School
of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
INLS
105, Information Ethics
Fall 2003
Schedule
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Syllabus
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Introduction
to Ethical Reasoning
Session 1: August
26 , Overview of the course; An exercise in ethical reasoning (Arson
case)
Session 2: August
28, Cultural relativism; Subjectivism; Emotions (Cross-border
case)
- Rachels, Chapter 1, What is morality?,
p1-15
- Rachels, Chapter 2, The challenge
of cultural relativism, p16-31
- Rachels, Chapter 3, Subjectivism
in ethics, p32-47
- Artz, J. M. (2000). The role of
emotion in reason, and its implications for computer ethics. Computers
and Society, 30(1), 14-16. [ACM
Digital Library]
Session 3: September
2, Morality and religion; Egoism (Cigarette ads
case)
- Rachels, Chapter 4, Does morality
depend on religion?, p48-62
- Rachels, Chapter 5, Psychological
egoism, p63-75
- Rachels, Chapter 6, Ethical egoism,
p76-90
Session 4: September
4, Utilitarianism (KKK case)
- Rachels, Chapter 7, The utilitarian
approach, p91-101
- Rachels, Chapter 8, The debate
over utilitarianism, p102-116
Session 5: September
9, Absolute moral rules and Kant; Selection
of issues to consider during course
- Rachels, Chapter 9, Are there
any absolute moral rules?, p117-129
- Rachels, Chapter 10, Kant and
respect for persons, p130-140
Session 6: September
11, Alternative ethical approaches
- Rachels, Chapter 11, The idea
of a social contract, p141-159
- Rachels, Chapter 12, Feminism
and the ethics of care, p160-172
- Rachels, Chapter 13, The ethics
of virtue, p173-190
- Case to discuss: Oz, E. (1994).
Ethics case 3: Worker displacement. In Ethics for the Information Age:
Cases. Dubuque, IA: Business & Educational Technologies, 5-6. [SILS
reserve - T58.5 .O9 1994]
Session 7: September
16, Applying moral theories as information professionals (review
sheet)
- Rachels, Chapter 14,
What would a satisfactory moral theory be like?, p191-202
- Smith, H. J., & Hasnas,
J. (1999). Ethics and information systems: the corporate domain. MIS Quarterly,
23(1), 109-127. [pdf]
- Gattiker, U. E., &
Kelley, H. (1999). Morality and computers: attitudes and differences in moral
judgments. Information Systems Research, 10(3), 233-254. [Electronic
reserves]
September 18: Class cancelled;
Hurricane Isabel
Session 8: September
23, Values clarification
- Smith, M. (1977). A
Practical Guide to Value Clarification. Lajolla, CA: University Associates.
Issues
in Information Ethics
The remainder of the course
will be devoted to reasoning about moral issues of relevance to information
professionals. The specific issues to be considered in the course will be selected
and presented by the course participants. Key issues and possible readings are
listed here:
- Ethical
codes of conduct for the information professions
- 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
Session 9: September
25, Professional codes of conduct (Barbara Wildemuth)
- 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.
- 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]
Session 10: September
30, The public's right to access government information; FOIA (Barbara Wildemuth)
(case for discussion)
- A Citizen's Guide
on Using the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 to Request
Government Records. House Report 108-172. 2003. READ THROUGH PAGE 34
ONLY (no appendices). [pdf or text versions available, http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house/house07cr108.html]
- da Silveira, P. (2003).
Representation, secrecy, and accountability. Journal of Information Ethics,
12(1), 8-20. [pdf]
- Halstuk, M. E. &
Chamberlin, B. F. (2001). Open government in the digital age: the legislative
history of how Congress established a right of public access to electronic
information held by federal agencies. Journalism & Mass Communication
Quarterly, 78(1), 45-64. [pdf]
- Optional: Freedom of
Information Act [text]. [http://www.usdoj.gov/04foia/foiastat.htm]
- Optional: U.S. General
Services Administration and U.S. Dept. of Justice. (2002). Your Right
to Federal Records: Questions and Answers on the Freedom of Information Act
and Privacy Act. [Linked from http://www.usdoj.gov/04foia/04_7.html]
Session 11: October
2 , Censorship as a mechanism for protecting children (Sara Lee)
- Taylor, J. K. (1997).
