School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

INLS 584, Information Ethics
Spring 2008

Schedule

Syllabus / Schedule / Assignments / Blackboard site

Introduction to Ethical Reasoning

Session 1: January 9, Overview of the course; An exercise in ethical reasoning (Arson case)

Session 2: January 14, Cultural relativism; Subjectivism; Emotions

Session 3: January 16, Morality and religion; Egoism

• Rachels, Chapter 4, Does morality depend on religion? (key: sections 4.2 & 4.3)
• Rachels, Chapter 5, Ethical egoism (key: sections 5.2-5.4)

January 21, Holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr., Day) - NO CLASS

Session 4: January 23, Utilitarianism

• Rachels, Chapter 6, The utilitarian approach (key: sections 6.1-6.2)
• Rachels, Chapter 7, The debate over utilitarianism (key: sections 7.1, 7.3, & 7.4)

Session 5: January 28, Absolute moral rules and Kant; Selection of issues to consider during course

• Rachels, Chapter 8, Are there absolute moral rules? (key: sections 8.2, 8.4, & 8.5)
• Rachels, Chapter 9, Kant and respect for persons (key: section 9.1)

Session 6: January 30, Social contracts

• Rachels, Chapter 10, The idea of a social contract (key: sections 10.1, 10.3, & 10.5)

Session 7: February 4, Alternative ethical approaches

• Rachels, Chapter 11, Feminism and the ethics of care (key: sections 11.1 & 11.2)
• Rachels, Chapter 12, The ethics of virtue (key: sections 12.1 & 12.2)
• Rachels, Chapter 13, What would a satisfactory moral theory be like? (key: section 13.3)
• Optional reading: Adam, A. (2000). Gender and computer ethics. Computers & Society, 30(4), 17-23. [ACM Digital Library]

Session 8: February 6, Applying moral theories as information professionals

• Smith, H. J., & Hasnas, J. (1999). Ethics and information systems: the corporate domain. MIS Quarterly, 23(1), 109-127. (Read pages 109-119 only.) [UNC libraries, via JSTOR ]
• Fallis, D. (2007). Information ethics for twenty-first century library professionals. Library Hi Tech, 25(1), 23-36. (Skim entire article; focus on two sections: The theories, and Limitations of the theories) [UNC libraries]
• Leonard, L. N. K., Cronan, T. P., & Kreie, J. (2004). What influences IT ethical behavior intentions: Planned behavior, reasoned action, perceived importance, or individual characteristics? Information & Management, 42(1), 143-158. (Read sections 1, 2, and 4 only.) [UNC libraries]

Session 9: February 11, Values clarification

• Smith, M. (1977). A Practical Guide to Value Clarification. Lajolla, CA: University Associates.
• Chapter 1, The need for exploring values, p3-18 [Electronic reserves]

Session 10: February 13, Professional codes of conduct (Additional codes and other resources)

• ALA Code of Ethics. (1995, June 28). American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ethics.html.
• ACM code of ethics and professional conduct. (1992, October 16). Association for Computing Machinery. http://www.acm.org/constitution/code.html.
• ASIS&T professional guidelines. Adopted 5/30/92. http://www.asis.org/AboutASIS/professional-guidelines.html.
• Huff, C. (1996). Unintentional power in the development of computer systems. Computers & Society, 26(4), 6-9. [ACM Digital Library]
• Newton, L. (1998). The origin of professionalism: sociological conclusions and ethical implications. In Stichler, R. N., & Hauptman, R. (Eds.), Ethics, Information, and Technology: Readings. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 261-272. [Electronic reserves]

• Literature review: Topic/question due
• Review of court cases: List of cases due
• Book review: Citation due

Issues in Information Ethics

• Information/data as intellectual property (copyright, moral rights of authors, open source content)
• Software as intellectual property (open source software, legal mechanisms for software protection)
• Information/software integrity/accuracy (professional responsibility for correct information/programs)
• Privacy (government surveillance, commercial surveillance, computer-mediated communication, exoinformation)
• Access to information/censorship (equitable access to information, censorship, freedom to read)
• Access to information technology (equitable access to computers and the internet, discrimination)
• Effects of computerization on the work environment (job displacement, deskilling, ergonomic issues, electronic monitoring)
• Effects of computer-mediated communication on understandings of identity and relationships
• Effects of computerization on democracy and government

Intellectual property

Session 11: February 18, Copyright implications of google books, Amazon "search inside", etc. (Matt Hopkins)

• Samuelson, P. (2007). Does copyright law need to be reformed? [Legally speaking.] Communications of the ACM, 50(10), 19-23. [ACM Digital Library]
• Ewing, J. (2003). Copyright and authors. First Monday, 8(10). http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_10/ewing/index.html.
• Schaffhauser, D. (2008). Google book search: The good, the bad, & the ugly. Campus Technology, January 2008. http://campustechnology.com/articles/57064/.
• Optional reading: Copyright Office basics, Circular 1, Revised July 2006. http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html.

Session 12: February 20, Obligations of librarians to protect owners’ intellectual property rights (Morgan Stoddard)

• Tunick, M. (2002). The moral obligation to obey the law. Journal of Social Philosophy, 33(3), 464-482. [UNC libraries]
• Gasaway, L.N. (2000). Values conflict in a digital environment: Librarians versus copyright holders. Columbia-VLA Journal of Law and the Arts, 24(1), 115-161. (Read at least the following sections: Introduction, Section I (A-C), Section III.F, and the Conclusion.) [UNC libraries, copy available in class Blackboard site]
• Optional: Fair(y) Use Tale, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

Session 13: February 25, Digital rights management of TV and video streams (Nevin Yang)

• Sohn, D. (2007). Understanding DRM. ACM Queue, 5(7), 32-39. [ACM Digital Library]
• Mulligan, D., Han, J., & Burstein, A. (2003). How DRM-based content delivery systems disrupt expectations of ‘personal use’. ACM Workshop on Digital Rights Management, 77-89. [ACM Digital Library]
• Felten, E. (2003). A skeptical view of DRM and fair use. Communications of the ACM, 46(4), 56-59. [ACM Digital Library]
• Optional background reading: UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy. (2001, February 8). The Digital Millennium Copyright Act. http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm. (See, especially, Section 1201 of the legislation.)

Session 14: February 27, Intellectual property rights in relation to online collaboratively-created materials (Monte Evans)

• Hew, K.F., & Hara, N. (2007). Knowledge sharing in online environments: A qualitative case study. Journal of the American Society for INformation Science & Technology, 58(14), 2310-2324. [UNC libraries]
• Google Docs Privacy Policy. (2006, Oct 11). http://www.google.com/google-d-s/privacy.html.
• Google Docs. (2008). Privacy and Security: Understanding section 11.1 of our Terms of Service. http://documents.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=82366&ctx=sibling.
• Thomas, O. (ed.) (n.d.). Facebook: We reserve the right to rip off your idea. Valleywag. http://valleywag.com/tech/facebook/we-reserve-the-right-to-rip-off-your-idea/-302350.php.

• Literature review: Annotated bibliography due
• Review of court cases: Annotated bibliography due

Privacy

Session 15: March 3, Ethical obligations of corporations to protect customers’ privacy during e-commerce transactions (Travis Roscher, Kenneth Alford)

• Gorden, K. (2008, Feb. 18). How businesses can protect their customers' privacy. EVliving.com. http://www.evliving.com/books.php?action=fullnews&id=8892.
• Culnan, M.J., & Bies, R.J. (2003). Consumer privacy: Balancing economic and justice considerations. Journal of Social Issues, 59(2), 323-342. [UNC libraries]
• Vijayan, J. (2008, Feb. 20). Privacy, civil rights advocates castigate Wikileaks ruling. MacWorld. http://www.macworld.com/article/132184/2008/02/leak.html.

