An Academic Library's Self-Study in Ethics: A Library-Wide Investigation of Ethical Practice

Abstract

In the fall of 2017, the Clark Library at the University of Portland undertook an investigation of ethics in academic libraries to understand ethical practices in the library’s day-to-day work. The self-study was a year-long, library-wide project with directed activities within small groups, individually assigned readings and responses, and discussions at all-staff meetings. The project culminated in three specific deliverables: an annotated bibliography focused on ethical issues by functional area, a Clark Library Statement of Ethics, and a Statement of Ethical Information Use for inclusion in University syllabi.

Keywords:

• ethics
• self-study
• training
• academic library
• staff development
• undergraduate research
• Statement of Ethics
• annotated bibliography
• syllabi

Acknowledgments

The authors thank student colleagues Kirby Graff and Gabriela Quinonez-Riegos for their willingness to participate in the ethics project and for allowing us to quote from their reflection papers. The authors thank José Velazco, Digital Lab Coordinator, Clark Library, University of Portland for technical assistance with Figure 1.