Download information ethics in the knowledge society

INFORMATION ETHICS IN THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY
Arun Kumar Chakraborty, Ph.D., Librarian, Bose Institute, Kolkata, [email protected],
[email protected]
Shyamal Kr. Roy Choudhury, Ph.D., Director, Library Science Education & Training, Bengal
Library Association, [email protected]
Gopa Dasgupta, Bose Institute, Kolkata, [email protected]
Abstract
Ethical principles for the knowledge society include the
right to freedom of expression, universal access to
information, specially that which is in the public domain,
the right to education, the right to privacy and the right to
participate in the cultural life. One of the most
challenging ethical issues now is the inequality of access
to Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
between the countries and between urban and rural
communities within the countries.
It has been observed that there are several benefits of a
digitally connected world in the knowledge society. But
there are also the threats of misuse and abuse of such
digital connections.
Information ethics is “the branch of ethics that focuses
on the relationship between the creation, organization,
dissemination and use of information, and the ethical
standards and moral codes governing human conduct in
society”. It is considered now as a confluence of the
ethical concerns of media and press, journalism, library
and computer science, computer ethics, cyber ethics, bioinformation ethics, ethics related to management
information systems, E-governance, E-business and
internet etc.
This paper highlights a brief history of information
ethics, its nature and scope in the knowledge society
along with some specific topics in computer ethics.
Key Words
Information ethics, knowledge society, Information &
Communication Technology, Computer ethics.
employment,
medicine,
security,
transportation,
entertainment etc. Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) has affected community life, family
life, human relationship, education, career, freedom and
democracy.
Information ethics and computer ethics are that branch
of applied ethics which studies and applied such serial
and ethics impacts of ICT.
Computer ethics has been used to refer to kind of
professionals apply codes of ethics and standards of good
practice within their profession. Cyber ethics and internet
ethics have now been used to refer to aspects of computer
ethics associated with the internet.
Information ethics is not the exclusive possession of the
discipline of information science. It is now considered as
a confluence of the ethical concerns of media and press,
journalism, library and information science and computer
ethics, cyber ethics, bio-information ethics, ethics related
to management information systems, E-governance, Ebusiness and the internet. Information ethics is a dynamic
and evolving field. It is flowing from various disciplines
and perspectives and cultures.
INFORMATION ETHICS AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The Information ethics is the branch of ethics which
focuses on the relationship between the creation,
organization, dissemination and use of information and
the ethical standards and moral codes governing human
conduct in society (Joan, Reitz M. “Information Ethics”,
online dictionary for library and information science.
(http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/oldis/-i..aspx)
INTRODUCTION
The domain of information science has been changing
fundamentally since the last decade with the evolution of
knowledge society perception. The centre of information
science has now shifted from a predominant concern with
techniques (topics like acquisition, cataloguing,
conservation, user education etc.) to engagements with
various issues (like intellectual property, user privacy etc.)
in which ethical dimensions predominate.
COMPUTER ETHICS AND
INFORMATION ETHICS
Information revolution has changed many aspects of
modern life significantly. These are commerce,
Information ethics is concerned with the question of
who should have access to what information. The core
issues of information ethics are intellectual freedom,
equitable access to information, information privacy and
intellectual property. It provides a framework for
considering moral issues concerning (a) Informational
privacy, (b) moral agency (whether artificial agents may
be work), (c) new environmental issues (specially how
agents should behave in the info sphere), (d) problems
arising from the life cycle (creation, collection, recording,
distribution, processing etc) of information (specially
ownership, and copyright, digital divide and digital
rights).
Information technology affects some issues like
copyright protection, intellectual freedom, accountability,
privacy and security. Many of these issues are difficult to
resolves due to fundamental differences between western
moral philosophy and Eastern moral philosophy and
Eastern traditional cultures.
Recent advances in information technology have made
the general population very much aware of these issues.
KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY
According to Loretal (2007), the four pillars of a
knowledge society are:
 ICTs and connectivity
 Content and usability
 Infrastructure other than ICTs and
 Human capacity.
In a Knowledge Society (KS), the levers of
development are creation, circulation and appropriation of
knowledge.
LIBRARY INNOVATIONS AND SOCIOCULTURAL CONDITIONS IN
KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY
Table1 shows Library innovations and sociocultural conditions in Knowledge Society [Stchr,
N (1999), Drotuer, K(2005)].
Table 1: Library innovations and Socio-cultural
conditions in Knowledge Society
Criteria
1. Aim of library use
2. Definition of
library/Librarian
3. Definition of
material/Content
4 .Definition of user
Knowledge Society (from mid
1990)
1. Universal and free access to
information and fictionMultimodal literacy
2. Knowledge facilitator
(library as a multimodal
knowledge centre)
3. Material art facts and nonmaterial processes- Information
and fiction
4. Knowledge producer, cooperator and cultural citizen.
NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE COMMISSION
(NKC) GOVT. OF INDIA AND LIBRARY
National Knowledge Commission (NKC), Govt. of
India, in a report published in February2007 is of the
opinion that “libraries have a recognized social function
in making knowledge publicly available to all. They serve
as local centers of information and learning and are local
gateways to national and global knowledge”.
The prime focus of the National Knowledge
Commission (2007) is on five key areas of the knowledge
paradigm. Those are shown schematically below
(Scheme-1)
Scheme-1
Key areas of knowledge paradigm
 Access to knowledge
 Knowledge concepts
 Knowledge Creation
 Knowledge Application and
 Development of better knowledge services.
Several recommendation have been made by the
National Knowledge commission (NKC -2007) to
transform India into a vibrant knowledge – based society
where information ethics is of prime importance.
