarian at Poinsetta Public Library. She works the
evening shift. For the past three weeks she's been helping a young woman named Melanie locate
information on spousal abuse. During several of their meetings, Janet noticed that Melanie had
bruises on her neck and legs. She considered asking her about the bruises, but never did. One
evening Melanie came to the library looking rather distraught. She asked Janet if she would help
her locate information on male castration. She wanted to know what the prison sentence was for
castrating someone.
3. Scenario 3. Health issue. Sylvia is the library director at Mammoth Public Library. It's time for her
to approve travel requests for staff to attend the annual conference of the American Library
Association. The conference is being held in Toronto, Canada, where the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus has caused several deaths and over 5,000 are quarantined.
Her staff is divided. Several staff members submitted travel requests to attend the conference.
Other staff members submitted memos requesting that she deny all travel requests to Toronto
due to the virus.
The ethical codes used were the ALA Code of Ethics (American Library Association Council,
1995), the American Association of Law Librarians (AALL) Ethical Principles (American Association
of Law Libraries Membership, 1999), and the Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship
(Medical Library Association, 1994).
Procedures
Participants were randomly assigned one of the three ethical scenarios (general, 33 percent; legal, 37
percent; and health, 30 percent), An instruction sheet describing the scenario and outlining each step of
the process was provided. Participants performed the following tasks:

read the ethical scenario;




provide response based on personal perspective;
read the Code;
read the ethical scenario again; and
provide response based on professional perspective.
Participants assigned to the general issue read the ALA Code of Ethics (American Library
Association Council, 1995), Participants who received the legal issue read the AALL Ethical
Principles (American Association of Law Libraries Membership, 1999), Participants assigned
to the health issue read the Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship ( Medical Library
Association, 1994).
Results
Participants' responses prior to, and after reading the assigned code of ethics are presented separately
for each scenario (general, legal, and health, respectively).
General scenario
Twenty-six topic areas evolved from participants' initial reactions to the general scenario. These topic
areas were examined and grouped into four categories:
1.
2.
3.
4.
librarian should conduct a reference interview, 19 percent;
student is unethical, 4 percent;
the librarian is unethical, 62 percent; and
the librarian is correct, 15 percent.
Fifteen topic areas evolved from participants' reactions after reading the general code of ethics. These
topic areas were grouped into two categories: the librarian acted appropriately (60 percent) and the
librarian acted inappropriately (40 percent).
The sections of the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association identified for the general scenario
are presented in Table I. The sections receiving the highest percentages related to privacy and
confidentiality (27 percent) and intellectual freedom (20 percent).
Legal scenario
Fifteen topic areas evolved for the legal scenario, resulting in four categories:
1.
2.
3.
4.
refer user to other resources such as women's shelter, 33 percent;
give the user the information requested, 40 percent;
inquire why information is needed, 20 percent; and
do not provide the information, 7 percent.
Twelve topic areas evolved from participants' reactions after reading the legal code of ethics. These topic
areas resulted into two categories: the librarian should assist the user without questioning intent (58
percent) and the librarian should assist the user and question intent (42 percent).
The sections of the American Association of Law Libraries Ethical Principles identified for the legal
scenario are presented in Table II. The section receiving the highest percentage related to promoting
open and effective access to information (21 percent).
Health scenario
Thirteen topic areas evolved for the health issue, resulting in two categories:
1. director should let librarians go to Toronto, 85 percent; and
2. director should not let librarians go to Toronto, 15 percent.
Eleven topic areas evolved from participants' reactions after reading the health code of ethics. These
topic areas resulted into two categories: the director should let the staff go (64 percent) and ethics is not
relevant to the director's decision (36 percent).
Table III presents the sections of the Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship identified for the
health scenario. The sections receiving the highest percentages related to promoting access to health
information and working without prejudice (21 percent, respectively).
Ethical principles apply across many dimensions or levels. Bopp and Smith (2001, p. 34) identified
the following four levels in which to apply ethical principles:
… ethical obligations occur on at least four levels: individual level – librarians have an obligation to act
ethically to each individual they serve; organizational level – librarians have an ethical obligation to act in
the best interest of their organization; professional level – librarians have an ethical obligation to promote
standards of professional conduct established by the accepted professional organization; and (4) societal
level – librarians, as do all individuals, have an ethical obligation to serve the best interests of society as a
whole.
Participants were asked to read the definition for each level and then identify the level(s) that applied to
the scenario. For the general scenario, participants identified the levels in the following order:
1.
2.
3.
4.
individual, 38 percent;
professional, 28 percent;
societal, 25 percent; and
organizational, 9 percent.
For the legal scenario, the levels were:
1.
2.
3.
4.
individual, 42 percent;
societal, 33 percent;
professional, 17 percent; and
organizational, 8 percent.
