Ethical and professional standards compliance among practicing librarians in university libraries in Benue State

Abstract

This study investigated ethical and professional standards compliance among practicing librariansin university libraries in Benue State. The purpose of the study was todetermine the extent to which librarians in university libraries comply with ethics and professional standards in librarianship. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was made up of 47 practicing librarians in three university libraries in Benue State and the entire population was used for the study so there was no sample. Data was collected through questionnaire and analyzed with the use of frequencies, percentages and mean.Findings reveal that librarians in university libraries in Benue State became aware of ethics and professional standards in librarianship through online forum. They comply with ethics and professional standards in librarianship to a high extent. They comply with ethics and professional standards in librarianship to build a good image of the library profession. Non recognition of the importance of ethics and professional standards in university library is identified as the major reasons for not complying with ethics and professional standards in librarianship. The study concluded that ethical and professional standard compliance in librarianship is important as it help to guide ethical conduct of the members of the profession. The study recommends that librarians should be sponsored to attend conferences and seminars where issues relating to ethical and professional standards issues are discussed.