National library associations as reflected in their codes of ethics. Four codes examined
| Published date | 01 January 2006 |
| Date | 01 January 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120610647974 |
| Pages | 83-100 |
| Author | Wallace Koehler |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
National library associations as
reflected in their codes of ethics
Four codes examined
Wallace Koehler
Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, USA
Abstract
Purpose – There are numerous professional associations for librarians and libraries. A small
proportion of these have promulgated codes of ethics. These codes of ethics vary along several
dimensions. Often the code reflects the social, political, or professional mandate of its organization.
This paper aims to address ethics codes and their functions in professional associations that have
individuals as members.
Design/methodology/approach – It is suggested that for these organizations there are several
different types of ethics codes. This paper addresses the four most common types. The oldest code
(American Library Association), one of the newest (Association des Bibliothe
´caires Franc¸ais), and two
of a more average age (Canadian Library Association and Colegio de Bibliotecarios de Chile) are
compared and considered in detail.
Findings – The paper finds that, while most library and information professionals share similar
values, as reflected in their codes of ethics, the application of those codes varies widely.
Originality/value – The paper provides useful information on codes of ethics for libraries and
librarians.
Keywords Business ethics,Libraries, Librarians
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Professional associations reflect the philosophy of practice and acceptable professional
behavior for their membership through a number of mechanisms, not the least of which
are their basic organic documents. These organic documents include associational
constitutions and statutes, mission statements, as well as their codes of ethics. This
paper examines a specific set of professional library and information science
associational organic documents – the codes of ethics. This paper is an analysis of four
distinct types of ethics codes of national level general purpose organizations with
individuals as their primary members. It is suggested that these four codes, provided in
this paper as an Appendix in their original languages, represent in general the four
major types of ethics codes. As we will see below, there are some others forms as well,
but these four are representative of the most common variants. These are codes of the
American Library Association ALA), the Association des Bibliothe
´caires Franc¸ais
(ABF), the Canadian Library Association (CLA), and the Colegio de Bibliotecarios de
Chile (CBC).
The analysis is limited to those associations that have individual members as their
primary members. As has been shown elsewhere (Koehler, 2002a), relatively few
professional LIS associations have promulgated codes of ethics. While there are
exceptions, the typical association that has a code of ethics is a national level general
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Four codes
examined
83
Received July 2005
Revised 28 September 2005
Accepted 10 October 2005
Library Management
Vol. 27 No. 1/2, 2006
pp. 83-100
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120610647974
purpose organization with individuals as its primary member. In fact, of the more than
500 LIS organizations worldwide, almost no sub-national organizations, fewer than 50
national associations and five international associations have promulgated ethics
codes.
Four very different codes of ethics from four very different organizations are
explored in this paper. In most countries there are general professional associations
and in many of these there are also specialized associations. In addition, many
countries among them Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Spain, Switzer land,
and the USA there are also numerous sub-national organizations. These are most often
organized along the lines of political subdivisions, but also sometimes along ethnic or
linguistic lines.
To recapitulate, national, general purpose organizations are most likely to have
developed and published codes of ethics (Koehler, 2002a). Among these, org anizations
with individuals are their primary members are more likely still to have an ethics
code. That said there are many exceptions to this “rule”. “Exceptions” include the
Russian Library Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, both
associations of organizations; and the Corporation des Bibliothe
´caires Professionels
du Que
´bec. The Corporation des Bibliothe
´caires Professionels du Que
´bec is an
important exception to the general rule that sub-national organizations tend not to
formulate codes of ethics.
The ALA was the first library association to promulgate a code of ethic s, that in
1938. The ALA code has since been revised on several occasions. The ABF code was
published in 2003. The CBC code was promulgated in 1977. These four codes of ethics
were chosen because they represent the four major approaches to the development of
librarian codes. They are all four general purpose organizations with individuals as
members and all four are organized at the national level. The four codes are among the
oldest (ALA), the newest (ABF), and “of average age” (CLA and CBC). Finally they
were chosen because I can read English, French, and Spanish and no other languages.
The organization of associations
Library and librarian associations are organized at four levels. These include
transnational and regional organizations with membership from at least two different
countries, often from many more. These organizations may have very wide
memberships, like the International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA) or may be defined along regional, political, professiona l, social or
linguistic lines. For example, the Association of Library and Information Educators
(ALISE) draws its individual and institutional members from Canada and the USA.
The European Association for Library and Information Education and Research
(EUCLID) draws its members primarily from European library and information
schools. The European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation
Associations (EDLIB) is an umbrella organization of European associations. The
European Association of Aquatic Sciences Libraries and Information Centres has both
regional and functional criteria for membership. The Fe
´de
´ration des Associations de
Bibliothe
´caires, Archivist es, Documentali stes des E
´tats membres du Sommet
Francophone has language as a qualifying membership criterion.
National professional library and information science associations can be classified
into some five types, based on membership and function (Koehler, 2002b). These are:
LM
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