Session 16: March 5, Privacy issueson the internet: two case studies (Sarah Peterson, Amber Walker)

• Related to google's Streetview:
  • Knight, S. (2007, June 1). All-seeing Google Streetview prompts privacy fears. Times Online.
    http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article1870995.ece.
  • McArthur, R.L. (2001). Reasonable expectations of privacy. Ethics and Information Technology, 3(2), 123-128. [UNC libraries]
  • Nissenbaum, H. (1999). The meaning of anonymity in an information age. The Information Society, 15(2), 141-144. [UNC libraries]
  • Optional: Swidey, N. (2003, Feb. 2). A nation of voyeurs: How the internet search engine google is changing what we can find out about one another -- and raising questions about whether we should. Boston Globe Magazine, 10-15. http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/mandrejevic/watching.html.
  • Optional: Black, L. (2007, June 6). Back in Black - Streetview. The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart. http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=88240&title=back-in-black-streetview.
• Related to social software, e.g., Facebook:
  • Barnes, S.B. (2006). A privacy paradox: Social networking in the United States. First Monday, 11(9). http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/barnes/index.html.
  • Facebook can ruin your life. And so can MySpace, Bebo ...(February 11, 2008). Belfast Telegraph.
    http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/technology/article3421337.ece.
    

March 8-16: Spring break; NO CLASS

Session 17: March 17, Issues related to privacy and access to information related to sports figures (e.g., drug testing) (Daniel Maiolo, Robert Shoemake)

• Kent says he advocates blood tests for players. (2008, Jan. 12). ESPN.com news services. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3191880.
• Ripken dodges steroid talk as Hall of Fame election nears. (2006, Dec. 5). Associated Press. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=2687014.
• Mitchell, G.J. (2007, Dec. 13). Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball. http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf. (Read pages 167-175 (as numbered in the document; pages 215-223 in pdf-counted pages), about Roger Clemens. Skim other parts of the document, particularly the summary and recommendations at the beginning, to become more acquainted with it.)
• Q&A: Human growth hormone testing. (2008, Jan. 16). World Anti-Doping Agency. http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/QA_hGH_En.pdf.

Session 18: March 19, Requests for information from libraries, made under the PATRIOT Act (Robert Strickland)

• Cowan, A.L. (2005, Sep. 1). At stake in court: Using the PATRIOT Act to get library records. New York Times, online. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/nyregion/01library.html.
• American Library Association Council. (2003, Jan. 29). Resolution on the USA PATRIOT Act and related measures that infringe on the rights of library users. American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=ifresolutions&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=11891.
• NSL provision ruled unconstitutional. (2007, Oct.). American Libraries, 38(9), 27. [UNC libraries via EBSCOhost]
• Nakashima, E. (2007, Nov. 2). Librarians say surveillance bills lack adequate oversight. The Washington Post, section A6. [UNC libraries via EBSCOhost]
• Optional: Full text of the USA PATRIOT Act. [Government Printing Office]
• Optional: Highlights of the USA PATRIOT Act. U.S. Dept. of Justice. http://www.lifeandliberty.gov/highlights.htm.
• Optional: EFF analysis of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. (2003, Oct. 27). Electronic Frontier Foundation. http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism/20011031_eff_usa_patriot_analysis.php.

Session 19: March 24, Privacy rights of children in school and public libraries (Jennifer Lynch)

• Adams, H. (2002). Privacy and confidentiality: Now more than ever, youngsters need to keep their library use under wraps. American Libraries, 33(10), 44-46, 48. [UNC libraries]
• Hildebrand, J. (1991). Is privacy reserved for adults? School Library Journal, 37(1), 21-25. [UNC libraries]
• Ishizuka, K. (2003). FL parents gain access to library records. School Library Journal, 49(6), 21. [UNC libraries]
• Eberhart, G.M. (2003). Two state bills affect minors' reading privacy. American Libraries, 34(11), 21. [UNC libraries]

Freedom of Expression

Session 20: March 26, Censorship in prison libraries (Sarah Everhart)

• Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies. (1992). Library Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions. Chicago: American Library Association. Read the following sections: Philosophy, Access 1.1-1.3, Services 6.1-6.11, Materials 7.1-7.3, and Appendix B: ALA Resolution on Prisoners' Right to Read. [PDF available on Blackboard site]
• American Library Association. (1996, Jan. 24). Library Bill of Rights. [http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillrights.cfm]
• Coyle, W. (1987). Libraries in Prisons: A Blending of Institutions. New Directions in Information Management, Number 15. New York: Greenwood Press. Read pages 76-81. [PDF available on Blackboard site]
• Goodstein, L. (2007, Sep. 10). Prisons purge books on faith from libraries. New York Times, A1, National Desk. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/us/10prison.html or document available on Blackboard site]
• Goodstein, L. (2007, Sep. 21). Critics right and left protest book removals. New York Times, A13, National Desk. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/us/21prison.html or document available on Blackboard site]
• Banerjee, N. (2007, Sep. 27). Prisons to return purged items to chapels. New YOrk Times, A29. National Desk. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/us/27cnd-prisons.html or document available on Blackboard site]

