CEPC 2013 Annual Report

Society of American Archivists

Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct

2013 Annual Report

 

 

Nancy Freeman, CEPC Chair

 

The year 2013 saw an initial period of inactivity for CEPC until fall, at which time the Committee began working in earnest toward the electronic publication of case studies based on the 2012 revised code of ethics.  Discussion at the annual meeting in New Orleans focused on the draft call for case study submissions.  A tentative timeline was also developed.

 

Outgoing Chair, Phil Eppard, drafted the Call for Case Studies document in advance of the annual meeting.  Committee members decided on the following points regarding the Call:

1.     Provide examples of categories for the case studies, drawn from various sections of the code.

 2.     Ask for case study proposals, not full-blown case studies.  CEPC reviews the proposals so as to avoid duplication of studies on similar themes.

 3.     Use SurveyMonkey for submission form, set up to handle a narrative description of no more than 150 words. (All elements of the SurveyMonkey form are represented in the draft call’s description of a cover sheet to accompany completed case studies.)

 

At the meeting in New Orleans, CEPC discussed a timeframe in which to revise the Call for proposals and create the final SurveyMonkey submission instrument.  The goal was to have proposals submitted by November 1, 2013, with the hope that case studies could be reviewed and edited in spring 2014.  (See attached 2013 annual meeting minutes)

 

In late fall, 2013, CEPC started to make the ethical case studies a reality, albeit not in the initial time frame from the annual meeting.  Through e-mails and a conference call, the Committee began planning to advance the goal of on-line published case studies based on the 2012 Code of Ethics.  To that end, CEPC also developed a work plan, with time frames.  (See attached work plan)

 

Other work in 2013 by CEPC included review and endorsement of an annual meeting session proposal “A Trickle Becomes a Flood:  Agency, Ethics, and Information.”  In addition, CEPC member, Tiffany Schureman, volunteered to update and maintain the Committee’s website. Also, Council Liaison, Bill Landis, committed to review CEPC’s charge in 2014, working with the Committee and Council as needed on any changes.