Difficulties in accessing information in libraries: pilot study of Osijek library customers

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to see the extent of librarian's professionalism and to see how much librarians observe ethical principals of their profession. The interviews with various types of library customers are supposed to reveal the kind of problems in accessing information they have had in their lives. One of the basic rights of any individual is a right to information. Libraries are places that, among other things, mediate information/knowledge, but sometimes that does not happen and people cannot get the necessary information. Even though library profession, like any other profession, is regulated by a number of documents that insist on customers’ right to obtain information in the library, this does not always happen. One of the most important documents that regulate the behaviour of librarians is the Code of Ethics. Croatian Library Association also has the Code. This document determines basic principles of behaviour that oblige members of the library profession. This study will reveal in what degree librarians in Croatia behave in accordance to the Code of Ethics and what kind of problems customers meet when they look for information.