CEAP-NCR Library Committee : Ethics in Librarianship

Use of RL as Initial for Registered Librarian

Last October 20, 2006 we posted this article RL - Registered Librarian wherein we advocated the use of affixing RL after surname of registered librarian. This advocacy was the result of the approval of said proposal during the PLAI-STRLC General Assembly held last September 26 2006.

In the monthly meeting held at Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation, Inc. last October 25 2006, during a further brainstorming on how best implement the GA-approved proposal use of RL, a co-officer cautioned us to thread carefully on this initiative on "legality aspect". It was also resolved during that meeting that the approved GA resolution must be submitted to the PLAI-National & HOD for their appropriate action before the scheduled November General Assembly of the PLAI-National.

The rationale for this RL as stated in the previous post:

"the proposal of using RL after the name of licensed librarian (e.g. Rene Manlangit, RL) to 'level-up' so to speak the professionalism of licensed librarian. The GA viewed this initiative as a form of "community of practice" within Region IV (composed of 11 provinces) and hopefully to be adopted by other librarians in other provinces. Further, it was agreed to be on voluntary basis initially as some are not yet sold to the idea of using the initials".

During the January 2007 monthly meeting and the succeeding monthly meetings, the consensus of the majority (or silence of the majority of co-officers), the new PLAI-STRLC chair instructed everyone to "wait for the action of the PLAI-National as they are already studying it" and to refrained from further action/activities regarding the RL initiative. I inquired until "when we are going to wait for the PLAI-National action" but got no definitive response.

Not letting our initiative die a natural death while waiting for the PLAI-National "action", we posted a Survey Questionnaire on the use of RL sometime April 2007 as data collection activity to augment our available facts/information that could be handy later later in defending our position:

"[We] would like to conduct a survey of your preception, views, comments and suggestion regarding the issue on the use of the initials RL (registered librarian) by accomplishing some questions. I together with 3 other fellow librarians would like to make a paper on promoting the librarianship as a profession and thus building a larger community of librarians in the Philippines. This is a preliminary survey and may contact you again as the paper is also part of my research output".

Last April 19, 2007, we posted this article Code of Ethics for Registered Librarians after receiving a printed copy from Ma'am Nera as an off-shoot of her talk at our Batangas Forum. Due to some other urgent concerns/tasks at that time, I was not able to read (scrutinize) it carefully until today. A printed copy of this librarian COE was included as part of Dean Rosa Vallejo seminar kit during her MIBF forum.

We have been researching (not diligently of course :=) i guess) for the legal justification on the use of RL and also as part of the arguments for the position paper to be submitted to PLAI-National. What a surprise indeed that belatedly (better late than never), that document is the librarian COE as promulgated last September 13, 2006. A few days ahead of the September 26, 2006 PLAI-STRLC General Assembly.

In this BFL resolution no. 6 series of 2006, especially paragraph 4 and disciplinary action of the COE, which we are not aware even existed/drafted before we independently arrived through a series of brainstorming session several months away before the GA to the term "registered librarian" or "RL" in lieu of "licensed librarian", the term currently in use then to distinguished from those without PRC license, for its initial could be LL (or loko-loko as a Batangas colleague jokingly shared at that time).

WHEREAS, any Registered Librarian who violates the said Code, after due hearing in an administrative case conducted by the Board against him/her, shall be subject to the disciplinary action of either the revocation of his/her certificate of registration or suspension thereof (Sec. 11 (i), Art. II; Sec. 23, Art. III of R.A. 9246; and Sec. II (i) and (m) of Rule II and Sec. 23, Rule III of Res. No. 05, Series of 2003);

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DISCPLINARY ACTION

A Registered Librarian who is found guilty for violation of any provision in this Code by the Board after his/her investigation shall be subject to a disciplinary action of either revocation of his/her Certificate of Registration or suspension thereof which the Board shall impose thereto after his/her due investigation.

Even more revealing is the earlier PRC-BFL Resolution no. 2 series of 1992 entitled "Code of Ethics for Registered Librarians". The term registered librarians was used in the title of this pioneering code of ethics for Filipino librarians wherein in the latest PRC-BFL Resolution no. 6 series of 2006 it was simply titled "Code of Ethics for Librarians"

In this merely a coincidence? I remember then Ma'am Nera who was one of the resource speaker for the IL Conference was going to be inducted in the next 2 days as the new BFL chair, the same day the current BFL chair was our resource speaker. We briefed her about the use of RL and "apologized" that the proposal is still to be submitted to the GA but we already use it in the "certificate of appreciation" to be given to her later. She seemed enthusiastic about this proactivity and could not recall now if she mentioned the new librarian COE wherein the term "registered librarian" was also used/preferred.

