Professional Liability Issues for Librarians and Information Professionals

Contents
Series Editor?s Foreword
	Tomas A. Lipinski
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I. LIABILITY AND INFORMATION WORK
Chapter One. Introduction: Liability as an Issue in the Information Professions
 1. Essential Background Explanations
 1.1 Why This Book?
 1.2 Playing with Legal Theory
 1.3 Law Is Dependent on Time and Place
 1.4 Statutes, Regulations, and Ordinances
 1.5 Case Law and Common Law
 1.6 A Note on Terminology
 2. What Is Liability?
3. What Is Professional Liability?
 4. The Effect of Liability Issues on Being an Information Professional
 5. The Story So Far: The Present State of Liability for Information Professionals
 5.1 Searching for Cases
 5.2 The Literature 
 6. The Information Professions
 	6.1 Who We Are
 	6.2 Information Professionals and Their Work
 7. Important Points about This Book
 8. How to Use This Book
 Endnotes
Chapter Two. Understanding Liability
 In This Chapter
 1. What Is Law?
 1.1 Liability vs. Guilt and Civil vs. Criminal
 1.2 The Role of Federal and State Law
 2. Liability to Society 
 2.1 Criminal, Civil, Regulatory Liability
 3. Liability to Others
3.1 Contract: Undertaken Duties
3.2 Tort: Relational or Imposed Duties
 4. Pursuit of Remedies for Liability
4.1 Pursuit of Remedies by the Victim 
4.2 Pursuit of Remedies by the State
4.3 Pursuit of Remedies by Employers and Institutions
 5. Institutional Liability
 5.1 Claims Against the Institution but Not the Professional
 5.2 Claims Against Both the Institution and the Professional
 6. Tort Immunity
6.1 Governmental Immunity
6.2 Statutory Immunity
 Questions and Answers
 Important Points to Remember
 Endnotes
Chapter Three. Torts, Contracts, and Other Legal Issues
	In This Chapter
 1. Torts
1.1 Intentional Misconduct 
1.2 Strict Liability
 2. Negligence
2.1 Negligence Elements
2.2 Duty of Care
 2.3 Proximate Cause
 2.4 Harm
2.5 Malpractice
2.6 Negligent Misrepresentation
3. Materials Torts: Defamation 
4. Tort Liability for Commercial Publishers
 5. Defenses to Tort Claims
5.1 Contributory Negligence
5.2 Assumption of Risk
5.3 Other Responses to a Tort Claim
	6. The Rights of Privacy and Publicity
		6.1 Right of Privacy
		6.2 Right of Publicity
 7. Contracts
7.1 What Is a Contract?
7.2 Key Contract Concepts
 8. Other Legal Issues
8.1 Confidentiality
8.2 Fees
 Points to Remember 
 Endnotes
Chapter Four. Information Professionals and Liability
	In This Chapter
1. Standards and Duties of Care for the Information Professions.
 1.1 What Standards of Care Arise from the Activities of the Information Professions?
		1.2 Is There a Duty of Care for the Information Professions?
		1.3 The Sain Case
	2. The Importance of ?Profession? in Liability Issues
		2.1 What Is a Profession?
		2.2 The Legal View of Professions
		2.3 Examining the Characteristics of a Profession
		2.4 Do the Information Professions Fit the Definition of ?Profession??
	3. A Possible Solution: The Concepts of Fiduciary and Consultant
		3.1 What Is a Fiduciary?
		3.2 What Is a Consultant?
		3.3 Are Information Professionals Fiduciaries or Consultants?
	4. Employment Status and Personal Liability
		4.1 Employee Liability
		4.2 Self-employment and Liability
	5. User Status and Liability
		5.1 Employees
		5.2 Students
		5.3 Members of the Public
		5.4 Customers
	6. Questions and Answers
	7. Important Points
 Endnotes
Chapter Five. Potential Sources of Liability Claims for Information Professionals
