At its 1992 annual conference, the SLA Board received for its consideration the draft statement on professional conduct reproduced below. It apparently was never formally adopted, because the SLA states on its website that it does not have its own code of ethics, but "adheres to all good practices of information delivery. In general members have felt that their organizational environments have set the work ethics by which they are guided rather than a professional organization."
Members of the Special Libraries Association are employed in libraries and information centers which are integral parts of other organizations. As such, they are bound by their parent organizations' codes of ethics or other such statements with regard to appropriate professional conduct. Nevertheless, there are areas of conduct specific to the management of a special library or information center and the provision of information for that library/information center's defined user group which are appropriate for members as part of their affiliation with the Special Libraries Association. These areas require compliance with laws currently in force and include such professional components as competence, continuing education, confidentiality, self-protection, comprehensiveness, honesty, and reliability. Therefore, members of the Special Libraries Association agree to be bound by the following obligations of professional conduct:
- To provide constituent users, as defined by the employer/organization, with the most current, accurate, and relevant information, regardless of personal beliefs or the possible uses to which the information might be put.
- To protect the confidentiality and privacy of individuals requesting information.
- To select and organize information resources responsibly to support the highest quality information services for the organization, consistent with the mission of the organization.
- To avoid misrepresentation of the purpose for gathering information or the use to which it will be put, in order to gain information which might otherwise be withheld.
- To uphold and actively advise others to uphold all laws governing the creation, reproduction, and dissemination of information.
- To maintain high standards of personal professional competence in information services.
- To abide by the legalities governing the employing corporate structure.
from Special Libraries, Fall 1992, pp 242-44
Or see: General Industry FAQs at http://www.sla.org/content/membership/Genfaq.cfm