IRLS 520 Ethics for Information Professionals

Roberta I. Shaffer, JD, MLn

Instructor

Office Hours: 30 minutes immediately following each class or by appointment.

Tele: 301-654-4535 or 301-405-1260

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will focus on issues of professionalism that affect information professionals in their everyday work environment. Broad topical areas, which will be covered include professional ethics, standards of practice and professional competencies. The course will require students to compare information professionals to other professionals, and will begin to define the concepts of "profession," "professional" and professional ethics. Finally, we will look at social trends to consider how they have an impact on "generally accepted practices" among professionals. We will also consider demographic indicators, business climate, and legal and regulatory proscription.

COURSE GOALS

TO:

• Gain an understanding of the specific attributes of the information professional and the standards of competencies for information professionals that drive the attributes
• Define the meaning(s) of "profession" and "professional" and compare the information professions to other recognized or regulated professionals in our society
• Identify social, economic and political factors that shape the standards of practice and ethical practices for information professionals
• Understand the values and competencies of the information professions
• Develop a personal framework of values and conduct within the context of professional affiliation
• Critically consider and analyze ethical and professionally challenging situations that arise in the work settings of information professionals

COURSE FORMAT

Students will be expected to complete most of the readings before the class formally convenes on Monday, June 16^th. Students should demonstrate their mastery of the readings by integrating concepts from the readings into class discussions and written assignments. Much of the class will involve open discussions in which students will make informed contributions about the issues under consideration. The instructor will facilitate discussion and use hypothetical scenarios to instigate meaningful conversation. Therefore, it is critical that students attend and actively participate in all class meetings.

Much of the learning in this course will come from students’ peers, from sharing experiences, and from models provided by professional associations in the information sector, as well as other professions.

GROUND RULES

• All assignments must be submitted in the format required and on the due date that is indicated in this syllabus. A penalty will be imposed for any improper or late submissions as follows: FIVE points per day that the assignment is late or improper. A student will not be eligible to get any credit for the class unless all the assignment have been submitted by June 27^th

• Missing all or even part of a class for any reason will result in a reduction in the final grade

• All work must be presented in an entirely professional way, and be free of any grammatical or typographical errors or inconsistencies

• All discussions relating to the class shall be open and opinions must be clearly stated as such

• Any statements of fact must be attributable and verifiable to a recognized authority

• Full respect and attention shall be given to colleagues’ ideas and comments

• All work must be original and not collaborative, unless the instructor has indicated otherwise or given students permission to work on a team

• Every student must be fully engaged in the course by completing all readings, contributing to class discussions, and giving full attention to the comments of peers

• Students must be flexible in their approach to learning and open to learning opportunities

• Students must be willing to have fun, maintain a sense of humor, and be able to laugh at themselves

ASSIGNMENT PERCENTAGE VALUE DUE DATE

Professional Analysis 15% June 16^th

Ethics Scenario 10% June 17^th Personal Journal & Glossary 15% June 27^th

Personal Skills Map 15% June 19^th

(to be described in first class and discussed in last class)

Final Project 15% June 27^th

Class Participation &

Engagement 30% Ongoing

The Professional Analysis requires each student to choose a profession, other than a traditional information profession, and address the following about the profession:

• What are the historical roots of the profession?

• Are there specific educational requirements in order to be designated as and to hold oneself out as a member of the profession? Are the institutions that provide professional education regulated? By what entities?
• In general terms, how is the profession defined and what are the broad attributes of a person practicing the profession?
• Are there specific competencies that have been established to practice the profession and what entity has established these competencies (for example: professional association(s); government agency; marketplace, etc.).
• Does the profession require continuing education?
• Are there codes of professional conduct and any arbiter(s) of ethical conduct?

Students should choose from among the following professions or propose another not listed below:

Lawyers Physicians Accountants Architects Nurses Engineers

Financial Analysts/Securities Sellers Law Enforcement Officers

Judges Journalists K – 12 Teachers Social Workers

Once a student selects a profession to evaluate, please send an email to the class listserv to "reserve" that profession. Assignments of professions will be on a "first come, first served" basis.

Come to our first class meeting on June 16^th prepared to discuss your "chosen" profession. Written responses to the above issues and any others that you deem pertinent to address should not exceed four pages (double-spaced) in length. You may use shorthand sentences and one word responses.

