Some Ethical Aspects of Being an Information Professional

Discussions of ethics and libraries frequently focus on rights, especially the right of privacy and its role in supporting resistance to censorship. This article, using issues of censorship as particular examples, questions whether a focus on rights leads to a narrow idea of the library profession and its clients. It suggests that stressing the role of library professionals as teachers, as experts who instruct others on how to better achieve the projects that they have in mind, will lead to a richer and more realistic ethical conversation.