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Unit 14: Library Profession

university, special and other institutional libraries, and another on Ranganathan’s Five Laws Notes
vis-à-vis professional ethics with special reference to a research library. All these papers have a
good number of references which would facilitate further readings on the subject.

14.4.2 US Experience

Despite all these problems and difficulties, attempts have been made to design a code of ethics
for the library and information profession. The American Library Association (ALA), after
prolonged debates and discussions, adopted a professional ethical code in 1938.
The ALA Ethical code attempted to define and regulate the relations of librarians to
the governing authority;

their constituency;
their fellow employees within the library;
their profession; and

society.
The national debate, however, on the articles relating-to the above stated areas went on in the
next decades. In 1975, ALA adopted a new Statement on Professional Ethics which replaced the
1938 code. The same year, the ALA Council instituted and authorised a standing committee on
professional ethics to augment the Statement on Professional Ethics by explanatory interpretations
and additional statements. At the ALA membership meeting in 1981, the Code of Ethics was
officially adopted. Responding to numerous criticisms on the 1981 Code, the ALA Standing
Committee on Professional Ethics decided to proceed towards further revision.

In 1990, the American Association for Information Science (ASIS) also, published a draft of the
ASIS Code of Ethics for Information professionals in the August/September 1990 issue of the
Bulletin of the ASIS. This Code comprised a preamble and four categories of ethical
responsibilities to:

individual persons,
society,
the sponsor,
the client or employer, and

the profession.
The ASIS Code of Ethics for Informational Professionals has, however, remained in draft form
pending acceptance by the Association’s Board of Directors.

14.4.3 UK Experience

In 1978, the Working Party on Professional Ethics was established within the United Kingdom’s
Library Association to develop a draft code of ethics. A draft was prepared for discussion and
debate in 1980; the final version of the code, the Code of Professional Conduct was adopted by
the Council of the UK Library Association at its 100th Annual General Meeting in 1983. The
Code includes the procedures and regulatory actions that will follow a breach of the code by a
member of the Library Association (LA). A unique feature of the LA’s Code of Professional
Conduct is its implementation mechanism that involves sanctions imposed by the LA’s
Disciplinary Committee on those who ignore the professional conduct set by the Code.

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