GLC Ethics & Professional Responsibilities 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A librarian realizes they made a cataloging error that misclassified a large number of items, making them difficult to find. The ethical response is to:
- Leave the error to avoid admitting a mistake
- Correct the error and notify supervisors as appropriate (Correct answer)
- Blame the error on automation or a previous employee
- Only fix errors reported by patrons
Correct answer: Correct the error and notify supervisors as appropriate
Professional accountability requires acknowledging and correcting errors to maintain the quality and integrity of library services.
Question 2: Which scenario represents an appropriate use of patron data collected by a library's digital services?
- Sharing aggregate usage statistics with the library board for planning (Correct answer)
- Selling patron email addresses to educational publishers
- Providing individual patron search histories to staff for reference help
- Using patron data to target individuals with unsolicited promotions
Correct answer: Sharing aggregate usage statistics with the library board for planning
Sharing anonymized, aggregate usage data for institutional planning is appropriate and does not violate individual patron privacy.
Question 3: A librarian working at a public library in Georgia is asked to participate in a political campaign during work hours using library resources. This would violate:
- Only the library's internal HR policy
- Professional ethics and likely state employment law regarding public resources (Correct answer)
- The First Amendment rights of library employees
- No rules since libraries support free speech
Correct answer: Professional ethics and likely state employment law regarding public resources
Using public resources for partisan political activities violates professional ethics and typically state laws governing public employees.
Question 4: The principle of 'equity of access' in library ethics means that:
- All patrons must pay the same fees for services
- Library services should be accessible regardless of economic or social status (Correct answer)
- Equal resources must be allocated to every library branch
- Only credentialed researchers may access specialized collections
Correct answer: Library services should be accessible regardless of economic or social status
Equity of access means libraries must work to ensure all community members can access services regardless of economic, social, or other barriers.
Question 5: A librarian is processing an interlibrary loan and notices the requested item is on a sensitive topic. The most ethical action is to:
- Contact the requesting patron to ask why they need the item
- Process the request without inquiring about the patron's purpose (Correct answer)
- Deny the request to protect the patron from sensitive content
- Flag the request for supervisor review before processing
Correct answer: Process the request without inquiring about the patron's purpose
Librarians should not inquire into patrons' reasons for requesting materials; processing without questioning respects intellectual freedom.
Question 6: An ethical conflict arises when a library's donor offers a major gift contingent on removing specific materials from the collection. A librarian should recommend:
- Accepting the gift and quietly reclassifying the materials
- Declining the conditional gift to protect collection integrity (Correct answer)
- Accepting the gift but keeping the materials in storage
- Letting the board decide without informing professional staff
Correct answer: Declining the conditional gift to protect collection integrity
Accepting gifts with strings attached that compromise collection integrity violates the ethical duty to maintain intellectual freedom.
Question 7: A librarian is writing a grant proposal and is tempted to inflate usage statistics to improve the chances of funding. This would constitute:
- Acceptable advocacy for library resources
- Research misconduct and a violation of professional ethics (Correct answer)
- Standard practice in competitive grant environments
- A minor procedural issue easily corrected later
Correct answer: Research misconduct and a violation of professional ethics
Falsifying data in grant applications is research misconduct and a serious breach of professional ethics and honesty.
GLC Ethics & Professional Responsibilities 4
A librarian realizes they made a cataloging error that misclassified a large number of items, making them difficult to find.
The ethical response is to: