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Last revised Jan 10, 2006.

Course Syllabus for IRLS 520, Section 1: Ethics for Library and Information Professionals

Tucson: Mondays, 6:30pm-9:00pm, Educ 349

Link to Course Outline

Spring 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 once a week.  The first section of the course will focus on ethical theory and case studies.  The second section of the course will focus on issues in information law and policy.  The third section of the coruse will consist primarily of student presentations. Class activities will include short lectures by the instructor, films, audio presentations, class discussion, group work, in-class written work, and individual and group presentations.  Students should come prepared by doing the reading and completing any associated written work before class. 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:
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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.  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
Group Presentation 25%
Individual Project 20%
Midterm 20%
Short Assignments 20%
Participation 15%

Group Presentation:  Groups will present on an issue in information ethics to the class and facilitate class discussion on the topic. The group presentation assignment requires for the group to develop a document which summarizes the main points of the presentation, with links to further information, and a bibliography.

Individual Project/Presentation:  Each student 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 and open notes. The midterm will cover the basic ethical theories and ask students to explain, analyze, and apply these theories 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 as specified in the course schedule. This will be 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 by 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 doucmentation 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 with a check (full credit), check-plus (extra credit), or 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

Contact Information:

e-mail: kmathies@email.arizona.edu
Office (temporary): SIRLS Conference Room
Office Hours: 1:30-3:00 p.m. Wednesdays, and by appointment

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