Ethics is concerned with distinguishing moral (or right) actions from immoral (or wrong) actions. There are several different ethical theories that have been developed. These different theories give different criteria for making this distinction. Basically, they represent different sorts of reasons that might be offered to justify a particular course of action. In the first part of this course, we will discuss the main ethical theories that have been developed:
Note: The discussion of Normative Ethics in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a good introduction to the goal of ethics and to the particular ethical theories that we will discuss.Consequentialist Theories Utilitarianism (e.g., Mill) Non-Consequentialist Theories Duty-Based Theories (e.g., Kant, Ross) Rights-Based Theories (e.g., Rawls)
In the rest of this course, we will apply these ethical theories to several important ethical issues in disseminating information:
A Brief Note about Information EthicsIntellectual Freedom and Censorship Equitable Access to Information Informational Privacy Intellectual Property
In this course, we will be discussing a number of issues that arise in any organization that handles and/or disseminates information. In other words, these are issues that do not just arise in libraries. Spinello, for example, focuses on almost exclusively on information ethics for businesses (i.e., for-profit organizations). In other words, he treats information ethics as a part of business ethics. Even so, it is easy to see how most of what he says applies to libraries. The underlying ethical reasoning is going to be largely the same. You just need to use a simple translation scheme: customer = patron, employee = library employee, manager = library manager, etc.
If you have questions for me about the content of the course, post a message to the WebCT discussion forums or send me a message directly via WebCT mail. (I prefer that you not use my regular email account for questions about the course.) In addition, if you are going to be in Tucson, you can come to my office hours or set up an appointment.
Note: Information about using WebCT is available at http://www.sir.arizona.edu/resources/computing.html#WebCT. If you have trouble with WebCT, send Samanthi Hewakapuge (samanthi@email.arizona.edu) an email message explaining exactly what is happening.
Note:
Note: In order to stay up-to-date on discussions and announcements, you should check into WebCT every day or so.
I have a couple of small requests with regard to the WebCT discussion forums. The WebCT forums will be our main mode of communication in this course. In order to keep this communication more or less organized, I will set up different forums for different purposes. For example, in addition to a forum for each lecture, I will also set up a "Greetings" forum for you to describe who you are and why you are taking this particular course. So, my first request is that you try to direct your comments to the appropriate forum. My second request is that you make use of the "Quote" feature. I have found that it is usually much easier to follow discussions on WebCT forums when people use the "Quote" feature to quote (at least parts of) the message that they are responding to.
In addition to the forums, there is also WebCT mail. Please use WebCT mail (instead of the forums) for any personal correspondence.
Finally, WebCT includes chat rooms. I am not going to schedule any official chat sessions. (Being kind of methodical in composing postings, I tend to prefer the asynchronous discussion forums.) However, the chat rooms are available to you. In particular, they may come in handy for coming up with, and working on, the group presentations (see below). In addition, if anyone wants to organize a chat session on some selected topic from the course, I would be happy to attend.
Unless otherwise noted, assignments and exams will be due at midnight Tucson time. I don't plan to start grading them at midnight; I just want to be sure that I have them in my hands when I get up the following morning. By the way, Tucson is always on Mountain Standard Time (MST).
Note: In most cases, the assignments will be about the material discussed in the preceding lecture. In a few cases, the assignments may be about the material that will be discussed in the next week’s lecture. In those cases, I want to get your take on the readings before I give my take.
Note: I do understand that group presentations, especially in a virtual course, present certain difficulties. Let me know if you are having any problems.The "Group Presentation" requires each of you to participate in creating an online presentation. The presentations will take place during the last few weeks of the semester. We will treat the presentations like any other virtual lecture. For instance, I will set up a forum for each presentation, presentations will be required reading, etc. You will create your presentation in collaboration with three other members of the class. You can choose your own partners. Each group will sign up for a specific date to put their presentation online.
Note: Both of these assignments will require you to create and publish web pages. If you do not have much experience in this area, you should give yourself plenty of time to work out the technical details. Click here for information on creating HTML documents.The "Individual Project" essentially requires each of you (individually) to develop a code of professional ethics. This project will be due on Tuesday, December 3.
In the meantime, you should read the Ortega y Gasset article and the codes of professional ethics listed under "The Mission of the Information Professional" on the list of readings.
This document was last modified on September 4, 2002.