Compliance with professional ethics in librarians of Central Library and Documentation Center of Tehran University

Professional ethics encompasses standards recognized by members of the profession who are committed to their moral responsibilities. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of observance of professional ethics in librarians of Central Library and Document Center of Tehran University.
This descriptive-analytic study was carried out using a valid researcher-made questionnaire. The viewpoints of 59 librarians who included to the study through census, were gathered using questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS 13. After explaining the goals of the research, the informed consent of the participants was obtained and they were assured about the confidentiality of the information.
Findings: The average total score of professional ethics in the subjects was 4.39. Among the components of professional ethics, "respect for different opinions in the profession", with mean of 4.46 and "providing facilities for easy and uniform access to information for all clients" with mean of 3.64 had highest and lowest values, respectively. All of the components of professional ethics had a significant difference with theoretical mean. In the meantime, the most appropriate condition was the observance of impartiality in the profession and the least amount related to the component of the protection of intellectual property rights.
The findings showed that librarians are in desirable position in terms of professional ethics. It is recommended that managers with appropriate planning, inform their librarians and informers about latest scientific achievements and help them promote ethical principles by considering special facilities and privileges.