CODES MANIFESTOS AND CHARTERS
Code of ethics is a list of guiding principles for ethical
behaviors. Codes of ethics are bases of a system of
discipline for information professions. In a code, the
professions its members what they should consider when
faced with an ethical dilemma. But codes can not provide
everything that is required to cope with the moral
ambiguities which are seen in the professional life. A
professional sometimes may have to take a decision
which may or may not derive from the principles laid
down in a code.
Many of the Code of ethics of the professional
journalists of the present society may be included under
the heading “Seek the Truth and Report It”. It also deals
with other topics like accuracy, balance, citation of
sources when possible avoidance of plagiarism,
representation of minority and encouragement of open
government and access to official information.
There is difference of approach in formulating codes of
ethics and professional conduct of different professions.
There are also national differences which are based on the
culture and history (Sturges, 2003).
MANIFESTOS, DECLARATIONS AND
CHARTERS
In addition to codes of ethics, other formal policy
documentation like ‘Declaration’, charter and manifestos
should also be considered. The Association for
progressive communications’. Internet Rights charter
(http://rights.apc.org/charter.shtard) deals with some
themes. These are (i) Universal access to internet (ii)
freedom of expression and access to knowledge (iii)
sharing of knowledge through open source (iv) privacy
and surveillance (v) internet governance and (vi)
protection rights in the context of internet.
THE LITERATURE
 Luciano Floridi (1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008) has
published many significant papers on the
philosophy, nature and scope of information ethics.
 Capurro (2006) has suggested a philosophical basis
for the information ethics which is different from
that developed by Florida.
 Moor (1985) has published a significant paper on
computer ethics.
CONFERENCES, EDUCATION AND
TRAINING
It is well known that professional and academic
conferences are the ways through which any emerging
discipline or sub- discipline like information ethics may
be recognized.
UNESCO has given approval of information ethics in
the form of INFO ethics. Conferences of invited experts
and other significant workers in 1997, 1998, 2000,
ETHICOMP, began in Leicester, UK in 1995, is the oldest
established and most frequent information ethics
conference.
It has been recognized that Education in information
ethics as urgently needed. The presence or absence of
information ethics in the academic curricula have been
observed within IFLA, FAIFE has, since 2005, had the
financial means to undertake an extensive and systemic
education/ CPD programme. A conference on the subject
“IFLA/ UESCO Internet Manifesto” was held in 2007 in
Costa Rica.
UNIQUENESS AND GLOBAL
INFORMATION ETHICS
Gorniak hypothesis (Gorniak 1996, Gorniak 2005) was
a significant contribution to uniqueness debate. Maner
(Maner 1996) suggested that information technology
“forces us to discover new moral values, formulate new
moral principles, develop new polices and find new ways
to think about the issues presented to us” (Maner 1996).
CONCLUSION
In the present Knowledge Society, information ethics is
well established since the first decade of the twenty first
century. It has now become a sub-discipline of
information science. The development of information
ethics encourages a principled reflection on different
aspects of information and communication. It also opens
up the potential for cross-disciplinary enquiry and debate
in a knowledge society.
REFERENCES
[1] Bynum, T. (2000),”The Foundation of Computers Ethics”,
Computers and Society 30(2):6-13
[2] Capurro, R (2006), Towards ok Ontological Foundation
Ethics”, Ethics and Information Technology, 8(4) :157-186
[3] Drotner, Kirsten , Library Information for the knowledge
society, Scandenavian Rutlie, Library Quarterly, v.32,no.3
(2008)
[4] Floridi, L. (1999),”Information Ethics: On the Theoretical
Foundation of Computer Ethics”, Ethics and Information
Technology, 1(1):37-56
[5] Foridi, L. (2001),”Information Ethics:an environmental
approach to the digital divide “Philosophy in contemporary
world,vol.9(No.1)pp.1-7
[6] Floridi, L. (2005),”Internet Ethics:The Constructions Values
of Homo Preticus”, Information: R.Cavalier (ed.),”The
Impact of the Internet on our most lives,Albeay:Suny
Press,195-214.
[7] Floridi, L. (2008),Information Ethics:Its Nature and Scope”,
InJ.VAndea Hover and J. Weekert (eds.) Information
Technology and Moral Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press,40-65
[8] Forester, T. and Morrison, P. (1999) Computer Ethics, 2nd
ed. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press
[9] Gorniak-Kocikowska, K (1996), The Computer Revolution
and Problem of Global Ethics, In: T.Bynum and S.
Rogerson (eds), Global Information Ethics, Guildford, UK,
Opragen Publications, 177-190
[10] Gorniak-Kocikowaska, K. (2005), ”From Computer ethics
to the Ethics of Global ICT Society ,In: T. Bynum, G.
Collste and S. Rogerson (eds); Proceedings of ETHICOMP
2005 (CD-ROM), Centre for Computing and Social
Responsibility, Linkopings University .
[11] Lord (Petern Jhan) and Britz (Johannes Jacobus). Is a
knowledge Society possible without freedom of access to
information? (2007). Journal of Information Science
V.33(4) ,pp 387-397 (2007)
[12] National Knowledge Commission, Govt. of India, Dharma
Marg , Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-21 (2007). Available at :
www.knowledgecommission.gov.in
[13] Stchr (Nico). Knowledge Societies, London, Saga (1999)
[14]Sturges, P. (2003) It’s not cricket: laws of the game, or
guidance in ethical reflection for information professionals
in
Western
Europe
Available
at
http://www.ifla.org/files/faife/publications/sturges/notcricket