Ethics for information professionals
Ethics for searchers
Ethical concerns connect them
tefkos@rutgers.edu;
http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~tefko
/
Tefko Saracevic
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Central ideas
Tefko Saracevic
• Information professionals should,
indeed must, perform their services
ethically
• Searching is particularly sensitive to
ethical behavior
– it involves close connections to & even
confidences of users
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Table of Content
1. Information organizations:
Professional ethics
2. Searchers’ ethics
3. Strategic & competitive intelligence
(SCI) – ethical concerns
©© Tefko Saracevic
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Information-oriented organizations
1. Professional ethics
©© Tefko Saracevic
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Єθοσ [ethos]
– Greek word for custom or habit, the
characteristic conduct of an individual
human life.
Definition
A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names
Why is Ethics important?
– Ethics is a requirement for human life. It is
our means of deciding a course of
action.
Sense of Life Objectives. The importance of
philosophy
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more …
“Ethics is studying and talking about what is
right and wrong, good and bad. It is also
studying what makes something good or
bad. This helps decide whether other things
are good or bad.
Understanding ethics can help people decide
what to do when they have choices. Many
philosophers think that doing anything or
making any choice is a part of ethics.”
Wikipedia
P.S. if interested, for an in depth discussion immerse into
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Computer ethics
more …
“Ethics is the field of study that is
concerned with questions of value, that
is, judgments about what human
behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical
judgments are no different in the area of
computing from those in any other area.
Computers raise problems of privacy,
ownership, theft, and power, to name
but a few.”
Free online dictionary of philosophy
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Professional ethics
Professional ethics concerns one's
conduct of behavior and practice
when carrying out professional work
• Practically every professional
organization has an official code of
ethics
©© Tefko Saracevic
– but for searchers and searching there is
not a single official ethics code
– search ethics is derived from other
professional codes & practices
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Codes of ethics: library &
information associations
• Library & information science
associations have a long standing
concern with ethics – examples
©© Tefko Saracevic
– IFLA Professional Code of Ethics for
Librarians (list by country)
– USA: ALA – has a Code of Ethics with
basic concern for intellectual freedom
– Association of Independent Information
Professionals has a Code of Ethical
Business Practice
– ASIST has Professional Guidelines
– Strategic and Competitive Intelligence
Professionals has a brief Code of Ethics
for CI Professionals
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Principles ALA ethics code
• We provide the highest level of service to all library
users …
• We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and
resist all efforts to censor library resources …
• We protect each library user's right to privacy and
confidentiality…
• We recognize and respect intellectual property rights
…
• We treat co-workers and other colleagues with
respect, fairness and good faith …
• We do not advance private interests at the expense
of library users, colleagues, or our employing
institutions …
• We distinguish between our personal convictions and
professional duties …
• We strive for excellence in the profession by
maintaining and enhancing our own knowledge and
skills …
©© Tefko Saracevic
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Professional codes of ethics:
other associations
• Ethical principles of psychologists and code of
conduct American Psychological Association
Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence
Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and
take care to do no harm. …
Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility
Psychologists establish relationships of trust with those with whom
they work. …
Principle C: Integrity
Psychologists seek to promote accuracy, honesty, and
truthfulness in the science, teaching, and practice of
psychology. …
Principle D: Justice
Psychologists recognize that fairness and justice entitle all
persons to access to and benefit from the contributions of
psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures,
and services being conducted by psychologists. …
Principle E: Respect for People's Rights and Dignity
Psychologists respect the dignity and worth of all people, and
the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and selfdetermination. …
©© Tefko Saracevic
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Another example
ACM Code of Ethics and Professional
Conduct Association for Computing Machinery
“This Code, consisting of 24 imperatives formulated as
statements of personal responsibility, identifies the
elements of such a commitment.”
Among them:
As an ACM member I will ....
1.1 Contribute to society and human well-being.
1.2 Avoid harm to others.
1.3 Be honest and trustworthy.
1.7 Respect the privacy of others.
1.8 Honor confidentiality.
2.2 Acquire and maintain professional competence.
2.5 Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of
computer systems and their impacts, including analysis of
possible risks.
