Table of Contents
Module 6: Ethics and Legislation (Reference Excellence)
Professional ethics
All patrons have the right to confidentiality and the right to be treated fairly, objectively, and equally. Legislative compliance and ethics are never optional.
The Library Act 1939 with the Library Regulation of 2018 entitles the people of New South Wales to free membership of their local public library and to a free basic reference service from there. All library patrons have the right to access the information available in the library.
What you will learn in Module 6
Module 6 helps you understand the library's responsibility to the community.
The issues in providing a fair and equitable reference service include:
- Privacy and confidentiality
- Free access to information
- What are the implications of reference work in a democracy?
Ethics
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has published a professional conduct policy statement and a core values policy statement that all library employees should understand. This code of conduct and set of core values helps us to preserve our patrons' right to privacy, to fair and equitable treatment, and helps ensure that people who need information have access to it. This code applies to all aspects of library service including collection development and circulation. The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has a useful professional code of ethics for librarians which is available to read in several languages.
These codes are guidelines only. Many of the issues are complex, and there are not always easy answers to every situation. You should be familiar with your own library/council policies and procedures. Please check with your supervisor if you are not sure how to handle a situation.
ALIA Statement on Professional Conduct
The interactions between library and information services and their communities should be guided by the highest standards of service quality and characterised by the highest levels of integrity. Library and information service professionals should observe these standards:
- Encouraging and advocating for intellectual freedom and the free flow of information and ideas
- Exercising duty of care for their colleagues and communities
- Recognising and respecting the intellectual property of others
- Safeguarding the privacy and confidentiality of personal information and the right of individuals to access their own information
- Distinguishing and separating in their actions and statements their personal viewpoints and those of their employer or any other organisation to which they are affiliated
- Maintaining and enhancing their professional knowledge and expertise, encouraging the professional development of their colleagues and fostering the aspirations of potential library and information service professionals
- Assisting individuals and their communities to understand the most effective ways to gain access to authentic information
- Rejecting and avoiding actual, perceived or potential conflict of interest between their professional role and their personal interests
- Supporting good governance, transparency, accountability and evidence-based practice
- Promoting an enabling inclusivity where all individuals are treated fairly and with courtesy, dignity and respect, free from bullying, harassment and discrimination.
ALIA Statement on Professional Conduct adopted 2001, revised 2018.
Your council will have a code of conduct. You need to be aware of what is contained in this policy and your obligations as a council employee. See Tamworth Regional Council's Code of Conduct..
ALIA Statement of Core Values
A thriving culture, economy, and democracy requires the free flow of information and ideas. Fundamental to that free flow of information and ideas are Australia's library and information services. They are a legacy to each generation, conveying the knowledge of the past and the promise of the future.
Library and information services professionals therefore commit themselves to the following core values of their profession:
- Promotion of the free flow of information and ideas through open access to recorded knowledge, information, and creative works
- Delivery of authentic information and evidence-based practice supported by quality research
- Connection of people to ideas, knowledge creation and learning
- Dedication to fostering reading, information and digital literacies
- Respect for the diversity, individuality and equality of all and recognition of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Adherence to information privacy principles
- Management, organisation and preservation of the human record
- Excellence, accountability, integrity and responsibility in service to our communities
- Commitment to maintaining currency of professional knowledge and practice
- Partnerships and collaborations to advance these values.
ALIA Statement of Core Values Adopted 2002, amended 2018.
- Free access to basic reference services Library Act 1939 Part 3 Division 2 10 (e)
Major Point: Library work has important ethical considerations. Many of these are expressed in the ALIA Statement on Professional Conduct.
Exercise for ethics
1.Find your council code of conduct and summarise the document.
State Library of NSW code of ethics and conduct
Policies
Be aware of the policies and procedures of the library for providing reference and information services.
The main reason for reference policies is to establish guidelines for providing the best possible service to all our patrons. Policies do the following:
- Establish standards of service.
- Assist in training new staff members.
- Establish levels of service to users, including limits of service.
- Establish priorities of service.