Protecting minors from free speech. Journal of Information Ethics, 6(2),
67-74. [pdf]
- Heins, M. (2001). Filtering
fever. In Not in Front of the Children: "Indecency," Censorship,
and the Innocence of Youth. New York: Hill & Wang, 180-190. [pdf]
- Spinello, R. A. (1997).
Case Studies in INformation and Computer Ethics. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Case 9.3, Censorship
at New England University, 233-235, 251-254. [pdf]
- Case 4.3, Southern
Midland Bank: A Case for the Data-Policy Committee, 72-75, 84-88. [pdf]
- Denning, D. S., &
Lin, H. S. (1994). Scenario 1: Explicit photos on a university network. In
Rights and Responsibilities of Participants in Networked Communities.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 55-60. [pdf]
- Optional:
National Coalition Against Censorship. (2002). http://ncac.org/index.html.
- Optional:
Rosenberg, R. S. (2001). Controlling access to the internet: the role of filtering.
Ethics and Information Technology, 3(1), 35-54. [Online
via UNC libraries]
Session 12: October
7, Democracy and the Internet: power in whose hands? (Christy Adessa Wilkens)
- Winner, L. (1997). Cyberlibertarian
myths and the prospects for community. ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society,
27(3), 14-19. [ACM
Digital Library]
- Rheingold, H. (1993). Disinformocracy.
In The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier.
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 276-300. http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/10.html.
Session 13: October
9 , Software
as intellectual property (Susan Teague Rector)
- McFarland, Michael C.,
SJ.(1999). Intellectual Property, Information and the Common Good. In Spinello,
R. A., & Tavani, H. T. (eds.), Readings in CyberEthics. Boston:
Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 252-262. [DAVIS - TK5105.5 .R3722 2001 reprinted
online at http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/st_org/iptf/commentary/content/1999060503.html]
- Davis, R., Samuelson,
P., Kapor, M., & Reichman, J. (1996). A new view of intellectual property
and software. Communications of the ACM, 39(3), 21-30. [ACM
Digital Library]
- Be familiar with:
Copyright Policy of UNC, particularly Section V. http://www.unc.edu/campus/policies/copyright.html.
- Gotterbarn, D., Miller,
K., & Rogerson, S. (1999). Software engineering code of ethics is approved.
Communications of the ACM, 42(10), 102-107. [ACM
Digital Library]
- Optional: Carlson,
S. (2000). When professors create software, do they own it, or do their colleges?
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 46(46), A29, 2p 1c. [Online
via MasterFILE Premier]
- Optional: The
Online Ethics Center. http://www.onlineethics.org/com/index.html
[Computer Software Section]
Session 14: October
14, Software as
intellectual property (Catherine Pellegrino)
- Glass, R. S., & Wood, W. A.
(1996). Situational determinants of softward piracy: an equity theory perspective.
Journal of Business Ethics, 15(11), 1189-1198. [pdf]
- Middleton, C. (2001, May 3). Why
piracy is the friend of technology. Computing Magazine, 10. [full
text]
- Don't mistake this mountain for
a molehill. (2001, Feb. 21). PC Dealer, 19. [full
text]
Session 15: October
16, The effect of electronic information on copyright and plagiarism
(Alida Pask)
- Davis, R. (2001) The
digital dilemma. Communications of the ACM, 44(2), 77-83. [ACM
Digital Library]
- Snapper, J. W. (1999).
On the Web, plagiarism matters more than copyright piracy. Ethics and
Information Technology, 1(2), 127-136. [Online
via UNC electronic journals]
- Fernández-Molina,
J.C., & Peis, E. (2001). The moral rights of authors in the age of digital
information. Journal of the American Society for Information Science &
Technology, 52(2): 109-117.[Online
via UNC libraries]
October 21 and 23: No class
(ASIST; Fall Break)
Session 16: October
28, Music downloading (Jennifer Warthman)
- Caulfield, B. (2000,
Oct. 1). The technology's here -- but are net businesses ready to use it?