Encourage by this belated findings, we also peruse RA 9246 for the occurrence of the term "registered librarian" in the law to bolster our claim for the initial use of RL. I found out the term "certificate of registration" mentioned in several sections but only in Section 30 of Article IV wherein the term "registered librarian" was mentioned:

SECTION 30. Integrated and Accredited National Organization of Librarians. - All registered librarians shall be integrated under a single organization recognized and accredited by the Board and approved by the Commission.

In view of this finding, it is our position that the BFL could resolve this his simple "controversy" if you could call it that way, once and for all and release the PLAI-National from coming up a decision by invoking its vested powers in RA 9246, to wit:

SEC. 8. Powers, Functions and Duties of the Board. — The Board shall exercise executive; administrative, rule making and quasi-judicial powers in carrying out the provisions of this Act. It shall be vested with the following specific powers, functions, duties and responsibilities:

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e. To look into the conditions affecting the practice of librarianship, and when necessary, adopt such measures as may be deemed proper for the enhancement and maintenance of high ethical, moral and professional standards of librarianship;

Resolution/Position paper still needed be submitted to PRC-BFL or moto propio the Board could already act on this issue? Please let us know. Thanks.

LIS Book: A Handbook of Ethical Practice

Last May, we featured LIS books worth adding to our holdings that could be purchase during the bookfair. Today, Ms Nora Agustero email (Thank you) at Filipino Librarians googlegroups alerted us that "an interesting book that features, among others, the Code of Ethics for librarians of the different countries. Of the countries in Asia, the authors focused on Indonesia and the Philippines. The authors highlighted some provisions of our code and considered 'the ethical code for the Philippines' as an extremely interesting document worthy of consideration".

McMenemy, David, Poulter, Alan and Burton, Paul F. 2007. A Handbook of Ethical Practice: A Practical Guide to Dealing with Ethical Issues in Information and Library Work. Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 160 p.

We checked the publisher website hoping for a sample chapter but none is available at the moment. The summary states:

This book looks at all of the ethical issues facing information and library professionals in one overarching, and practically-focused, text. As such, it is of great benefit to both practitioners and to LIS students. The focus of the book is two-fold: (1) It contains a detailed discussion of the issues that impact on the day-today practice of information workers in the 21st century; and (2) contains case studies discussing potential solutions to ethical problems faced.The book provides sections which work like flowcharts leading from ethical issues through decision points to proposed solutions based on the literature/case studies. This is a highly useful resource that provides appropriate access to potential solutions for day-to-day queries.

Code of Ethics for Registered Librarians

(UPDATE 2 as of April 20, 2007)

Prof. Corazon M. Nera, Chair of the Board for Librarians (BFL) was the guest speaker during the PLAI-STRLC sponsored forum entitled "Continuing Professional Education for Librarian" held last April 18, 2007 at the Lyceum of Batangas, Batangas City. She shared about the importance of CPE to around 60 participants and mentioned that there is a newly approved Code of Ethics for Librarians. Below is the complete transcript of the Code of Ethics for Librarians as provided by Prof. Nera minus the logo of Professional Regulation Commission(PRC) for your information and guidance.

*Note: There is also an old version entitled Code of Ethics for Registered Librarians found in the IFLA webpage which was approved by PRC in the City of the Manila the 14th of August 1992 (Resolution No. 02 08 1992) for comparison.

Republic of the Philippines

PROFESSIONAL REGULATION COMMISSION

Manila

BOARD FOR LIBRARIANS

Resolution No. _06_
Series of 2006

CODE OF ETHICS FOR LIBRARIANS

WHEREAS, Sec. 8 (h), Article II of R.A. No. 9246, known as the “Philippine Librarianship Act of 2003,” and Sec. 8 (h), Rule II of Res. No. 05, Series of 2004, known as the “IRR of the Philippine Librarianship Act of 2003”, empower the Board to adopt and prescribe a Code of Ethics for Librarians;

WHEREAS, since May, 2004 the Board had consulted on the prescription, adoption and promulgation of this Code with the Philippine Librarians Association, Inc. (PLAI) and other different professional library associations including the CHED, the academe, and other entities, private and public;

WHEREAS, the final draft of this Code had been submitted by the Board to the foregoing associations and sectors for their comments and recommendations before the final adoption thereof; and

WHEREAS, any Registered Librarian who violates the said Code, after due hearing in an administrative case conducted by the Board against him/her, shall be subject to the disciplinary action of either the revocation of his/her certificate of registration or suspension thereof (Sec. 11 (i), Art. II; Sec. 23, Art. III of R.A. 9246; and Sec. II (i) and (m) of Rule II and Sec. 23, Rule III of Res. No. 05, Series of 2003);

NOW, THEREFORE, the Board resolves, as it is hereby resolved, to prescribe, adopt, and promulgate the “Code of Ethics for Librarians” appended and marked as “Annex “A” and made an integral part of this Resolution;

RESOLVED, FURTHER, this Resolution shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its full and complete publication in the Official Gazette or any newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

Let copy of this Resolution be circularized through the schools / colleges / universities offering the librarianship course to the users thereof for their information and guidance.

