Comments on: Trust Me http://acrlog.org/2006/11/29/trust-me/ Blogging by and for academic and research librarians Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:32:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ann http://acrlog.org/2006/11/29/trust-me/comment-page-1/#comment-22936 Ann Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:39:49 +0000 http://acrlblog.org/2006/11/29/trust-me/#comment-22936 Libraries, at least my own, have depended a lot on "the honor system" to avoid having to enforce rules. But "the honor system" that might have worked in a small, face-to-face society like Westpoint or a small liberal-arts college, does not work so well in a large institution where most students don't know each other. Similarly, we have moved from a small community of "gentlemen scholars" who knew each other, to a large mass of career researchers vying for scarce resources - attention, grant money, tenure. As for students, the temptation to cut corners may be stronger than any devotion to "truth and honor". Libraries, at least my own, have depended a lot on “the honor system” to avoid having to enforce rules. But “the honor system” that might have worked in a small, face-to-face society like Westpoint or a small liberal-arts college, does not work so well in a large institution where most students don’t know each other.

Similarly, we have moved from a small community of “gentlemen scholars” who knew each other, to a large mass of career researchers vying for scarce resources – attention, grant money, tenure. As for students, the temptation to cut corners may be stronger than any devotion to “truth and honor”.

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