- Describe practical procedures that answer practical questions.
[Janet Easley. Reference Services Review 13, Summer, 1985: pp. 79-82]
Major Point: All libraries offering reference service should have a statement of objectives, a description of the types and levels of services offered, and guidelines to help staff who provide this service.
Exercise for policies
1. Review your library's policy for reference service. This may be part of another policy. In the policy (or elsewhere), how does your library indicate support for these guidelines?
Considerations
- Eligibility. How do you respond to people who live outside your local government area (LGA)?
- Confidentiality.
- How do you identify yourself to the patron? Do you use your full name? The name of your library?
- Delivery of material to the patron.
- Average length of transaction. How long, on average, will you spend on a transaction?
- Patron satisfaction. What service behaviours will ensure patron satisfaction? How will the patron register a complaint?
- What constitutes inappropriate behaviour or objectionable language?
2. Describe in your own words how each of the following ethics guidelines affects or applies to reference work in your library. Does your library's reference policy reflect these policies or statements?
- Free access to basic reference services Library Act 1939
Patron expectations
Library policies state how and to what extent information is provided to your community. They may also stress the expectations of individuals who use your library.
Serving the community means serving everyone in the community, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting a range of points of view within legislative requirements. Keep in mind it is important to present accurate information. You may want to explore further by reading Cooke, Nicole A (2018). Fake news and alternative facts : information literacy in a post-truth era. ALA Editions, Chicago
Free access to information
The Library Council of New South Wales Access to Information in New South Wales Public Libraries Guideline states that:
- A public library has a role as an unbiased source of information and ideas, including online content. It must accept responsibility for providing free access to materials and information presenting, as far as possible, all points of view on contemporary and historical issues, including controversial issues.
- Libraries should endeavour to provide access to comprehensive and balanced collections that meet the needs of their communities as far as budget, space and availability of materials allow.
- Library materials that have not been subject to federal and state restriction or prohibition should not be excluded from a public library on moral, political, racial, religious, sexist, language, or other grounds. Nor should library materials be included on these grounds alone, whatever pressure may be brought to bear by individuals or groups.
- The arrangement of the collection should facilitate access. Restricting access to certain titles or classes of materials, for example by holding them in special collections or available on request, can be an indirect form of censorship. No library materials, should be held in closed access physically or digitally except for the express purpose of protecting them from damage, theft or due to Australian Classification restrictions.
- Collections should not be limited because of the possibility that children may access those collections. Monitoring the reading of children is the responsibility of their parents or guardians.
- Everyone has the right to use a public library in person, via the internet and by other means, whatever their age, sex, race, religion, cultural identity, language, disability, socioeconomic status, individual lifestyle, political allegiance or social views.
- Libraries should protect each user’s rights in regard to confidentiality and privacy.
- Library clients must be sensitive to the values and beliefs of others when displaying potentially controversial information or images on computer screens located in public areas (see Explanatory note). Where a client is found to be using computers to access pornographic, offensive or objectionable material, or for any unlawful purpose, the library reserves the right to direct the client to leave the library, to direct that the client not re-enter the library for a specified period and to report unlawful conduct to the relevant authorities.
- The Library Council does not support the use of censoring software as it inhibits free access to information (see 3) and it does not provide adequate protection for children from all material that may be harmful on the internet. Individual local councils may decide on the use of filtering software, and it is acknowledged that firewalls, anti-virus and ad blocking software are standard. However, if filtering censors certain sites, the library must ensure that people are not restricted from accessing lawful information.
- The Library Council supports the right and responsibility of parents and guardians to direct the use of the internet by their children. Parents and guardians who wish to limit or restrict access by their children should personally oversee their use of the internet and other forms of digital information.
- Librarians and other public library staff should not exercise censorship in the selection of materials by rejecting, solely on the grounds mentioned in (3), material which is otherwise relevant and which meets the standards of the library concerned.
- Notwithstanding their opposition to censorship, librarians and other public library staff must strictly observe laws, which may ban or restrict access to certain material.
