Document Type : Original Article
Author
Abstract
Background and Objectives: One of the most important variables in the success of any organization is observance of ethics in general and professional ethics in particular. Professional ethics is the organization's communication behavior with the environment based on rights, obligations and duties. Laws and principles in the librarian practice usually refer to practices that are expected to be professional goals, purposes, and requirements. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which librarians at the Astan Qods Razavi Libraries are familiar with the principles of professional ethics with respect to age, experience, their job, education level, job specialty, gender, position and employment status. The research sought to answer the following questions: What is the extent to which librarians in libraries affiliated with Astan Qods Razavi are familiar with the professional ethics of librarianship and ethical charter? How is the knowledge of librarians of Astan Qods Razavi libraries based on prioritizing the principles of professional ethics (responsibility towards their respective organization, self, profession, colleagues, users, professionals in other disciplines)? Is there a significant relationship between the variables of age and level of education and the level of librarians' familiarity with Astan Qods Razavi Libraries and the professional ethics of librarianship? Are there any significant differences between different groups of librarians in Astan Qods Razavi Libraries in terms of gender and marital orientation? Research questions are: What is the extent to which librarians in libraries affiliated with Astan Quds Razavi are familiar with the professional ethics of librarianship? How is the knowledge of librarians of Astan Quds Razavi libraries based on prioritizing the principles of professional ethics (responsibility towards relevant organization, self, profession, colleagues, users, professionals in other disciplines)? Is there a significant correlation between the variables of age and level of education and the level of librarians' familiarity with Astan Quds Razavi Libraries and the professional ethics of librarianship? Is there a significant difference between different groups of librarians in Astan Quds Razavi libraries on gender and marital orientation?
Methodology: The present study was a descriptive one and was conducted by using the survey method. The research population consisted of all librarians of Astan Qods Razavi libraries including 152 librarians from 43 libraries. A questionnaire was designed by researchers to collect the research data. In addition to demographic questions, 63 closed-ended questions based on the five-point Likert scale were used. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed by experts and some experts' opinions and Cronbach's alpha was used to calculate the reliability of the questionnaire. Due to the limited population of the study, sampling was avoided and census method was used. Therefore, 152 questionnaires were sent to the research community through administrative automation, of which 120 questionnaires were completed and returned. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. SPSS software version 20 and MS Excel spreadsheet software were used.
Findings: The findings of this study showed that librarians of libraries affiliated to Astan Qods Razavi have little knowledge of professional ethics. This may be due to the lack of attention given by the authorities to professional ethics or even to a mere focus on ethical standards in general and a lack of attention to the professional ethics of librarianship. The findings of the present study also indicated that there is a significant correlation between demographic variables such as age, level of education, and familiarity with professional ethics of Astan Qods Razavi librarians. And the positive direction of the relationship showed that with increasing age and level of education, librarians in Astan Qods Razavi libraries would increase their professional ethics and its components, and older people would be more familiar with younger and more educated people. There is a higher level of professional ethics than lower educated people.
Discussion: The results of prioritizing the professional ethics components from the librarian's point of view showed that responsibility towards the profession was in the first priority, self-responsibility in the second priority, responsibility toward society in the third and responsibility toward organization ranked in forth priority. There is a higher level of professional ethics than lower educated people. This may mean increasing the level of familiarity with professional ethics within the mentioned community, which may be influenced by some of the workshops that may be held at Astan Quds Razavi or dealing with people with experience and transferring their experiences to librarians. It has made them more familiar with the components of professional ethics in librarianship within the research community.
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