Student Library Research

Ethics Presentation
Presented by: Tracie Etheridge, Heidi
Hansen, Kathryn Loch, and Shannon
Savitskie
 The Issue

You are working a public reference desk

and a parent comes up to you with a
junior high school student’s school
assignment in hand. The assignment
asks the student to do library research
and write up the results. The parent is
without her child and requests that you
do everything on the research list so
that she may bring the research home
to her child How do you react to this
request?
 What is the ethical issue?

• Doing the student’s homework for

them?
• Making homework decisions for them?
• Possibly aiding the parent in doing
homework for the student?
• Bypassing the teacher’s expectations of
“library research”?
 Sample Lesson

• 7th Grade Business – Library/Research

Project
• Overview: Your assignment is to research
an entrepreneur of your choice, and then
write a 3-page paper on the questions that
follow.
• Please follow these steps when completing
your assignment.
 Sample Lesson (cont.)

1. Choose an entrepreneur of your

choice.
2. Research this entrepreneur at your
local public library. You must have 3
different sources. The sources you
MUST HAVE are: 1 journal, 1 book,
and 1 source from the Internet. These
sources must be published after 2000.
 Sample Lesson (cont.)

1. Pick 8 of the 11 questions/statements to complete

your paper.
1. How he/she became successful
2. How long he/she has been in the business
3. Any difficult times/challenges he/she may have had
4. What he/she (or their company has accomplished
5. What kind of work experience he/she had before they
opened their business
6. Education he/she has
7. Profits/losses
8. Support (help) he/she had in building the company
9. The future of the business (goals)
10. Priorities for business and community involvement
11. Origin and objectives of the organization
 Sample Lesson (cont.)

1. Write a 3 page, double spaced

research paper on the information you
found on the entrepreneur you choose.
2. You must have a reference page
documenting ALL sources you used.
 Perspectives of the Issue

• Student Expectation
• The student wants to get work done as soon as possible with
as little effort as possible.
• He/she will accept as much help as possible.
• The main objective is to get the assignment done. The
student isn’t really concerned about the learning aspect.
• Parent Expectation
• The parent wants their child to get the best grade possible.
• They expect any and everyone to help the child if possible.
• The parent more than likely doesn’t have the time to give
the child in depth help.
 Perspectives of the Issue (cont.)

• Teacher Expectation
• The teacher gives an assignment that will teach students
about research, writing, reading and comprehension.
• His/her primary expectation is to have the student learn.
• Librarian Expectation
• The librarian wants to provide student with as much help as
possible.
• The librarian wants to make sure the information is obtained.
• Depending on the librarian, some will give the student the
basic information and encourage them to use it to find the
bulk of information on their own. Others will do the majority
of the project to ensure student gets what they need of the
assignment.
 Parent comes alone to the reference
desk and the librarian chooses to assist

• What are your options?

• Locate all information for the parent to take
home with them for the student (print and
online)
• Is this doing too much and where do you draw
the line?
• Source: Parents' Presence Poses No Problem. (1986).
American Libraries, 668.
 Parent comes alone to the reference
desk and the librarian chooses to assist
(cont.)

• What are your options?

• Locate the call numbers in the catalog and
instruct the parent to browse the stacks for
the student.
• Is this doing too little and are you really helping
the student or the parent?
 Parent comes alone to the reference
desk and the librarian chooses to assist
(cont.)

• What are your options?

• Instruct parent in use of online catalog and
databases, tell the parent that the student
can access a lot of the information at home
and on their own or with their help too.
• Source: Broderick, D. (1982). Value laden
barriers to information dissemination. The
Reference Librarian, 4(Summer), 19-23.
 The parent comes to the reference desk
with the student

• The reference librarian provides short,

individual instruction (a mini-lesson) to the
student in how to conduct library research
• Source: Beck. S. E., & Turner, N. B. (2001). On
the fly BI: Reaching and teaching from the
reference desk. The Reference Librarian, 72, 83-
96.
 The parent comes to the reference desk
with the student (cont)

• The Mini-Lesson:
• Begin by asking the student questions to
jump start critical thinking and problem
solving.
• Instruct the student in the use of the
online print catalog and databases
• Instruct the student in advanced Internet
searching beyond Web browsing
• Source: Chen. S. L. (2003). Searching the online
catalog and the World Wide Web. Journal of
Educational Media & Library Sciences, 41(1), 29-43
 The parent comes to the reference desk
with the student (cont)

• Verbalize each step in the search as a strategy to help

student store the information in his/her memory
• Have student actually do the hands-on keyboarding as
you talk him/her through each process so that he/she
takes responsibility
• Provide the student with handouts and other materials to
take away and reference later
• Create quick organizers as you work with the student,
mapping out the steps as you go through the mini-
lesson
• Create advance handouts to have on hand at the
reference desk, answering specific questions and/or
helping to organize research
 Resources

• General Websites
• Ethics Updates
• http://ethics.acusd.edu/index.asp
• Complete Guide to Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for
Managers
• http://www.managementhelp.org/ethics/ethxgde.htm
• Business Ethics: Managing Ethics in the Workplace and Social
Responsibility
• http://www.managementhelp.org/ethics/ethics.htm
• Professional Websites
• ALA Code of Ethics
• http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/codeofethics/codeethics.htm
• ACRL Standards and Guidelines
• http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/standardsguidelines.htm
• IFLA Professional Codes of Ethics/Conduct
• http://www.ifla.org.sg/faife/ethics/codes.htm
 Resources (cont.)

• Books
• Donnarae MacCann ed. Social responsibility
in librarianship : essays on equality (1989)
Z716.4 .S631989
• Hauptman, Robert. (1988). Ethical
challenges in librarianship. Oryx Press. Z
682.35 .P75 H38 1988
• General Resources
• The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory
• Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics
 Resources (cont.)

• Journal Articles
• Chelton, M.K. (2002). The “Problem Patron” public libraries
created. The Reference Librarian, 36, 23-32.
• Chelton, Mary K. (1997). Three in five public library users are
youth: Implications of survey results from the National Center
for Education Statistics, Public Libraries, 36(2), 104-109.
• Dewdney, P. and G. Michell. 1997. Asking ‘‘why’’ questions in
the reference interview: A theoretical justification. Library
Quarterly 67: 50-57.
• Gross, M. (1995) Imposed Query. RQ, 35(1), 236-243. Retrieved
July 26, 2006, from Extended Academic ASAP database.
• Lubans Jr., J. (1982). Teaching the user: ethical considerations.
The Reference Librarian, 4(Summer), 89-98.
• Philip, B (2001).Let's not keep the code a secret. PNLA
Quarterly, 65 (3) Spring 2001, p.8-9.
• Smith, M. (2001). Information ethics. Advances in Librarianship,
25, 29-66.
 Conclusion

• Not right or wrong answer

• No easy conclusions
• Personal ethics based on upbringing
and teaching
• Use objectivity and compassion in your
ethical choices