TEACHING OF INFORMATION ETHICS IN KENYA

Transcription

1 TEACHING OF INFORMATION ETHICS IN KENYA By Japhet Otike, PhD. School of Information Sciences Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya ( A paper delivered in a Conference on the Teaching of Information Ethics in Africa held at the University of Botswana, Gaberone, September 6 7, 2010) INTRODUCTION Definitions: a) Ethics: Ethics is defined differently by different writers. - Smith defines ethics simply as professional standards of conduct. - Laudon and Laudon (2005) define it as the principle of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, use to make choices to guide their behaviours. - Others see it as the field of moral science, the basis of law and the principles of conduct governing an individual or group (Grinnell College Libraries, Information Ethics& Copyright, 2010) b) Information Ethics (IE): - Wikipedia defines information ethics as the field that investigates the ethical issues arising from the development of and application of information technologies. Information ethics provides a critical frame work for considering moral issues concerning information privacy, moral agency, new environmental issues, problems arising from the life-cycle (creation, collection, recording, distribution, processing, etc.) of information. Coverage - IE covers both legal and moral issues - In legal issues, the person affected or offended by an offending party can opt to seek redress before a court of law - In moral the offender may not necessarily need to be punished. A good example here, is a case of one who uses somebody s work without acknowledgement. Among areas covered by IE are: a) Data Protection. This includes:

2 - breach of confidentiality particularly as affected by modern technology - accessing information beyond the limits permitted through an understanding with the owner of the data or information. b) Censorship: This may include: - bias in the selection and dissemination of information on the basis of political, religious, ethnic or ideological differences c) Intellectual Freedom: This entails: - allowing people to write, read, discuss, and associate with people or literature of their choice - information professionals must avoid personal bias to affect their work d) Providing Advice. This pertains to: - legal advice - medical advice, etc. Information professionals should ensure that their services are confined to providing information support. They should not provide advices or opinions to clients. e) Accuracy or realiability of Information. - It is unethical or unprofessional to provide information to clients knowing very well that it is inaccurate or dated. f) Seeking payment in exchange for a service - It is unethical to seek payment in exchange for a service knowing very well that the cost of running that service is met by a third party. SITUATION IN KENYA In Kenya, the teaching of information ethics is carried out in two ways: a) as a full fledged subject or module b) as a component in a major subject a) Full fledged subject - there is no information science institution in Kenya offering IE per se. However the course exists as part or in the form of Legal Aspects of Information at: - Moi University, Eldoret - Higher National Diploma (KNEC)

3 b) A component of a major subject. This is commonly found in other institutions offering information science programmes both at undergraduate and postgraduate level in courses such as: - Management Information Systems - Management of Libraries - Collection Development - Publishing - IT subjects The case at Moi University The School of Information Sciences at Moi University offers two subjects with IE components: a) Legal Aspects of Information. This course is offered to final year students pursuing a BSc. degree in information sciences. b) Information and the law. This subject is taught to postgraduate students pursuing an MSc. degree in information sciences. The programme is earmarked for students offering information sciences at postgraduate level. - the above two subjects comprise among others, intellectual property law which include copyright, privacy, freedom of access to information, censorship, defamation law, law of contract, data protection, media law, etc. Most of these units constitute both legal and ethical issues. Is there need for a full fledged subject on Information Ethics in Kenya? - the answer to the above question is bound to vary from one institution to another. The reason being that the information sciences curriculum at the university level is decentralized. - Each university determines what to teach and at what level. - At Moi University, IE is covered by the two courses mentioned above. As a result, there is no need for a similar course. - Doing this will amount to duplicating the programmes - However, there is room for subjects or modules such as publishing, records management, research methods, IT subjects to bring in additional IE components that specifically address their needs. - Our major concern at Moi University is to strengthen the two by incorporating additional IEs. How are IE subjects taught at Moi University? - the two subjects offered, namely, Legal Aspects of Information and Information and the Law are compulsory. - They are offered in the form of classroom lectures supplemented by (a) case studies and (b) students presentations.

4 Other Institutions - Some middle colleges offer programmes in information sciences examined by a central body, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). KNEC offers a Higher National Diploma in Library and Information Studies which has a core unit, Legal Aspects of Information and Consultancy which like the one at Moi University, has components of IE. - Other universities do not offer full fledged IE or related subjects. The IE components exist in other subjects taught by LIS departments. CONCLUSION - Professionals in Kenya recognize the importance of IE education. - Information professionals who have done it, have high regard for the programme. - It is however interesting to note that unlike other countries particularly the developed countries, no empirical research has been carried out in Kenya to ascertain the status of the programme. - It is a high time information science scholars in Africa considered this as a viable and challenging area for research. - Lastly, I would like to challenge conference participants to come up with answers to the following questions raised by Ocholla (2009); and Lee and colleagues (2005): a) Is ethics education necessary? Why? b) Who should offer the programme? c) To whom should it be given? d) What should be covered? e) How long should it take? f) Should information ethics be a standalone course? g) What are the most important topics for teaching in teaching information ethics? h) If IE is not made a standalone course, into which courses should it be integrated? i) What are the ideal methods for teaching the course? Bibliography Alise. Information Ethics Special Interest Group. Position statement on information ethics in LIS education. January, Information Ethics and copyright. Grinnell College Libraries. Information ethics and copyright. andcopyright.htm Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J. P. (2005). Management Information Systems, 9 th ed. Prentice Hall, Inc. Lee, et al (2005). Incorporating ethics into management information systems curriculum in business schools. Issues in information systems, Vol. 6(1), pp

5 Ocholla, Dennis. (2009). Information ethics education in Africa: where do we stand? International Information & Library Review, Vol. 41(2), pp Smith, Misty. Ethics of information provision. THANK YOU