Please draft an Ethics Scenario that follows the basic pattern of the ones distributed to you. You may draw upon your own personal experiences or those of a peer, news stories, your imagination, or devise a variation on the facts from one of eleven the scenarios you were given. Some students use this exercise as an entrée to interview someone who is practicing in an area or holds a position that the student has an interest in. Students ask the person about ethical challenges. The scenario should be about 10 sentences in length. Come to class on June 17^th prepared to introduce and lead a discussion on your fact pattern.

The Final Project is a paper in which the student responds to the Professional Responsibility/Ethics Final Question. The final is based a hypothetical involving a library fellowship developed by the Council on Libraries in Intellectual Development. The paper should entail some research and include the student’s (informed) personal opinions. It may not exceed six pages (double-spaced) in length, excluding endnotes (single-spaced).

The Personal Journal and Glossary provides a loosely structured vehicle in which students may capture ideas that occur to them outside of the classroom. These ideas may result from a reflection on a reading assignment or classroom comment, observing or participating in an event, or encountering a new word or concept that relates to the course topics. There is no expected length for this assignment. Its length and format reflect the individual student’s requirements.

The Personal Skills Map asks each student to consider the professional competencies and personal characteristics that will make that student successful and fulfilled in the particular career path that the student is pursuing. The student should "map out" the needed competencies and characteristics and also indicate how these will be attained or augmented through coursework, work experiences, professional association memberships, mentors and coaches, scholarly research and writing…

The map may be submitted in a narrative, chart or other format, but must not exceed three pages (double-spaced) in length. Shorthand sentences and the use of standard abbreviations and acronyms are acceptable. We will discuss guidelines for this assignment in the first class meeting (6/16). During the last class (6/19), we will present our maps to each other.

TOPICAL OUTLINE (subject to change)

• Defining "Profession"
• Defining "Information Professional"
• Comparing ourselves to other professions
• What are our professional values/ethics?
• What are our professional competencies?

• Social Trends
• Technological Impact on Ethical Values/Professional Practices
• Class Discussion of Ethics Scenarios

• Legal Issues Affecting Information (Creation, Dissemination, Preservation, Protections)
• Legal Issues in the Work Place

• Mapping our Futures

REQUIRED READINGS

NOTE: This initial reading list may be expanded upon by the instructor. Readings and articles distributed prior to and in class are all "required."

American Association of Law Libraries, www.aallnet.org/prodev/

competencies.asp. Read and review the information.

Kenneth D. Crews, Copyright Essentials for Librarians and Educators.

American Library Association, 2000. [On Reserve/Recommended

For Purchase]. Read entire book, pp. 1 – 130. Select three supple-

mental readings in an area of interest, pp. 131 – 140. Review two of

four websites listed on p. 140.

Richard A. Danner, "Redefining a Profession," Law Library Journal 90:3,

pp. 315 – 356, 1998.

Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak, Working Knowledge. Harvard Business School Press, 1998. [Should be on reserve shortly, is available electronically through the UA Library catalog through NetLibrary/Recommended for

Purchase]. Read pp. xi – 67; 75 – 87; and 88 –115.

Michael Gorman, Our Enduring Values: Librarianship in the 21^st

Century. American Library Association, 2000. [Available at UA Law Library & should soon be on reserve at the Main Library/ Recommended for Purchase]. Read pp. 1 – 28; 58 – 72; 88 – 100;

102 – 116; and 165 – 170.

in-depth review of the entire website.

Krie, Jennifer and Timothy Paul Cronan, "How Men and Women View

Ethics," Communications of the ACM 4:9, pp. 70 – 76, 1998.

Office of Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association, Intellectual

Freedom Manual, sixth ed. American Library Association, 2002.

[On Reserve/Recommended for Purchase]. Skim the entire book.

Read and React to Code of Ethics, pp. 407- 08. Choose four articles

from Selected Bibliography, p. 409.

Richard A. Spinello, Case Studies in Information and Computer Ethics. Prentice Hall, 1997. [On reserve at Main Library] Assignment from this book is to skim Table of Contents and then choose two scenarios to summarize and report on to the class.