1. Presenter: Nancy Freeman Date ©2016 Society of American Archivists
Ethics in Action
Presenter:
Nancy Freeman
Date
©2016 Society of American Archivists

2. Preliminaries

3. Confession: Good for the Soul
True confessions

4. Ethical Quandaries
Big, small, and in between

5. Do Unto Others
We all (hopefully most of us) want to be good, ethical archivists

6. I Can’t Do it All
Limits of this webinar

7. Examples
Dragnet

8. Four Sections of Presentation
Code History
Context of the Code
Code Specifics and Archival Processes
Applying the Code to Real Life

9. PP
POLL

10. History of Code of Ethics

11. National Archives
1955: National Archives develops first “archivists code”

12. SAA in the Game
SAA’s first Code of Ethics in 1980, included commentary by SAA Ethics Committee

13. Code updated in 1992, commentary inserted directly into code

14. Sanctions?
1994, standing SAA committee CEPC: one charge involved investigating complaints re: ethics violations and recommending sanctions.
Not feasible, SAA adopts educational approach

15. Recent History 2005 Code updated with out commentary
CEPC begins revising code in 2008, Council approved first in 2010, then 2012.
2012 version is current code

16. Ethical Dilemma Exercise
Write down a previous or current ethical dilemma you or your institution faced or faces.
When did it start?
Who is involved?
Crux of the problem?
90 seconds

17. Count Down

18. Context of Code of Ethics

19. Core Values of Archivists
Approved by SAA Council in 2011
Core values and code of ethics to be used together
Core values provide context

20. Law and Ethics
Can be the same, can be different

21. Archivist Anne

22. The Code is:
Guidelines for behavior

23. The Code Works to:
Respect archival profession: different types of institutions and repositories.
Acknowledge duty to employer

24. More Questions than Answers?

25. Visualize Archival Ethics
Elena Danielson: The Ethical Archivist
Concentric circles
Ethical decisions

26. More Concentric Circles
Archival work

27. Sections of the Code and Archival Processes

28. Professional Relationships
Aspirations to be good neighbor
Fair relationships

29. Archivist Anne Situation
Cherry picking or appropriate division of a collection?
Good neighbors?

30. Judgment Appraisal and acquisition
Huge in archival world: a foundation of archival work.

31. Acquisition
Acquisition procedures dependent on type of repository

32. Appraisal
Example from my Federal Government work.

33. Inherent Dilemmas Archivist Anne's’ recent experience: Take? Not take?
Decision

34. More Judgment Processing (also part of access and use)
Appraisal can take place in processing

35. Authenticity Deals with electronic records
Records that require transferring

36. Security and Protection
Tie in to authenticity
Correlates with preservation in the Core Values

37. ‘Everyone’s favorite activities
Deals with theft, security, damage to documents, and disaster planning.

38. Access and Use This and Privacy: biggest code sections
Also deals with accessibility of electronic records

39. Access and Use: Inherently Problematic
FOIA case study

40. More Access and Use
Involves copyright
Issue of restrictions

41. Archivist Anne’s Restriction Dilemma
Involves records of a social service agency
Restrictions not well documented
Creating conflict

42. Privacy Another large and conflict laden section
Permeates other parts of code
Tie in with Core Values under Access and Use

43. Sanctioned by Law: Federal
HIPAA
FERPA

44. Sanctioned by Law: State
Privacy laws: may differ by state

45. Privacy in Action
Case Study: Identifying Culturally Sensitive American Indian Material in a Non-tribal Institution

46. Trust
A Proper Attitude

47. Trust
Avoid conflict of interests

48. Back to Your Ethical Issue
What parts of the code are or maybe involved?
Did you hear anything helpful in the contextual and code sections?
60 seconds to write answer.

49. Count Down

50. Applying the Code to Real Life

51. Refresher: No single solution or standard for everything or everywhere
Code isn’t about rules

52. Useful Tools
Policies and procedures
Clear
In writing
Approved/vetted

53. Back to Archivist Anne
Social service agency records

54. Good acquisition practices are key
Clear mission statement and collecting policy
Appraisal guidelines
Document collections-related decisions

55. Ensure diverse perspectives
Collecting policy is key
Engage local communities

56. Ask questions, many questions
Answer may become clear through questions
My experiences over the years

57. Document, document, and more document

58. Commitment to:
Service orientation
Access tools

59. Knowledge of:
Copyright
Privacy
Confidentiality

60. Helpful Examples
CEPC case studies: on SAA website, CEPC page and as a link on the Code page
Read alone
Used for group/class discussion

61. Use Knowledge to:
Inform
Advocate
Educate

62. Other Resources
Colleagues
SAA listservs

63. Steps When Violations Occur
Speak up
Ethics Hotlines

64. In order to sleep at night
Do the best I can with the info I have at hand at the time
Document and/or speak up

65. Ultimately:
Weigh facts and risks
Context of specific situation

66. More Ultimately Take responsibility for actions
Accept the reality of mistakes

67. Additional Steps SAA’s role Can’t intervene or sanction
Can make general statements regarding in news, large issue(s): See Procedures for Suggesting SAA Advocacy Action

68. Useful Bibliographic Tools
Ethical Archivist by Elena Danielson
Ethics and the Archival Profession by Karen Benedict: Caveats
American Archivist Articles

69. Your Ethical Issue
List 2-3 action steps you can take to possibly resolve the issue.
90 seconds to answer.

70. Count Down

71. Ethics in Action-Wrap Up

72. POLL

73. Questions?