In this blog I decided to write about a piece of writing I have to know well for my major of Library Science. I decided to review the American Library Association Code of Ethics for Librarians. The Code of Ethics is just how it sounds it’s a rule book of how librarians should act and behave in the workplace. It discusses the privacy of patrons to how to treat coworkers. This Code of Ethics from ALA states that librarians must not censor any materials that it their job to get information to people no matter race, age, or background. The Code of Ethics states that private interests are not mentioned it’s all about the interests of the patrons. The Code of Ethics states that a librarian must act in professional manner at all times whether to patrons or coworkers. There are huge debates and controversies that surround the ALA Code of Ethics, the main thing being that Librarians must put personal opinions aside and do their job. For example if a teenager came in the library and approached with questions on abortion, the librarian cannot make any assumptions about the teenager and let them checkout the material. The writers of the Code of Ethics is bounding it’s like the law of librarians. The intended audience is librarians. The writer is addressing these issues of Ethics so there is a clear understanding of how librarians should act and behave. The Code of Ethics is very authoritative because if librarians do not practice these and other writings they can easily be fired from their jobs. The writers are trying to establish an authoritative tone with the readers of the Code of Ethics. Also I believe they are trying to establish a type of relationship where they can serve patrons through their ethics. The writer’s choice of words establishes that the people reading the text are professionals. As surroundings the question of tying the Code of Ethics for librarians to the rhetorical situation is an easy tie. The ALA Code of Ethics is clearly an appeal to Ethos an appeal to authority. The authoritative tone and clear cut rules it gives its readers makes the Code of Ethics easy to understand and very well written. Ethos is definitely an effective way to get your message across. Without Ethos in this or an authoritative stamp it would not be a very meaningful text. But because this text has the stamp of ALA it has a definitive form of authority. Even the title gives this text a form of authority. So as I go about throughout my career I will keep in mind how important title and authority are to the reader. Overall the writers of the Code of Ethics did a great job at the balance of Ethos while having the text easy to understand and useful for the librarians. If they had to rewrite anything I would say to add things that librarians can do for patron’s specific things. But overall it’s very authoritative and right to the point.
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