- Librarians and other public library staff have a role in educating clients in the safe and informed use of the internet, guided by acceptable use policies.
You can also consult the Australia Library and Information Association (ALIA) policy on free access to information which states that: Freedom can be protected in a democratic society only if individuals have unrestricted access to information and ideas.
It continues by saying that:
There are several different levels at which the free flow of ideas can be impeded. * At the societal level, legislative bodies of all kinds are expected to consider the legal and regulatory frameworks they put in place to support the free flow of information and ideas about the interests and concerns of individuals. * At the institutional level, library and information services are expected to encourage the free flow of information and ideas within the scope of their roles and responsibilities. * At the personal level, individuals are expected to make informed decisions in exercising their rights and responsibilities. The Australian Library and Information Association believes that library and information services have particular responsibilities in supporting and sustaining the free flow of information and ideas including:
- Asserting the equal and equitable rights of individuals to information regardless of age, citizenship, political belief, physical or mental ability, gender identity heritage, education, income, immigration and asylum-seeking status, marital status, origin, race, language religion or sexual orientation
- Adopting an inclusive approach in developing and implementing policies regarding access to information and ideas that are relevant to the library and information service concerned, irrespective of the controversial nature of the information or ideas
- Ensuring that individuals have access to information from a variety of sources and agencies to meet their needs and that an individual's information needs are met independently of location and an ability to pay, and therefore supporting internet neutrality
- Catering for interest in contemporary issues without promoting or suppressing particular beliefs and ideas
- Protecting the confidential relationships that exist between the library and information service and its clients
- Resisting attempts by individuals or groups within their communities to restrict access to information and ideas while at the same time recognising that powers of censorship are legally vested in state and federal governments
- Observing laws and regulations governing access to information and ideas but working towards the amendment of those laws and regulations which inhibit library and information services in meeting the obligations and responsibilities outlined in this statement.
ALIA Statement on free access to information adopted 2001, reviewed 2018
Related documents
Exercises for free access to information
1. How do your policies and service provision comply with the Library Council of New South Wales Access to Information in New South Wales Public Libraries Guideline and ALIA Statement on free access to information.
2. Check your Council's procedures for access to information. Are there different conditions for staff and members of the public?
3. Patrons have expectations of what they believe the library should provide to them. They also have expectations of what the library will not provide (whether that is true or not). It is important to remember that the library serves everyone in the community, regardless. Carefully consider if your library policies (and all facets of your library service) reflect the concept of free and open access to information.
Copyright
The Australian Copyright Council has many useful resources to help you understand copyright including some specifically for libraries. Others such as the Duration of copyright are helpful guides for the general public as well as for people who work in libraries.
- Consider the copyright restrictions on supplying information to patrons.
- What can be copied for research and study according to the Copyright Act 1968?
- What special provisions apply to libraries regarding copying material for patrons?
- Look at the licensing conditions on one of the library's subscription databases.
Respect for diversity and individuality
Point 5 of ALIA’s Core Values Statement states
Respect for the diversity, individuality and equality of all and recognition of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Every patron should receive the same level of respect, attention, and courtesy, for example, children and their questions are given the same level of care we give to adults.
Sometimes it can be difficult to give everyone equal service. It is our responsibility to find ways to overcome those barriers for example, when we can't speak the patron's language we need to find an appropriate way to assist.
All questions are important
Just as all patrons should receive equitable treatment, so should all questions. All questions are important to the person who is asking them and deserve our fair share of attention.
Objectivity
As an information provider you are to do your best to provide the patron with the required information. There may be times when you react strongly against what the patron asks. At work, you must remain unbiased. There are a few exceptions to this, for example if you are asked for illegal or inaccurate information.
Major Point: All people in the community are entitled to an equitable library service, and all questions deserve equal treatment.
Confidentiality
Public libraries in New South Wales are subject to the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.
These Acts give people some control over the personal information they provide to an agency and the right to know how it will be used.
Librarians must protect each patron's rights to privacy with respect to information sought or received, and materials consulted, borrowed, or acquired.