 In This Chapter
 1. Harm in the Information Professions
1.1 When Is Information ?Wrong?? 
1.2 When Is There ?Error??
1.3 The Anatomy of ?Error? in Practice
2. Forms of Error
 2.1 Resource Errors
 2.2 Service Errors
		2.3 User Errors
 3. Points to Remember
 Endnotes
PART II. LIABILITY ISSUES FOR SPECIFIC SEGMENTS OF THE LIS PROFESSIONS
Chapter Six. Specific Professional Liability Issues for Librarians
	In This Chapter
 1. Case Study: The Building Project
		1.1 Issue: Governmental Immunity
		1.2 Issue: Statutory Immunity
		1.3 Issue: Employment Status
		1.4 Issue: User Status
		1.5 Issue: Malpractice and Duty of Care
		1.6 Issue: Defenses
	2. Case Study: The Perils of Poisonous Mushrooms
		2.1 Issue: User Status
		2.2 Issue: Failure to Act on Publisher?s Warning
		2.3 Issue: Expertise and Guarantee
	3. Case Study: Evading Evolution
		3.1 Issues for School Librarians
	4. Case Study: Due Diligence
		4.1 Issues
	5. Avoiding and Minimizing Liability
		5.1Consulting vs. Fiduciary
		5.2 Guarantees
		5.3 Promoting Expertise
		5.4 Reasonable Reliance
		5.5 Collections Decisions and Accuracy of Materials
 Endnotes
Chapter Seven. Liability Issues for Law and Medical Librarians
	In This Chapter
	1. Case Study: Legal Reference Questions in the Library
	2. Law and Medical Reference Questions: Who Is Asking, and Why?
		2.1 Benign Users and Uses of Legal and Medical Materials
		2.2 Services to Licensed Professionals
		2.3 Who Is Asking Legal Questions?
		2.4 Pro Se: A Special Category of Law Library Users
	3. Forms of Liability Arising from Assisting Lay Users
		3.1 Unauthorized Practice of a Profession
		3.2 Subject Expertise and Liability for Librarians
	4. Liability Issues for Medical and Health librarianship
	5. Practice Suggestions for Law and Medical Librarianship
		5.1 Basic Concepts to Guide Your Approach to Medical and Legal Questions
		5.2 Tips and Tools for Serving Library Users with Legal or Medical Information Needs
 Endnotes
Chapter Eight. Specific Professional Liability Issues for Information Brokers
	In This Chapter
	1. Case Study: Setting Up Shop
	2. Legal Issues Overview
		2.1 Reasonable Reliance and Duty of Care
		2.2 Contract Issues
		2.3 Self-employment
		2.4 Negligent Misrepresentation
	3. Minimizing Liability
		3.1 Reasonable Reliance and Duty of Care
		3.2 Contracts and Agreements
	4. Other Approaches to Limiting Liability
		4.1 Expertise and Collaboration
		4.2 Communication
		4.3 Records
		4.4 Ethical Behavior
	5. Conclusions
 Endnotes
Chapter Nine. Specific Professional Liability Issues for Archivists and Curators
	In This Chapter
	1. Overview of Legal Issues
	2. Case Study: Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth
	3. Possibilities for Professional Liability
		3.1 Employment Status and Potential Liability
	4. Potential Areas of Liability
		4.1 Acquisitions
		4.2 Loans
		4.3 Deaccessions
	5. Potential Liability for Violating the Rights of Others
		5.1 Right of Privacy
		5.2. Right of Publicity
	6. Analysis of Potential Professional Liability
 Endnotes
PART III. AVOIDING LIABILITY CLAIMS: PROACTIVE APPROACHES AND TOOLS
Chapter Ten. Proactive Approaches to Liability Issues
	In This Chapter
	1. The Hidden Costs of Liability Fears
	2. Controlling Liability: General Ideas
		2.1 Avoiding a Duty of Care
		2.2 Avoiding Reasonable Reliance
		2.3 Promoting Competence
		2.4 Controlling Resource Errors
		2.5 Avoiding Service Errors
	3. Suggestions	
		3.1 Librarians
		3.2 Law and Medicine	
		3.3 Information Brokers
		3.4 Archivists and Curators
	4. Conclusions
Chapter Eleven. Training Suggestions
 In This Chapter
 1. Librarians
	2. Law and Medicine	
	3. Information Brokers
	4. Archivists and Curators
Chapter Twelve. Policy Suggestions
	In This Chapter
 1. Librarians
	2. Law and Medicine	
	3. Information Brokers
	4. Archivists and Curators
Chapter Thirteen. Liability Audits
	In This Chapter
	1. Librarians
	2. Law and Medicine	
	3. Information Brokers
	4. Archivists and Curators
Glossary
Index
About the Author