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• General principles from APA & ACM
code can be transferred to searchers
Applicability
©© Tefko Saracevic
– instead of “psychologists” put in
“searchers”
– instead of “computing systems” put in
“information systems and resources”
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Guiding professional practice
2. Ethical principles for searchers
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Shaver, D.B., Hewison, N.S., & Wykoff, L.W. (1985). Ethics for
online intermediaries. Special Libraries, 76 (Fall), 238-245.
Old but still valid
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• No organizational professional code
of ethics specific for searchers
General concerns
– but all general principles apply
– with Web searching even more urgent
• Close connection with users gatekeepers
©© Tefko Saracevic
– involving possibly their confidence
– raises urgency of adherence to ethical
principles
– anybody can claim to be a searcher – no
license
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• Searcher competence
Some ethical concerns for
searchers
– evaluating level of service received
• Searcher expertise & search results
– apprising user & user consent
• Searcher bias
– tendency toward certain resources
• Search accuracy
– or rather inaccuracy
• Privacy and confidentiality
– what goes on in searching stays in
searching
• Integrity
– serving user as opposed to other interests
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Guiding principle
©© Tefko Saracevic
First do no harm
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First do no harm!
• Your job is to provide information but
not judge the uses to which it is put
– exception: short of serious imminent threat
to another person or society
• Your job is to appraise sources &
provide information but NOT to give
advice on subject matter
©© Tefko Saracevic
– you can provide health information but
you are NOT a doctor or psychiatrist to
give medical or mental health advice
– you can provide plumbing information but
you are NOT a plumber [except in your
own dwelling, possibly …]
– you are NOT Dear Abby
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First do no harm! more …
• You should know the authority, quality
of information sources
– not to provide wrong information
– appraise user of possible quality problems
• You should be aware of user needs,
context, limits
– to avoid providing information that may
be inappropriate & wrongly interpreted,
used
• You should provide information to
user, advise on sources & give
informational guidance, but you
should not do user's job
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Shaver et al. Guidelines …
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©© Tefko Saracevic
Gathering, analyzing & using
information in organizations
3. Competitive intelligence (CI) – ethical
concerns
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What is strategic & competitive
intelligence?
• Systematic program for gathering and
analyzing information about
– competitors and their activities
– environment - local, national, global
– general trends in domains of interest
to further organizational goals
• Essential for DECISION MAKING
• More on Strategic and Competitive
Intelligence Professionals
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Objectives
• Collect information
– effectively, systematically, economically
• Analyze it
– appropriately for given contexts, purposes
• Disseminate it
– to defined users & through effective
presentations & channels
• Use it
– to make informed DECISIONS
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Ethical concerns for
competitive intelligence
• What goes on in practice of
collecting information?
– legal & illegal practices fairly well
defined
– but if it is legal is it also ethical?
– increase in competition - incentive to
cut corners
• Need to formulate & adhere to
code of ethics
– several are formulated as reviewed
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Examples of unethical practices
– camouflaged questioning
– “drawing out” of competitors’ employees
at meetings or encounters
– direct observation under secret
conditions
– false job interviews of competitors’
employees
– hiring a professional investigator for
specific information
– hiring employees away from competitors
to get specific know-how
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Examples of illegal practices
– trespassing on competitor’s property
– bribing competitor’s employee or
supplier
– “planting” your agent on competitors
payroll
– eavesdropping on competitor (e.g.
wiretapping
– theft of documents, drawings, samples
– blackmail & extortion
– arranging non-competitive practices
among competitors
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Summary
• Today searching involves an ever
expanding range of sources, users & uses
– it is also vitally important in organizations
– it also involves searching for evaluative
information, indication performance & impact
• dealing at times with life-important decisions
– variety of pressures are extended
• Ethical issues must be watched
• Professional ethics must be followed
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Life and times
of Frida Kahlo
thank you!
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Presntation in Wordle
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©© Tefko Saracevic
Gracias
Thank you Javier
&
for inviting me!
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