The Role of Information Ethics in Education

The Information Ethics special interest group of the Association for Library and Information Science Education has released a statement on information ethics designed to guide library educators and educational institutions in integrating information ethics in all aspects of education, research, scholarship, service, and practice in library and information studies and in other related professions.

The statement focuses on four critical points that should be the basis for any curriculum:

1. The curriculum should be informed by information ethics through a unit in the required foundations (or equivalent) course. This unit should appropriately include the following student objectives:

• to be able to recognize and articulate ethical conflicts in the information field;
• to inculcate a sense of responsibility with regard to the consequences of individual and collective interactions in the information field;
• to provide the foundations for intercultural dialogue through the recognition of different kinds of information cultures and values;
• to provide basic knowledge about ethical theories and concepts and about their relevance to everyday information work; and,
• to learn to reflect ethically and to think critically and to carry these abilities into their professional life.

1. One or more courses devoted specifically to information ethics should be offered on a periodic basis. To most effectively achieve the desired impact, such courses should be taught by a qualified member of the faculty and be based on international literatures from a diversity of viewpoints.
2. Information ethics should be included in study and discussion across the library and information curriculum. It should be infused throughout the curriculum in such areas as management, young adult services, information literacy training, and information-technology related courses.
3. There should be ongoing engagement with information ethics, as challenging questions and issues need to be revisited through the lenses of individuals, institutions, and societies.

[via Library Juice]