Ethical & Legal Issues in School Librarianship

“It wasn’t me!”

LIB 620 Library Management Fall 2014

2

What is Ethics? • “What does ethics mean to you?”

–“Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong.”–“Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs.”–“Being ethical is doing what the law requires.”–“Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts.”–“I don’t know what the word means.”

• What is Ethics? http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html

3

Definition?

• Ethics is two things – Ethics refers to well based

standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.

– Ethics refers to the study and development of one’s ethical standards. • What is Ethics?

4

Teachers’ Ethics• Code of Ethics of the Education

Profession – The desire for the respect and

confidence of one’s colleagues, of students, of parents, and of the members of the community provides the incentive to attain and maintain the highest possible degree of ethical conduct. The Code of Ethics of the Education Profession indicates the aspiration of all educators and provides standards by which to judge conduct. • NEA Code of Ethics, adopted 1975

5

Kentucky Code of Ethics• Professional Code of Ethics for Kentucky S

chool Certified Personnel– 16 KAR 1:020

Section 1. Certified personnel in the Commonwealth:

1) Shall strive toward excellence, recognize the importance of the pursuit of truth, nurture democratic citizenship, and safeguard the freedom to learn and to teach;

(2) Shall believe in the worth and dignity of each human being and in educational opportunities for all;

(3) Shall strive to uphold the responsibilities of the education profession, including the following obligations to students, to parents, and to the education profession

6

Librarians’ Ethics

• Code of Ethics of the American Library Association– Ethical dilemmas occur when

values are in conflict. The American Library Association Code of Ethics states the values to which we are committed, and embodies the ethical responsibilities of the profession in this changing information environment.

7

Main points of ALA code• As it applies to the duties of the

school library media specialist (librarian):

I. Librarians must provide the highest level of service through appropriate and usefully organized collections, fair and equitable circulation ad service policies, and skillful, accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests for assistance.

II. Librarians must resist all efforts by groups or individuals to censor library materials.

III. Librarians must protect each user’s right to privacy with respect to information sought or received, and materials consulted, borrowed, or acquired.

8

ALA Code

IV. Librarians must adhere to the principles of due process and equality of opportunity in peer relationships and personnel actions.

V. Librarians must distinguish clearly in their actions and statements between their personal actions and statements between their personal philosophies and attitudes and those of an institution or professional body.

VI. Librarians must avoid situations in which personal interests might be served or financial benefits gained at the expense of library users, colleagues, or the employing institution.

• Code of Ethics

9

Library Bill of Rights

• The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

10

Library Bill of Rights

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

11

Library Bill of Rights

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

12

Ethics in practice 1

Jacobson, F. and Smith, G. (1998, March). Teaching virtue in a virtual world: Internet ethics for students. School Library Journal, 44, issue 3.

Accessible through Canvas

13

Ethics in practice 2

• Should parents be able to prohibit their kids from reading school library books?

14

Ethics in practice 3

15

Ethics in practice 4• PLAGIARISM @ Your School Library

– The librarian stands to build political capital and influence for the library if he or she understands the problem of plagiarism and offers solutions to the faculty. The library’s Web page should have links to correct methods of electronic citation as well as links to student information about identifying plagiarism in all its forms. . . . The librarian should have lessons planned to teach information literacy and the hazards of infringing on copyright and intellectual property.• Harry Willems, Library Media Connection

(February 2002)

Plagiarism video modeled after identity theft videos - Click here to view in High Quality.

16

http://youtu.be/gC2ew6qLa8U

17

18

Using Google to check for plagiarism

– Running a Google search is one of the easiest and convenient ways to detect online plagiarism. You simply type in a phrase and the search engine checks its large database for potential copies of your plagiarized writing. It will even check Word files, Portable Document Format files (PDFs), and pages that haven’t been HTML formatted.

– Another boon is that Google updates in near real time, making it great for tracking down copies of just-written content. Oh, and it’s 100% free. When using Google as your piracy sniffer, be sure to search statistically improbable phrases, first in quotes and then without. Do not run searches on headlines, as plagiarists normally change those.

7 Ways to Check Your Fresh Content for Plagiarism

19Top Online Plagiarism Checkers – Protect Your Content

October 27, 2008 By Ann Smartyhttp://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-online-plagiarism-checkers-protect-your-content/7931

/

20

http://copyright101.byu.edu/module1/page4.htm

21

22

23

A central copyright website

http://copyright.gov/

24

25

26

27