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Last revised May 4, 2006.

Course Syllabus for IRLS 520, Section 031: Ethics for Library and Information Professionals

Education 331: May 20-21, May 27-28, June 3-4, 8:00am-5:00pm

Kay Mathiesen



Summer Intersession 06 Instructor: Kay Mathiesen

COURSE NAME, NUMBER, AND PREREQUISITES

Ethics for Library and Information Professionals

IRLS 520

Prerequisites: None

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

"Study of the basics of ethical theory and its application to problems in information management.  Application and development of ethical codes in case studies."
 

Content of the Course

Information professionals play an extremely important role in society.  And it is critical that they carry out their mission in an ethical manner.  Toward this end, many organizations of information professionals have adopted codes of professional ethics.  See, for example, ALA’s Code of Ethics and ASIST’s Professional Guidelines.

Such codes of professional ethics provide information professionals with guiding principles.  However, there are a number of reasons why information professionals need to understand the ethical reasoning that justifies acting in accordance with these principles.  First, it is no simple matter to apply these principles to particular concrete situations.  An understanding of the underlying ethical reasoning can help us to apply these principles to such situations.  Second, these principles often come into conflict with other obligations that we have. (They can even come into conflict with each other.)  An understanding of the underlying ethical reasoning can help us to resolve such conflicts.  Third, our ethical duties can be supported by or come into conflict with various organizational rules, public policy, and laws. An understanding of the relationship between law and ethics and the basic principles of public policy and legal theory will help us act within the law and advocate for change when that is appropriate.

In this course, we will study the various ethical theories that have been proposed by philosophers.  We will then apply these theories to the ethical dilemmas that most commonly confront information professionals.  We will also look more in depth at public policy, economic, and legal issues surrounding the provision of information and library services.  In particular, we will focus on issues such as intellectual freedom, equitable access to information, privacy, and intellectual property.  In addition, we will look at how advances in information technology have created new ethical dilemmas.

Students will be encouraged to develop their own views on the issues. These views will be developed and defended, however, in relation to understanding of ethical theory and key aspects of information policy and law.

Teaching/Learning Methods

This course will meet over the course of three weekends. The first weekend will focus on ethical theory and case studies. The second weekend will focus on issues in information law and policy. The third weekend will consist primarily of student presentations. The weekends will include such activties as short lectures by the instructor, films, audio presentations, class discussion, group work, in-class written work, and individual or group presentations.  Students should come prepared by doing the reading and completing any associated written work before the weekend sessions. Students will be expected to have a thorough knowledge of the course materials and come prepared with questions, examples, objections, and points for discussion.
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COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course you should:
  • Know how to explain and apply the main ethical theories.
  • Be able to analyze and provide reasoned responses to ethical dilemmas.
  • Know the basics of professional ethics.
  • Know, be able to apply and analyze the ALA Code of Ethics and Library Bill of Rights.
  • Understand privacy concerns.
  • Know the basics of intellectual property policy.
  • Be able to defend principles of Intellectual freedom
  • Be aware of possible conflicts between various values and how to resolve these conflicts.
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REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS

Readings:
The readings for this course will be from various sources, book chapters, journal articles, and on-line lectures and guides.  There will be a link to the readings from the course outline. Some readings are on the web; other readings are available online from the UA Library; still other readings are available through electronic reserves.  The password will be provided when classes begin.
Textbook:

There is no required text for this course.  However, the following book on information ethics is highly recommended:

     Spinello, Richard A. 1995. Ethical Aspects of Information Technology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

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COURSE REQUIREMENTS 
Graded Assignments
Individual Project 30%
Midterm 25%
Short Assignments 25%
Participation 20%

Individual Project/Presentation:  Students will pursue an individual project on a topic chosen in consultation with the professor.  They will present the results of this project to the class.

Midterm: The midterm will be take home, open book, open notes. The midterm will cover the basic ethical theories and ask students to explain and analyze these theories as well as apply them to various cases.

Short Assignments: Short writing assignments will ask students to do such things as dissect the readings, apply theories to cases, and analyze information issues in the news.

Participation:  The participation grade will include participation in both on-line and in-class discussion. Students will be evaluated on the basis of both the frequency and the quality of their participation.

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COURSE POLICIES

Academic Code of Integrity

Students are expected to abide by The University of Arizona Code of Academic Integrity, see . 'The guiding principle of academic integrity is that a student's submitted work must be the student's own.' If you have any questions regarding what is acceptable practice under this Code, please ask an Instructor.

Accommodating Disabilities

The University has a Disability Resource Center. If you anticipate the need for reasonable accommodations to meet the requirements of this course, you must register with the Disability Resource Center and request that the DRC send me, the Instructor, official notification of your accommodation needs as soon as possible. Please plan to meet with me by appointment or during office hours to discuss accommodations and how my course requirements and activities may impact your ability to fully participate.

Assignment Policies

  • How to submit your assignments:  Students should submit their assignments either in class or via the D2L drop box.
  • Assignment due dates: All assignments and exams are due either at the beginning of class or if due in the D2L drop box by midnight on the due date. (Due dates will be listed on the course schedule.) No late work will be accepted without a pre-approved excuse. You must contact me in advance to get approval to turn in work late. Even with permission to turn in work late, work may be docked as much as a third of a grade for every day it is late.
  • Writing style: Student written work should be free of grammatical or spelling errors. All sources should be clearly documented. (Any documentation style is fine as long as it is used consistently.)

Incompletes

The 1997-8 University of Arizona General Academic Manual (p.23) reads:
 
The grade of I may be awarded only at the end of a semester, when all but a minor portion of the course work has been satisfactorily completed. The grade of I is not to be awarded when the student is expected to repeat the course; in such a case the grade of E must be assigned. Students should make arrangements with the instructor to receive an incompete grade before the end of the semester.

If the incomplete is not removed by the instructor within one year the I grade will revert to a failing grade.

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GRADING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

All assignments (except for individual short assignments) will be graded out of 100 points on a standard scale.  Individual short assignments will be graded check (full credit), check-plus (extra credit), check-minus (partial credit). The overall grade for the short assignments will be on a 100 point scale (someone who got a check for all assignments will have a 100 for the short assignments).

The final grades will be given as follows:

A 100-90
B 89-80
C 79-70
D 69-60

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CONTACTING ME

E-mail: kmathies@email.arizona.edu<>
Office hours: Wednesday from 12-2:30 and by appointment.
Office: SIRLS Room 6
Phone Number: 520-621-3565
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