Competing researchers: An ethics question

[Cynthia Van Ness]

Hi, colleagues,

New here; not precisely a lone arranger as I have a staff of 1.3, but I am the director of a small library & archives so all credit or blame for decisions goes to me.

Today's ethics question: researcher X is writing a book about an unsolved local crime from 100 years ago. X visits from out of town, looks at various items, and mentions a forgettable novel, which is long out of print and turns out to be in our collection. X tells us that it is a fictionalization of the crime, which I didn't know. I later confirm its contents by thumbing through it and doing a little Googling.

A month or two passes. Having discovered that that another researcher is also working on a book about the case, X leaves a voicemail asking us not to share anything about the case to anyone else that we learned from X, specifically that this particular novel is about the crime.

I don't feel obligated to conceal this novel from anyone asking about the case. Should I?

[Michelle Ganz]

Hi Cynthia,

Welcome!

I too have been confronted with this type of situation and it is a bit of a quandry. I finally decided that I would not 'close' a collection at the request of a reseracher. To me this just seems like it will cause more problems than it will solve or avert. When a reseracher asks me to keep other reserachers from materials I just inform them that I can't ethichally do this. According to the SAA (and the ALA) we are required to give equal access to ALL reserachers who submit a request, regardless of what they will do with the information after they leave. If I am still met with resistance I just say: how would you (the researcher) feel if you came in to do reaserch and were told that you couldn't because someone else requested that the materals be kept from competeing researchers? The way I see it is that any given topic will have multiple people researching it at any given time. Therefore, closing my records will only give researchers an incomplete picture of the topic and support the dissemination of incomplete or inacurate information. I have added a line in my reseracher instruction forms that stae my position on this and tell them to not even bother asking. I prefer to cut off any problems before they manifest. If someone can't comply with the rules of the archives they can go do research somewhere else.


I hope this is a little helpful. Good luck!
Michelle

[Cynthia Van Ness]

Thanks, Michelle, that was my hunch, too. I'd be interested in seeing your researcher instruction forms, if you're willing to share. I am always interested in reasonable language that heads off unreasonable demands.

[Michelle Ganz]

Cynthia,

I copied and pasted our form below. the formatting got messed up, but the content remains the same. If you want a formatted copy let me know and I can send it directly to your email.

University Archive/ Special Collections
Carnegie-Vincent Library
Lincoln Memorial University
6965 Cumberland Gap Parkway
Harrogate, TN 37752
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]
Please read and sign these instructions for use of archival materials. Materials requested must be listed on request form.

1. Leave coats, bags, purses, briefcases, notebooks et al in designated area.
2. food and/or beverages are NOT allowed in research areas
3. Please wash and dry hands before entering research areas
4. gloves may be required to handle certain documents
5. Do NOT use pens to take notes. Paper and pencils will be provided
6. Do NOT mark materials in any way.
7. Do NOT rearrange items in folders or boxes. Please leave items as you find them
8. Items from the research area may not be removed.
9. Staff and security personnel reserve the right to examine briefcases, bags and notes
10. Publishing permissions are granted on a case by case basis. Permission to view items does NOT imply publication permission. To request permissions please fill out a request form.
11. Photocopies/scans may be requested only if the materials can be copied without damage to them.
12. Items from the collection must be properly cited. Examples are available upon request.
13. Collections cannot be restricted at researcher request.

________________________________________________________________________
Signature (I have read and understand these instructions) Date

________________________________________________________________________
Print name

________________________________________________________________________
Address City, State, Zip Code

________________________________________________________________________
Phone number

________________________________________________________________________
Email address

________________________________________________________________________
Intuitional/Professional affiliation or academic status

[Jessica Steytler]

I agree with Michelle that X's request isn't reasonable. However, I would keep quiet about the existence of X to any future researchers, which seems in keeping with general practice.
Good luck!