Internet World, 6(19), 52-54, 56-58. [PDF;
also available via Infotrac
General Reference Center Gold]
- Sternstein, A. (2003,
Feb. 17). Legalize it. Forbes, 171(4), 99. [PDF;
also available via Infotrac
General Reference Center Gold]
- Grossman, L. (2003, May
5). It's all free! Music! Movies! TV shows! Millions of people download them
every day. Is digital piracy killing the entertainment industry? Time,
161(18), 60+. [PDF;
also available via Infotrac
General Reference Center Gold]
- Optional:
McCourt, T., & Burkart, P. (2003). When creators, corporations, and consumers
collide: Napster and the development of on-line music distribution. Media,
Culture & Society, 25, 333-350. [PDF]
Session 17: October
30, Information media and accountability (Denise Crowder)
- NV judge finds Judas Priest not
responsible for suicide pact. Entertainment Litigation Reporter, September
10, 1990. [Full text]
- O'Neil, R. M. (1998,
Spring). Free speech in cyberspace. Journal of Information Ethics,
7(1), 15-23. [PDF]
- Caldwell, B. (2003).
Media Conscience And Accountability. A Free Press: Rights and Responsibilities.
United States Information Agency; U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany. http://www.usembassy.de/usa/etexts/media/freepr/essay2.htm
Session 18: November
4 , Personal privacy and surveillance (Margaret Murray)
- Kateb, G. (2001). On being watched
and known. Social Research, 68(1), 269-295. [Online
via UNC libraries; pdf]
- Fried, C. (1984). Privacy: a moral
analysis. In Schoeman, F. D. (ed.), Philosophical Dimensions of Privacy:
An Anthology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 203-221. [pdf]
Session 19: November
6, UNC's honor
code and plagiarism (Abby Youngken)
- Instrument of Student
Governance. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2003. http://instrument.unc.edu/.
(Study sections II and II carefully; review the remaining sections.)
- Colleges beefing up honor
codes to curb cheating. News & Observer, September 2, 2003. [Online
copy]
- Johnston, D. K. (1996).
Cheating: limits of individual integrity. Journal of Moral Education,
25(2), 159+. [Online]
Session 20: November
11 , Data mining
as a surveillance technique (Katie Knight)
- Wahlstrom, K., &
Roddick, J. F. (2001). On the impact of knowledge discovery and data mining.
Paper presented at the 2nd Australian Institute of Computer Ethics Conference
(Canberra, 2001). [pdf]
- Danna, A., & Gandy,
O. H., Jr. (2002). All that glitters is not gold: digging beneath the surface
of data mining. Journal of Business Ethics, 40(4), 373-386. [pdf]
- Thuraisingham, B. (2002).
Data mining, national security, privacy and civil liberties. SIGKDD Explorations,
4(2), 1-5. [ACM Digital
Library]
- [TIA-related exerpts,]
Conference Report on H.R. 2658, Department of Defense Appropriations Act,
2004 (House Report 108-283). Congressional Record, September 24, 2003. [online]
- Electronic Frontier Foundation.
(2003, Nov. 7). Total/Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA): Is It Truly Dead?
EFF: It's too early to tell. http://www.eff.org/Privacy/TIA/20031003_comments.php
Session 21: November
13, Privacy
and surveillance (David Green)
- McArthur, R. L. (2001).
Reasonable expectations of privacy. Ethics and Information Technology,
3(2), 123-128. [Online
via UNC libraries]
- Panko, R. R., & Beh,
H. G. (2002). Monitoring for pornography and sexual harassment. Communications
of the ACM, 45(1), 84-87. [ACM
Digital Library]
- Tavani, H. T., &
Moor, J. H. (2001). Privacy protection, control of information, and privacy-enhancing
technologies. Computers and Society, 6-11. [ACM
Digital Library]
- Brunk, B. (2001). Exoinformation
and interface design. Bulletin of the American Society for Information
Science & Technology, 27(6), 11-13. [pdf]
Session 22: November
18, Surveillance
in the workplace (Tom Tolleson)
- Lankshear, G., &
Mason, D. (2001). Within the panopticon? Surveillance, privacy and the social
relations of work in two call centres. Paper presented at the Work, Employment
and Society Conference, Nottingham, England, September 11-13, 2001. [pdf]
- Lyon, D. (1994). The
Electronic Eye: The Rise of Surveillance Society. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press, 129-135. [Davis - TK7882.E2 L96 1994b; pdf]
- Lane, F. S., III. (2003).