This means that you should not talk about patrons' requests outside the library environment, or with staff not involved in the enquiry. For example, you shouldn't tell your spouse about who dropped into the library to ask about divorce. You should not discuss any questions with anyone that would violate a patron's privacy, including other staff. In discussing questions with your colleagues, when seeking their advice, make sure that other people can't overhear. If you have saved a patron's material to a USB to transfer it for them make sure you delete it. Or if you have assisted a patron to scan material or have assisted in set up or sign into accounts make sure any personal details or passwords are cleared from the cache. Physical copies of any documents left behind should be treated securely.
You can learn more about privacy legislation, which should be adhered to when collecting and using information, from the NSW Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Collection
- Lawful – when an agency collects personal information, the information must be collected for a lawful purpose. It must also be directly related to the agency’s activities and necessary for that purpose.
- Direct – the information must be collected directly from the patron, unless they have given their consent otherwise. Parents and guardians can give consent for minors.
- Open – patrons must be informed that the information is being collected, why it is being collected and who will be storing and using it. The agency should also tell patrons how they can see and correct this information.
- Relevant – the agency must ensure that the information is relevant, accurate, up-to-date and not excessive. The collection should not unreasonably intrude into patrons personal affairs.
Storage
- Secure – patron information must be stored securely, not kept any longer than necessary, and disposed of appropriately. It should be protected from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
Access
- Transparent – the agency must provide patrons with enough details about what personal information they are storing, why they are storing it and what rights patrons have to access it.
- Accessible – the agency must allow patrons to access their personal information without unreasonable delay and expense.
- Correct – the agency must allow patrons to update, correct or amend their personal information where necessary.
Personal information
- This is information library staff have indirect access to.
Technology may create temporary copies of a patron's personal information. Technology should be used to dispose of these temporary files. Where this is not possible staff should manually do so.
Use
- Accurate – agencies must make sure that patron information is accurate before using it.
- Limited – agencies can only use information for the purpose for which it was collected, for a directly related purpose, or for a purpose to which people have given their consent. It can also be used without patron consent in order to deal with a serious and imminent threat to any person’s health or safety.
Disclosure
- Restricted – the agency can only disclose patron information with their individual consent or if they were told at the time they collected it that they would do so. The agency can also disclose patron information if it is for a related purpose and they don’t think that a patron would object. Your information can also be used without patron consent in order to deal with a serious and imminent threat to any person’s health or safety.
- Safeguarded – the agency cannot disclose sensitive personal information without patron consent, for example information about ethnic or racial origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health or sexual activities or trade union membership. It can only disclose sensitive information without patron consent in order to deal with a serious and imminent threat to any person’s health or safety.
Censorship
Information about censorship, including internet censorship is available from the State Library of New South Wales.
Major Point: Libraries must protect each patron's right to privacy and confidentiality.
Exercises for confidentiality
- Find out what your library is doing in regards to the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. Hint: have a look at your library membership form.
- How does your library protect its patrons privacy? Is there information about this on the membership form? Where else is this information available?
- What records are kept of reference transactions and the confidentiality policies regarding the records? Look at the following questions about library records situations. What similar situations might arise for records kept for reference transactions, with in-house or remote services?
- A member of Council wants to see the patron record for her son. He's 19. May the Council member view these records?
- You have to leave a message on an answering machine for a patron that an Interlibrary Loan book is in. Do you include the name of the book in the message?
- A police officer wants to see library records for a patron arrested for child molestation. The officer doesn't have a warrant. Are you required to provide the record?
- The library emails newsletters to all patrons. The local Chamber of Commerce would like to use the list of patron addresses for their own newsletter. Can you do that?
- A father requests the library records of his son aged 9. The mother is the guarantor of the library card. Do you release the records to the father?
You might want to discuss these questions with your supervisor.
Module 6 Answers and review
Other modules for Reference Excellence
Reference Excellence - self paced reference and information services training
Module 1 Overview of the reference process
Module 2 Reference interview skills and question types
Module 3 People skills, reference behaviours
Module 6 Ethics and legislation