Done in the City of Manila this _13^th_ day of _Sept._ 2006.

(Sgd.) PERLA T. GARCIA
Chairman

(Sgd.) CORAZON M. NERA	(Sgd.) ELIZABETH R. PERALEJO
Member	Member

Attested:

(Sgd.) CARLOS G. ALMELOR
Secretary, Professional Regulatory Boards

Approved:

(Sgd.) LEONOR TRIPON-ROSERO
Chairperson

(Sgd.) AVELINA A. DE LA REA	(Sgd.) RENATO B. VALDECANTOS
Commissioner	Commissioner

SRB-LIB
PTG/CGA/Ela/code of ethics for librarians.doc

Annex “A”

“CODE OF ETHICS FOR PHILIPPINE LIBRARIANS”

PREAMBLE

Librarians, mindful of their role in the development of knowledge and culture and the enrichment of people’s lives, seek the highest standards of ethical behavior in their relations with their schools, their clients/employers, the librarianship profession and colleagues, agencies and associations and the public.

1. Librarians with the State, Society and Public

1. Librarians shall uphold the Constitution, obey the laws of the land, and respect duly constituted authorities.
   

2. Librarians shall promote literacy and education of the public by making the resources and services of the library known and accessible to its users.

3. Librarians shall uphold and promote the right to information as well as abide by the provisions of the intellectual property law.
   

4. Librarians shall be partners with the community they serve in inculcating nationalism practicing Filipino values and preserving the country’s historical, cultural, and intellectual heritage.
   

2. Librarians with Librarianship Profession

1. Librarians shall uphold the dignity and integrity of the profession

2. Librarians shall keep their reputation above reproach and shall so conduct themselves to gain public esteem and respect for the library and for the profession.

3. Librarians shall not assist in the unauthorized practice of librarianship.

4. Librarians shall treat each other with respect, courtesy, and sincerity and shall avoid maligning the reputation, competence, and capability of their colleagues. They shall not use any unfair means to gain professional advancement.

5. Librarians shall strive to improve, enhance, and upgrade their professional knowledge, skills, and competencies through formal and informal means.

6. Librarians shall endeavor to uphold the highest standards in the practice of the profession. They shall adopt and live by this motto: C A N I - Constant and Never-ending Improvement of the quality and standards of professional services.

7. Librarians shall adhere to the principles of due process and equality of opportunity in their relationship with fellow workers especially their colleagues.

8. Librarians shall maintain membership, participate and cooperate in the endeavors of library association/s to enhance the effectiveness of the profession.

9. Librarians shall participate and cooperate in all the endeavors of library association/s to enhance the effectiveness of the profession.

10. Librarians shall be vigilant in the protection of all library resources placed under their care.

11. Librarians shall be entitled to a just and fair fee for consultancy and other professional services.

3. Librarians with the Suppliers, Publishers, Dealers, etc.

1. Librarians shall choose suppliers and publishers exclusively on the basis of the quality of goods, costs, and services.

2. Librarians shall refuse all personal gratuities.

3. Librarians shall never enter into business transactions prejudicial to the library, but unwisely favorable to their own interest.

4. Librarians with the Clients and/or other Users of their Professional Services.

1. Librarians shall provide courteous, prompt, adequate, skillful and accurate responses to all requests for assistance.

2. Librarians shall keep in confidence, information acquired in the course of professional service. They shall protect the client’s right to privacy with respect to information sought or received and materials consulted, borrowed, or acquired through the library.

3. Librarians shall render impartial service to all library users regardless of their race, beliefs, age, gender, or social status.

4. Librarians shall refuse gifts or favors from clients and library suppliers for personal interest. They shall avoid using the library’s resources to the detriment of services which the library render to its users.
   

DISCIPLINARY ACTION

A Registered Librarian who is found guilty for violation of any provision in this Code by the Board after his/her investigation shall be subject to a disciplinary action of either revocation of his/her Certificate of Registration or suspension thereof which the Board shall impose thereto after his/her due investigation.

SEPARABILITY CLAUSE

Any provision or portion of this Code that the Court may declare as not constitutional, not valid, or not enforceable shall not affect the constitutionality, validity, and enforceability of other provisions thereof.

Done in the city of Manila this 13^th day of Sept. 2006