The Naked Employee: How Technology Is Compromising Workplace Privacy.
New York : AMACOM, American Management Association, 105-124. [Davis - HF5549.5.E428
L36 2003; pdf]
Session 23: November
20, Software vulnerability and full disclosure (Jeff Bollinger)
- Rauch, J. (1999, Nov.).
Full disclosure: the future of vulnerability disclosure? ;login: The Magazine
of USENIX and SAGE. http://www.usenix.org/publications/login/1999-11/features/disclosure.html
- Arbaugh, W. A., Fithen,
W. L., & McHugh, J. (2000). Windows of vulnerability: a case study analysis.
Computer, 33(12), 52-59. [IEEE
xplore]
- Kabay, M. E. (2000, May).
Full disclosure.Information Security. http://infosecuritymag.techtarget.com/articles/may00/columns3_logoff.shtml
- McWilliams, B. (2003,
Mar. 19). Leaked bug alerts cause a stir. Wired News. http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,58106,00.html
- Robert, P. (2003, Nov.
17). Attack code surfaces for latest Windows vulnerability. Computerworld.
http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2003/0,4814,87222,00.html
Session 24: November
25, Standards and accuracy of information on the Web (Todd Ito)
- Ware, M. (2001). Evaluating information
on the internet. School Libraries Worldwide, 7(2), 39-48. [pdf]
- Diamond, R., & Dragich, M.
(2001). Professionalism in librarianship: shifting the focus from malpractice
to good practice. Library Trends, 49(3), 395-414. [pdf]
- Samuelson, P. (1993). Liability
for defective electronic information. Communications of the ACM, 36(1),
21-26. [ACM Digital Libraries]
November 27: No class (Thanksgiving
Day)
Session 25: December
2 , Virtual interactions (Rachel Dickey)
- Kanani, K., & Regehr,
C. (2003). Clinical, ethical, and legal issues in e-therapy. Families
in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 84(2), 155-162.
[pdf]
- Pomerantz, J., &
Lankes, D.R. (2003). Taxonomies for automated question triage in digital reference.
Proceedings of the Third ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries,
119-121. [pdf]
- Van Fleet, C., &
Wallace, D.P. (2002). Virtual libraries--real threats: technostress and virtual
reference. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 42(3), 188-191.
[pdf]
- American Library Association
Code of Ethics. (1995, June 28). American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Offices/Intellectual_Freedom3/Statements_and_Policies/Code_of_Ethics/Code_of_Ethics.htm.
Reprinted in Stichler, R. N., & Hauptman, R. (Eds.). (1998). Ethics,
Information, and Technology: Readings. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 307-308.
[Davis - P94 .E795 1998]
Session 26: December
4 , Online identity (David Roberts)
- Ford, P. J. (2001). A
further analysis of the ethics of representation in virtual reality: Multi-user
environments. Ethics and Information Technology, 3(2), 113-121. [Online
via UNC libraries]
- Turkle, S. (1996). Who
am we? Wired, 4(1), 148-152, 194-199. [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.01/turkle.html]
- Kirkup, Gill (2001).
Cyborg teaching. Computers and Society, 31(4), 23-31. [ACM
Digital Library]
December 16, noon: Major
paper due (literature review, review of court cases, book review)
Syllabus
/ Assignments / Discussion
Forum (INLS105-001, 105) / Send
Email to the Class / Class Roster
This page was last modified
on December 1, 2003, by Barbara M. Wildemuth.
Address all comments and questions
to Barbara M. Wildemuth at wildem@ils.unc.edu.
© Barbara M. Wildemuth,
2003. All rights reserved.