• Literature review: Outline due
• Review of court cases: Outline due

Session 21: March 31, Freedom of artistic expressions versus religious rights: implications for collection development (Howard Carrier)

• Kearns, P. (1998). Excerpt (p.15-39) from The Legal Concept of Art. Oxford: Hart Publishing. [Available on Blackboard site]
• Riding, A. (2005, Jan. 22). Navigating expression and religious taboos. New York Times, B15. [Available in New York Times online, if you're registered; also available through Lexis Nexis Academic, via the library resources page.]
• Hughes, R. (2002, Aug.). Free libraries, free society. American Libraries, 33(7), 48-51. [UNC libraries]
• Johnson, J. (1981, Feb.). A rationale for censorship in Christian libraries. The Christian Librarian, 28-33. [Available on Blackboard site]

Session 22: April 2, Political and religious freedom when national security is threatened (Matt Anderson)

• National Coalition Against Censorship. (2005). Free expression after September 11th: An online index. [http://www.ncac.org/issues/freeex911.cfm]
• Wilson, J.K. (2005, Fall). Academic freedom in America after 9/11. Thought & Action, 119-131. [http://www2.nea.org/he/heta05/images/2005pg119.pdf]

ACM SIGCHI: April 5-10, NO CLASS

Effects of Computers/Computerization

Session 23: April 14, The effects of computerization on organizational structure: its impact on archives users (Lori Eakin)

• MacNeil, H. (2001). Trusting records in a postmodern world. Archivaria, 51, 36-47. Available online at http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12793/13991.
• Shore, C., & Wright, S. (2000). Coercive accountability: The rise of audit culture in higher dducation. In Strathern, M. (Ed.), Audit Cultures: Anthropological Studies in Accountability, Ethics and the Academy. London: Routledge, 57-89. [Available online via Blackboard site]
• OCLC and CRL. (2007, February). Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification: Criteria and Checklist. Read pages 1-7. Available online at http://www.crl.edu/PDF/trac.pdf.

• Book review: Outline of review due

Session 24: April 16, Computer surveillance in the workplace (Gretchen Ptacek, Jamila Thompson)

• Nord, G.D., McCubbins, T.F., & Nord, J.H. (2006). E-monitoring in the workplace: Privacy, legislation, and surveillance software. Communications of the ACM, 49(8), 72-78. [ACM Digital Library]
• Hartman, L.P. (2001). Technology and ethics: Privacy in the workplace. Business & Society Review, 106(1), 1-27. [UNC libraries]
• Alge, B. J. (2001). Effects of Computer Surveillance on Perceptions of Privacy and Procedural Justice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(4), 797-804. [UNC libraries via EBSCOhost]

Session 25: April 21, Effects of computer-mediated communication on work/professional relationships (Hannah Kiesewetter)

• Ducheneaut, N.B. (2002). The social impacts of electronic mail in organizations: A case study of electronic power games using communication genres. Information, Communication & Society, 5(2), 153-188. (Skim the article, with special attention to pages 178-181.) [UNC libraries via EBSCOhost]
• Sussman, S.W., & Sproull, L. (1999). Straight talk: Delivering bad news through electronic communication. Information Systems Research, 10(2), 150-166. [UNC libraries via EBSCOhost]
• White House e-mail gone missing [Editorial]. (2008, Mar.1). New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast), A16. [UNC libraries via ProQuest]
• Wilkins, J. (2007). RU ready for IM? Information Management Journal, 41(3), 26-31. [UNC libraries via EBSCOhost]  

Session 26: April 23, Course wrap-up/review; Carolina Course Evaluation

April 28, 3:00 pm: Major paper due (literature review, review of court cases, book review)

Syllabus / Schedule / Assignments / Blackboard site

© Barbara M. Wildemuth, 2008. All rights reserved.