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ethical question--summary



Thanks for all who responded to my ethical question about writing an
article that would be based on one of my collections, for a magazine
that would pay me.

One of the first responses I got made me realize I had not thought to
look in the personnel manual to see if there was anything relevant,
and it turned out that there was. Basically, it said that if you
wanted to do something for publication on your own that might be
considered a conflict of interest, you should clear it through the
president's office. So I wrote a nice proposal for my boss and her
boss explaining that I had been approached about writing an article,
that I would be paid (although definitely not enough to retire on!)
for it, that I proposed to research it and write it on my own time,
that the research would actually give me some knowledge that would be
useful for my job, and was there a problem with this. I also mentioned
that this would bring some publicity for the CIA to a group of people
who might not otherwise be aware of us, and might at least lead to
some reference questions, but might even lead to some contacts from
potential future students. Since my boss and her boss are both
extremely nice people, word came back that there was not a problem, so
I will be starting to work on the article.

The responses I received included a spectrum of responses,
including:

**such an article would count toward the
"Scholarship" part of my faculty duties/ requirements for tenure, and
I
could surely work on it, at least in part, on the library's time.
Of
course, I would have to determine what would be reasonable.  Our
duties and
responsibilities document considers scholarship to be 10% of our
duties and
my boss (the dean of libraries) actually has said that if we are
actively
working on something, that we could use up to 4 hours a week to do
it.

**I think that you should do this as a project on your own, but with
the CIA's approval/contribution acknowledged in the article.  That
should
allow you to keep the fee legitimately.  Since it's basically free
outreach
for the CIA (and, let's face it, you're just making more work for
yourself)
I wouldn't think your supervisors should quibble.

**I am currently reviewing a manuscript for publication by a
university
press.  I am doing so on work time since it relates to the
focus of our archives.  However, I will not accepting an honorarium.
As
a matter of policy, I do not accept honoraria in order to avoid
situations that may later be questioned.  If I am given an
honorarium, I
turn it over to my department to be deposited in the conservation
account.I am currently reviewing a manuscript for publication by a
university
press.  I am doing so on work time since it relates to Galveston,
the
focus of our archives.  However, I will not accepting an honorarium.
As
a matter of policy, I do not accept honoraria in order to avoid
situations that may later be questioned.  If I am given an
honorarium, I
turn it over to my department to be deposited in the conservation
account.

**Regarding working for hire (i.e., personal monetary gain) while on
the job: I do it. My supervisors
and I agree that if the research and writing I do is (1) consistent
with my job description, (2)
would enhance the reputation of the university if it were published,
and (3) brings favorable
publicity to the library, then there is no conflict with my doing it
on company time while still
getting paid by the publisher.

**The Minnesota Historical Society has an explicit institutional
policy:  "A
staff member will not directly or indirectly receive any payments of
expense, compensation, gifts, rewards ... from any source other than
the
Society for any activity related to the duties of the staff member
unless
otherwise provided by law."

**I  would suggest putting it to your employers and getting their
response in writing, even if only email.

**The most fun though is that your employer's acronym is CIA. What a
lot of
mileage you could get out of "How to use CIA records..."



Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer
Special Collections Librarian/Archivist

Culinary Institute of America
1946 Campus Drive
Hyde Park, NY  12538
(845) 451-1757
c_crawfo@culinary.edu

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