Feeding the hand that bites you

Wessells, Michael B.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/604 Copy

Description

Title

Feeding the hand that bites you

Author(s)

Wessells, Michael B.

Issue Date

1991

Keyword(s)

• Librarians --Professional ethics
• Ethics
• Conflict resolution

Abstract

"Practically, it is a waste of energy and poor strategy to engage in warfare before seeking a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution. Ethically, the librarian's code requires that he or she provide ""the highest level of personal integrity and competence"" (ALA, 1987, p. 244). The prevailing Judeo-Christian atmosphere in Western civilization implores one to love one's enemies if not to convert them to friends, then to heap coals of fire upon their heads. Before taking up cudgels and rushing to the barricades, librarians need to look upon enemies the way they look upon patrons and do what they do best: ascertain the patron's needs despite what may be a hazy representation of those needs, and then meet the needs in the way that makes the patron happiest without compromising one's own integrity. When conflict seems imminent, librarians should be the first to leave the trenches and explore a peaceable solution."

Publisher

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Series/Report Name or Number

Allerton Park Institute (31st : 1989)

ISSN

0536-4604

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/604

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