Publication Date
January 1993
Abstract
Historically, ethics relate to moral principles or values and involve moral obligations or duties. According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1966), ethics also means those principles of conduct governing an individual or a profession. Associations have prescribed standards of behavior for their members. Despite contemporary meanings and practices, there are problems in equating standards of professional conduct with ethical decisions. Laws, institutional regulations, and the wide range of conditions in which archival practice is carried out may require decisions that are at variance with optimal conditions and practices.