Having read Deborah Wilton's comment on Friday afternoon I think one or two
points should be made.
On the question of the Code of Ethics, the Society of Archivists have a Code
of Conduct to which we all have to sign up when we join the Society. This
Code is a very useful starting point for laying down what we can and cannot
do and the principles by which we conduct our profession and as such should
always be quoted when we are facing a difficult situation in our working
environment. I also seem to remember attending a Society of Archivists
Conference in the last 5 - 6 years where we formally debated and I think
endorsed if not adopted, as a signatory, the ICA Code of Ethics. As a
member of the Society's Membership Committee I can also report that the
Society is currently looking to revise and up grade the Code of Coduct to
include the ethical principles enshrined in the ICA Code. I am sure that we
will all, as professionals, want and be able to sign up to he New Code when
it is produced especially if it can be used to strengthen our arguments on
our principles with our employers in all sectors.
I think also, and I am sure I speak for all archivists, records managers and
conservators, that what ever environment we work in we are all faced with
ethical dilemmas from time to time. We all I am sure use the principles and
codes for all three professions to ensure that the advice we give and the
actions we implement are in the best interests of primarily the records and
information in our care, secondly the principles of our profession, thirdly
employers who after all pay our salaries and employ us to look after their
records, fourthly the depositors who have entrusted their precious records
to our care and fifthly the wider community whom we hope will eventually
find what we are preserving of interest and use for research. In fact have
we not in the last couple of days heard of and sympathised with the aweful
dilemma that Robin has faced at Sheffield University.
I am sure that no professional, be it at Enron, BAT or any other
organisation, approves of or condones the wholesale destruction of records
and equally sure that none of us would willingly act to " cover up the
perhaps immoral actions of Capitalist Organisations" irrespective of what
sector they are in. However there are situations in any sector in which
despite your best efforts and standing on your principles the Chairman of
the Board, the Chief Executive of the Local Authority or the Chancellor of
the University is going to do exactly as they want and no amount of protest
from you is going to stop them in their tracks. In these circumstances the
best you can do is to make your dis approval known, ensure that you have
done all in your power to stop it and record the fact so if anyone like the
auditors come back on you, you can show the steps you took to defend the
your position and principles.
I agree that we need more of a Media profile and that this is one of the
things which should be falling out of the famous Strategic Review currently
under way. I also agree that to argue from principles in the professional
arena is always better than to argue from
the heart but I am equally sure that we all do that now even if the
principles are not necessarily enshrined in a particular Code. I have to say
that from a personal point of view I have always found people respect what
you say if it is obvious that you are speaking passionately but rationally
for the cause you believe in.
I have to say on a much lighter note the idea of been the Company W h o r e
dressed in silks and satins does have a certain appeal.
Obviously these opinions are my own personal ones and are not necessarily
shared by my employer.
Nigel
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