ABSTRACT
The centre of character is indeed found in the will to do right, and it cannot be too much emphasized. Where it is present, other lacks may be excused; and where it is absent nothing else can take its place. The will to do right is also possible in every one and in all circumstances. 1
The museum profession has expanded and become more specialized as the museum community as grown to include a number of diverse institutions, programs, and other entities. Museum personnel are divided into areas that require increased technical skill and specialized knowledge. As museums have opened their doors to a more representative audience and gained a greater sense of social identity and responsibility, they have also increased the need for maintaining higher ethical standards. “On the basis of their [museum personnel] expertise and the importance of the work that requires it, professionals claim to be and have been recognized as being governed (in their professional conduct) by role-specific norms rather than the norms that govern human conduct generally.” 2
Contemporary life has inf luenced the activities of museums and redefined their role and responsibility. There are demands and expectations that pull museums and museum personnel in different directions, and since ethics is a guide and not a law, it is often easy to manipulate principles to fit the circumstance. This maneuvering is a wrong concept. Ethical conformity requires consistency that involves reason, logic, end-means consideration, impartiality, and mindfulness of universal acceptability. Knowledge requires attention to alternate approaches to decision making, awareness of consequences, and motivation.
