Ethics as a professional skill: : A study of librarians’ reasoning on ethical dilemma when meeting users

The purpose of this study is to examine librarians' reasoning regarding ethical dilemmas when meeting users. The study focuses on the librarians' views of their skills in relation to the library environment, ethical problems occurring during their workdays as well as the role of ethics among the professional skills. The empirical material has been collected through conversations with seven librarians at academic libraries in western Sweden. Three scenarios were used to prompt the librarians' reactions. The material was analyzed with the help of thematic analysis metod. One major finding is that librarians find it difficult to differentiate between personal and professional ethics. Another finding is that ethics as a skill should not be overlooked even though more practical competences are valued as more important in the daily work. The study also indicates that training ethical thinking can boost professional status, help problem solving as well as raise the quality level of work