Statement of Ethics

In 2017-2018, the Clark Library undertook an ambitious initiative to examine our professional ethics as a team, funded by a grant from the Dundon-Berchtold Institute. With the help of two student researchers, we reviewed the library ethics literature, created an annotated bibliography, led staff discussions, and wrote an ethics statement for the Clark Library that captures the principles we uphold in our work.

Statement 

The Clark Library adheres to the highest standard of professional ethics in furtherance of the University of Portland’s mission of teaching and learning, faith and formation, and service and leadership.

We uphold the following:

• Integrity – We conduct ourselves professionally and take responsibility for our actions.
• Accountability – We are accountable to our profession and to our community. We commit ourselves to transparency and are good stewards of the university’s resources.
• Excellence – We provide the highest level of service and instruction to our library users and commit ourselves to continuous learning and application of new knowledge.
• Respect – We recognize the worth of each person and foster an environment of inclusiveness. We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and respect intellectual property rights.
• Privacy – We support our users’ right to privacy and confidentiality in their use of library services and collections.

As part of the project, a syllabi statement focused on ethical use of information was developed and approved by the Provost's Council. It is now required on course syllabi. 

Syllabi Statement: Ethics of Information

The University of Portland is a community dedicated to the investigation and discovery of processes for thinking ethically and encouraging the development of ethical reasoning in the formation of the whole person. Using information ethically, as an element in open and honest scholarly endeavors, involves moral reasoning to determine the right way to access, create, distribute, and employ information including: considerations of intellectual property rights, fair use, information bias, censorship, and privacy. More information can be found at Clark Library’s guide on the Ethical Use of Information at https://libguides.up.edu/ethicaluse.