Ethics in the Library Automation Process
| Published date | 01 April 1986 |
| Pages | 107-119 |
| Date | 01 April 1986 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047672 |
| Author | Jon Drabenstott |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
The Consultants' Corner
Ethics in the Library
Automation Process
A Forum Edited By
Jon Drabenstott
Unethical behavior hurts everyone,
including the offending person or
organization. Unfortunately, the
effects of unethical behavior are often
long delayed, so the consequences are
thus often attributed to the wrong cause.
When librarians purchase automated systems,
unethical practices—whether
committed by consultants, vendors,
or librarians—will cause significant
harm to the libraries because they
can not only acquire inadequate
systems, but encounter many managerial
and operational problems as well.
In this symposium, five major
consultants—Rob McGee, Howard Harris,
Jose-Marie Griffiths, Susan Baerg Epstein,
and James Rush—share their experiences and
thoughts on related issues.
The infusion of rapidly changing technology
into libraries has created a demand for outside
specialists or consultants. This demand has attracted
increasing numbers of consultants into the profession,
and has made it relatively easy to proclaim oneself
a consultant. In response to the pressures and
complexities of automation, librarians have focused
on results, not formalities. As a result of these
trends, little attention has been paid to licensing
consultants, formalizing working relationships, or
developing standardized codes of ethics. Relation-
ships between consultants and librarians are often
informal and ill-defined, with little basis for deter-
mining liability. This environment is not only fertile
ground for those who may be intent upon mischievous
conduct, but also an unfortunate background for
the well-intentioned who may end up being charged
with wrongdoing because of misunderstandings or
unrealistic, unshared expectations.
It is within this context that this "Consultants'
Corner" raises an issue that is too seldom discussed:
ethics.
To pursue this topic, the following questions
were posed to the five contributing consultants
—Rob McGee, Howard Harris, Jose-Marie Griffiths,
Susan Baerg Epstein, and James Rush:
1.
What formal standards are you aware of that
have been applied within the United States in auto-
mation projects? Do you use any formal standards
of your own? What unwritten standards do you
follow?
2.
How appropriate would the British standards
be as a model for U.S. libraries? (See the article
by John Gurnsey elsewhere in this issue of Library
Hi Tech.)
Drabenstott is Associate Dean for Library
Services at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti,
MI.
ISSUE 16 107
To continue reading
Request your trial