Everyday Ethics for Libraries: An Overview by Pat

This archived event was part of Everyday Ethics, a collaborative program from the Kansas Regional Library Systems and the State Library of Kansas.

Pat Wagner, Pattern Research, Inc.

Pat Wagner has been a consultant and trainer for libraries since 1978. She is a frequent presenter at state and national library conferences and has been visiting Kansas libraries since 1994. She also is the library relations associate for the University of North Texas's LE@D online education program.  You can find out more about Pat's work at her website, Pattern Research, Inc.,Denver, Colorado, www.pattern.com/

Library ethics is about how to make better decisions and take better actions in your library, from the front desk to the board room.

Originally presented as a video conference workshop, Pat's presentation on library ethics has been preserved in a series of short videos.  Ethics is the study of morality and includes just about every subject, from accounting and architecture to religion and history to science, medicine and the law. Library ethics is about how to make better decisions and take better actions in your library, from the front desk to the board room. Topics include the history of ethics and four principles of library ethics, preventing typical library mistakes, earning trust and respect, researching the whole picture, and treating difficult people fairly.

Everyday Ethics:  The Videos (each about 10 to 15 minutes in length)

In the following video series, Pat Wagner provides a framework for the Everyday Ethics training program.  In the six videos below, Pat provides an introduction to library ethics, her four Ethical Library Standards (Transparency, Equal Treatment, Privacy and Information Access) and a summary including answers to the most frequently asked questions related to library ethics.

Part 1:

Everyday Ethics: Part 1 - Overview to Ethics for Libraries from State Library of Kansas on Vimeo.  Transcript for video here.
Part 2:

Everyday Ethics: Part 2 - Transparency (Library Ethical Standards) from State Library of Kansas on Vimeo.  Transcript for video here.

Part 3:

Everyday Ethics: Part 3 - Equal Treatment (Library Ethical Standards) from State Library of Kansas on Vimeo.  Transcript for video here.

Part 4:

Everyday Ethics: Part 4 - Privacy (Library Ethical Standards) from State Library of Kansas on Vimeo.  Transcript for video here.

Part 5:

Everyday Ethics: Part 5 - Information Access for All (Library Ethical Standards) from State Library of Kansas on Vimeo.  Transcript for video here.

Part 6:

Everyday Ethics: Part 6 - Summary by Pat Wagner from State Library of Kansas on Vimeo.  Transcript for video here.

Additional Resources:

• The Traits of "Extremists", an excert from: Nazis, Communists, Klansmen, and Others on the Fringe: Political Extremism in America, John George and Laird Wilcox, Prometheus Books (Buffalo, NY: 1992) 978-0879756802, (Chapter 2, pp. 56-61) With written permission of Laird Wilcox.
• Pat Wagner's Ethics Bibliography (maintained on LibraryThing)