Dear SLA Legal Division Members!

It is time for another update from your Ethics Ambassador. This newsletter update contains a mix of thoughts from your fellow members, and links to some helpful resources to get you thinking about ethics within law librarianship.

To start us off, a few thoughts from one of our Canadian colleagues, Cyndi Murphy:

“Maintaining high ethical standards is integral to the work of the law librarian, even in – or more appropriately, especially in – uncertain economic times. We define ourselves and our profession by critically and judiciously determining which information resources in which to invest; by providing service using the most appropriate information resources; by treating colleagues with respect and cooperation; by continually enhancing our own knowledge and skills; and, by encouraging the professional development of co-workers and potential members of the profession.”

- Cyndi Murphy, President, Canadian Association of Law Libraries / Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit

Despite the distance between the UK (where I am based) and Canada, all of Cyndi’s points still resonate strongly. Whilst the resources we use may change from region to region, our ethical approach to work will often be the same. To demonstrate how ethics can remain the same the world over, why not take a look at IFLA’s ethics guidelines?

• http://www.ifla.org/faife/professional-codes-of-ethics-for-librarians

Virginia Mattingly has kindly shared some of her thoughts on ethics from the perspective of a law librarian in an academic setting:

Ethics in academic law librarianship to me is exhibiting courtesy to my colleagues and respect for my patrons. It requires carefully balancing the delivery of information without crossing the line over into offering advice and always maintaining our patron’s confidentiality.

- Virginia Mattingly, Cybrarian at the University of Louisville’s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law

If you are feeling inspired by Virginia’s academic environment, why not try to contemplate changes in library ethics over time? Take a look way back to 1922 with this article by Charles Knowles Bolton, from the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science:

• Bolton, C. K. (1922) “The Ethics of Librarianship: A proposal for a revised code”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 101, pp.138-146.

Charles identifies 30 areas for a librarian to keep in mind when doing their job. Whilst many of these were written with a public library in mind, how many do you think are relevant today? If you felt so inclined, why not try to compare them to SLA’s professional ethics guidelines?

• http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/ethics_guidelines.cfm

Finally, to round off this email update, a few thoughts from SLA Legal Division’s president, Tracy Z. Maleeff:

“What ethics means to me as an information professional in the legal field really isn’t that much different than the ethics I hold myself to in my personal life.  But, strictly speaking as a legal librarian, I see ethical behavior as adhering to copyright laws and obtaining research from credible sources that you are proud to hand over as your work product.  I see our role of ethics to never tire of answering questions, even if it’s the same one over and over again.  That our duty to the legal community is to put forth the best work possible and not to cut corners because we are librarians and we should hold ourselves to a higher standard.  As Chair of the Legal Division, I believe it is my duty to lead by example and accomplish goals that don’t just benefit me, but are to the advantage of the 1,000+ members of the division.  I believe that ethics as a leader of a professional organization means that you represent all those voices within your voice, and that you constantly think of the greater good of your actions.  I hope that I have accomplished all this, both in my professional life and in my role as Chair.  I believe that ethics are standing up for what is fair or right, but not at the expense or detriment of others.  I also believe that work ethic and ethics in general are intertwined.  I strongly believe, right or wrong, that my Master of Library and Information Science degree requires me to hold myself to a higher professional standard.  Many legal informational professionals I have met seem to subscribe to that philosophy as well, and that’s what makes the ethics of being a law/legal librarian so unique and special.”

- Tracy Z. Maleeff, Library Resources Manager, Duane Morris LLP, SLA Legal Division, Chair (2012)

That’s all for this update, but why not take a few minutes to sit and think about your views towards ethics in the sector this evening? Perhaps they correspond exactly to the views kindly shared with us by Tracy, Virginia and Cyndi? If not, why not get in touch and share your views for the next email update? I’d love to hear from you.

Best wishes,

Sam Wiggins
SLA Legal Division Ethics Ambassador

Let’s talk about SUPERVISING this month…it’s not unlike coaching football….

There has been a ton of information published on how to supervise, from all different perspectives. My focus will be from a personal development perspective.

Even if you have had a lot of experience working as a professional law librarian, being promoted to a supervisor for the first time can be a little daunting. Suddenly, you are responsible for your entire team’s performance, and you feel like you don’t have any control over how your employees perform. Here are a few things you can do to make the transition to supervisor a little easier:

• Become very familiar with your organization’s policies and procedures.
• Be a model employee – you can’t expect your staff members to arrive on time every day if you are always late.
• Have an open-door policy – let your staff know that you are available if they have any questions or need help with a project.
• Keep the lines of communication open – share information with your staff, if it’s appropriate to do so.
• Be fair and impartial – treat your staff members equally and never play favorites.
• Remain calm and rational, even if you are feeling anger or frustration. Give yourself time before you respond. Sometimes taking a walk helps.

Remember, you’re the coach, not the whole team:

• If an employee is not doing a certain assigned task, work with the employee to make sure she or he understands how to do the task successfully.
• If a staff member is clearly overwhelmed with a particular task, consider adjusting work assignments and asking another staff member to help out.
• Under some circumstances, you may want to pitch in to help out your staff, but never take over and do an assignment for an employee just because you know you can do it more efficiently.
• If a staff member comes to you for a quick answer, try encouraging the staff member to find the answer on his or her own. Alternatively, demonstrate how you got to the answer.
• If an employee complains about another employee, gather all the facts from every side, rather than accepting only one employee’s side of the story.
• When you meet with an employee about a staffing problem, ask questions and be sure to allow the employee to do most of the talking.
• Don’t make any judgments until you have all the facts. You may assume an employee has done something wrong, but there might be a good reason for his or her actions.
• If you’ve identified a serious staffing problem, you will need to document, document, document – dates, times, participants, witnesses, etc.

Be sure to sign up to take any management training offered by your organization.

Take advantage of the knowledgeable staff of your Human Resources Department – remember, they are the experts!

Joan Ogden
SLA Legal Division Mentoring Committee Chair