Library ethics, patron privacy…is this related to dissemination?

The term “ethics” is a difficult one to easily define. A simplistic way to look at it, is analyzing the difference between right and wrong. Of course, everyone will have varied ways to approach a situation and a difficult ethical issue for one person, would be a simple decision for another. When consulting the American Library Association’s Code of Ethics, it explains “The principles of this Code are expressed in broad statements to guide ethical decision making. These statements provide a framework; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations” (American Library Association website). A Code of Ethics can only provide a basic “framework” and cannot tell someone how to behave or exactly what decisions to make. Therefore, it is essential for professionals to be aware of the potential ethical issues they may face in their chosen career path.

Core to the ALA’s Code of Ethics is the following statement “We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted” (www.ala.org). Library patrons should never be in fear that their information will be given to any third party. In our recent culture, unfortunately, and somewhat understandably, we are in a time and place, where this can become a very heated, political and ethical argument. This has become such an important issue, the American Libraries journal included an insert detailing a model policy on how to respond to demands for library records, “Responding to Demands for Library Records”. With the passage of the Patriot Act, and discussion on the FBI’s use and misuse of this policy to gain records, this will continue to be an issue that is difficult for people to agree.

Why is this important to the field of dissemination? Since libraries and information science professionals are actively engaged ensuring their information is shared with others, people should also have an expectation of privacy when taking advantage of these resources and services.

“Privacy has become a particularly important information policy issue for libraries because of governmental attempts to obtain borrowing information on individuals though their circulation records” (Rubin, 2004, p. 126). Many states have enacted state statutes that protect against “third-party access to borrowers’ records, while still providing limited access by governmental agencies for specific reasons” (Rubin, 2004, p. 126).

This is an issue that all libraries can face and one that can have detrimental effects from both sides. Failure of a library to comply with a court order to release information could result in libraries losing state or federal funding. Compliance could result in losing faith and confidence from library patrons. Either way, libraries should clearly share with their patrons their policies and procedures, in a public place and on their website.

Citations
Rubin, R.E. (2004). Foundations of library and information science. New York: Neal-Schuman.