Dissertation Information for Johan Bekker NAME: - Johan Bekker
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Case Western Reserve University (USA) (1976)
ADVISORS: - Conrad H. Rawski
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Jesse H. Shera - John O'Connor - Thomas Gleason Morris
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: Professional Ethics and its Application to Librarianship
Abstract: An attempt is made to clarify the phenomenon of professional ethics in general, and its application to librarianship in particular. Professional ethics has been largely neglected by sociologists and philosophers and its application has received scant attention in library science literature.
The notions of 'profession', 'ethics', and 'professional ethics' are analyzed. Librarianship is characterized as a semi-profession. Some philosophical foundations for professional ethics are established by using, for example, Aristotelian functionalist ethics. Professional ethics is viewed as consisting of four dimensions: morals, etiquette, competence, and idealism.
Since a professional ethic should reflect the essence of an occupation, a philosophy of librarianship is formulated in terms of function and purpose. The librarian is seen as an information manager who should optimize the value of recorded information for mankind. By means of a system approach, the geography of the communication of recorded information is clarified; for example, the relations between libraries and library-like agencies such as bibliographic, documentation, and information centers and the respective disciplines. For the determination of the relations between librarianship and information science, four basic concepts (date, knowledge, information, and communication) are analyzed, and the relations between 'the theoretical' and 'the practical' are established. With the foregoing as basis, an occupational ethic is formulated which can be applied to the staff of library and library-like agencies.
The nature of a code of ethics is examined and a proposed code of ethics for librarians and informaticians is offered. The need for supplementary meta-codes is recognized. Three different kinds of education in occupational ethics are reviewed: formal, on-the-job, and continued education. It is recommended that the case technique be used extensively in the education process. The major issues involved in the implementation of a code of ethics are discussed.
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MPACT Scores for Johan Bekker A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:01:05
Advisors and Advisees Graph
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