The individual, organizational, and societal levels were identified by 26 percent of the participants,
respectively for the health scenario. The professional level was identified by 22 percent of the
participants.
Religious philosophy or belief is not included specifically as an ethical level by Bopp
and Smith
(2001), However, it may influence decisions related to ethical dilemmas made at the individual,
professional, societal, and professional levels. The majority of participants in this study (91 percent)
reported that their religious philosophy did not play a role in their reaction to the ethical scenario.
Conclusion
The initial reactions of participants to the general scenario differed from their reactions after reading and
applying the assigned code of ethics. Prior to reading the
American Library Association (1995)
Code of Ethics, the majority of the participants found the public librarian's behavior to be unethical (62
percent), According to Adams (2002), “young children, preteens, and teenagers are entitled to privacy
when they use libraries.” Participants' initial reactions appear to be more aligned with the principles
outlined in ALA's Code of Ethics (1995), When asked to select sections of the code related to the
scenario, approximately 47 percent selected privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual freedom.
After reading the ALA Code of Ethics (1995), the majority responded that the librarian acted appropriately
(60 percent), The results illustrate a direct conflict between the issues of confidentiality and plagiarism.
The majority of the participants have work experience in a library and information science environment
(74 percent), Thus, the change in focus from maintaining the student's right to privacy and confidentiality
to reporting inappropriate behavior may illustrate a conflict between the ideals presented in a code of
ethics and the reality of job performance.
The initial reactions of participants to the legal scenario differed from their reactions after reading and
applying the assigned ethical principles. Prior to reading the ethical principles for law librarians, 40
percent of the participants responded that the librarian should assist the user without questioning how the
information will be used. After reading the ethical principles, the percent of participants who supported
providing the user with information without considering the intent of use increased by 18 percent (that is,
from 40 percent to 58 percent), The percentage of participants stating the librarian should inquire why the
information is needed increased by 22 percent (that is, from 20 percent to 42 percent) prior to, and after
the ethical principles.
The legal scenario illustrates the conflict between confidentiality and possible criminal action. As a citizen
of a country or as a member of the human race, the legal librarian may feel obligated to assist someone
who is in obvious distress. This may be the reason 33 percent of the participants reported that the
librarian should refer the user to other resources such as women shelters. However, the
American
Association of Law Librarians (1999) requires librarians to avoid unauthorized practice of law while
providing access to legal information. To accomplish this task, librarians must distinguish between legal
advice and legal information (Arant and Carpenter, 1999).
The 22 percent increase in the number of participants who supported the librarian inquiring why the
information is needed may likely result from students' familiarity with the reference interview process.
Being enrolled in an information sources and services course, students were familiar with the role, and
importance, of conducting a good reference interview.
The initial reactions of participants to the health scenario differed from their reactions after reading and
applying the assigned code of ethics. Prior to reading the health code of ethics, 85 percent of the
participants reported that the library director should permit staff to attend the conference in Toronto, with
only 15 percent reporting that the librarians should not be able to attend. The percentage of agreement,
however, decreased from 85 percent to 64 percent after participants read the code. One factor
contributing to the decrease in support is the 36 percent of participants, who after reading the code,
reported ethics as not being relevant to the director's decision.
The emergence of support for removing professional ethics as a factor in the decision-making process
may result from a conflict between professional development and concern regarding the infectious nature
of the disease. The library director has a professional responsibility to promote and support staff
professional development. According to the Health Sciences Code of Ethics ( Medical
Library
Association, 1994), librarians must advocate and advance the knowledge and standards of the
profession. In accordance, many organizations made attendance to the Toronto conference voluntary
(Milliot and Atkinson, 2003), The concern regarding the SARS virus, however, relates to the societal
level which focuses on librarians' ethical obligations to serve the best interests of society as a whole
(Bopp
and Smith, 2001).
According to Carbo and Almagno (2001), librarians, archivists, and other information professionals
must learn to understand the possible and real consequences of their actions, reflect on the alternative
choices they may make, and determine how best to use their power and act responsibly. It is evident that
the professional ethics and principles of an organization may often conflict with societal and personal
ethics. In fact, professional ethics and principles often have internal conflicts. These conflicts are
interwoven into the professional responsibilities of information science professionals. However, when
librarians, archivists, and other information professionals decide to become members of the information
science profession, they agree to follow its ethical codes and principles. Regardless of societal or
individual ethics, professional environments dictate adherence to professional codes of ethics.
Table I Sections of the ALA Code of Ethics identified by participants for the general
scenario (n = 45)
Table II Sections of the AALL Ethical Principles identified by participants for the legal
scenario (n = 28)
Table III Sections of the Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship identified by
participants for the health scenario (n = 42)
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