Information ethics and the corporatist academic enterprise: critical implications for education of library and information workers

Abstract

Examines information ethics in the 21st century University and cautions that it is in danger of following the path of information literacy in service of the state. She addresses disturbing trends that influence the type of information ethics education that future library and information workers currently receive in North America, including new managerialism; market values set by students as customers and their market demand for courses; a vocational orientation to train people for jobs without a context of a broader education; civil discourse and respectful workplace policies used in a way to fundamentally threaten academic freedom; growing national security; the race for internationalization; and, the unbundling of academic work. Toni’s words prompt us to discuss the extent to which social responsibility in library and information education can survive repressive tolerance. And she argues for the human condition to feature prominently in our field’s contributions to the future landscape of migrant and digital information labour.