Providing the ethical example
Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the importance of maintaining an ethical point of view especially in times of economic uncertainty. 
 
Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents some definitions of ethical behavior and reminds the reader of the consequences of not following an ethical course of action. 
 
Findings – From current literature, ethical behaviors have been compromised in some industries, as libraries establish themselves in a new economy it is important to consider revisiting organizational training needs regarding ethics. 
 
Originality/value – This paper is a reminder that regardless of economical situations, proper ethical behavior should be applied.
The Ethics of Participatory Librarianship
ABSTRACT This article presents an initial discussion of the ethics of librarianship from the vantage of participatory librarianship. Participatory librarianship is an emergent approach to the profession grounded in conversation theory which states knowledge is created through conversation and libraries, being in the knowledge business, are centrally concerned with conversation. This foundation challenges the notion that any person can be without bias, and that ultimately, all ethics of the profession must be viewed relative to the ultimate goal of service. In this context librarians must be acutely aware of their ethical stances and be active in how those ethical stances impact the community they are situated within.
Is Librarianship a Profession?
We use the words “profession” and “professional” in a multitude of ways. One colleague is castigated for an unprofessional attitude, while another is called a credit to the profession. When many police departments started requiring a B.A. degree of applicants, it was praised as a move toward professionalization of the force. Everyone knows about “the oldest profession” (but any competent archaeologist will tell you that the first profession was actually that of shaman). However, for most of the modern era “the professions” meant a small group of established, respectable, white-collar ways of earning a living. The professions included medicine, law, architecture, and lower status fields like dentistry, accountancy, and pharmacy. These careers evolved from less specialized endeavors as society grew more complex and the body of relevant knowledge grew larger. It became unacceptable for a pharmacist to treat disease or a barber to double as a bloodletter, except perhaps by accident. The professions as they currently stand have several conditions in common. Where once a law student “read law” under an established attorney and then took the bar exam (if the state had one), now a minimal qualification—in the U.S., at least—is a B.A. followed by several years of study at an accredited law school. Medicine, dentistry, and most other professions similarly require rigorous graduate study. However, the new professional school graduate is not yet fully qualified to practice, despite having typically performed internships or clinical rotations under established practitioners. The final obstacle to entering formal professional status is an examination, administered by state or federal organizations made up largely of professional practitioners. Lawyers must pass the bar examination for the region in which they would practice law; physicians must pass board exams for the specialties they desire to practice, and so on. The right to establish oneself as a professional can be withheld or withdrawn by powerful professional organizations such as the American Bar