[Web4lib] [web4lib] survey on library website third partyanalytics privacy concerns

[Robert Balliot]

Brian, you generalized about vendors and then declared generalizing a
'slippery slope'.

Here is my generalization about vendors - their goal is to sell products.
Do some vendors try to influence or bribe librarians to buy their products?
Sure they do.
Do some vendors provide poor quality products? Sure they do.
Do all vendors try to bribe librarians or provide poor quality products?
Of course not, but their goal remains to sell their products
so they can be profitable and remain in business.
R. Balliot
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com


On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 11:02 PM, Brian Gray <mindspiral at gmail.com> wrote:

> I do not see how a library vendor is any different than a "front line"
> person in a library when it comes to ethics. Since vendors provide the
> tools
> we rely on to complete our tasks, sell the resources we purchase for our
> patron usage, contain a lot of data that can be very valuable or
> destructive
> (which may even include information on our patrons), their commitment to
> and
> enforcement of ethics is just as important. If they put less emphasis on
> library/information ethics than library organizations do, we would divest
> in
> their products for the safety of our patrons.
>
> *I think to generalize and guess how a person in another job or
> organization
> values, protects, or has been challenged when it comes to ethics, a very
> slippery slope.*
>
> It seems from reading various items published by Roy in the past, I would
> not question his role in library ethics.
>
> Brian Gray
> mindspiral at gmail.com
> bcg8 at case.edu
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 1:16 PM, Robert L. Balliot <
> rballiot at oceanstatelibrarian.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > I agree with both of you. If library schools do their job correctly, they
> > will graduate people who have internalized professional ethics. But ALA
> has
> > no authority beyond that. There is no penalty for failure to abide by
> > professional ethics. ALA does not disbar or sanction based on ethics.
> >
> > David is right that ALA does not sign the paychecks and many, many
> > librarians have been faced with doing what they know is right
> professionally
> > or doing what is politically expedient. So the easiest thing to do might
> > just be to go along to get along. However, with each erosion of ethical
> > standards the professional as a whole loses its credibility.
> >
> > On the other hand, Roy's stance as an employee of OCLC that sells
> services
> > to libraries is really not the same as someone who is on the front lines
> of
> > library services.  It is pretty easy to commit to professional ethics
> when
> > you are never challenged and your commitment to professional ethics helps
> to
> > sell your services.  I know lots of hawks who are all for war, especially
> > when they are not the ones who serve.
> >
> > *************************************************
> > Robert L. Balliot
> > Skype: RBalliot
> > Bristol, Rhode Island
> > http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm
> > *************************************************
> >
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