Information policies help dictate and guide what kind of information can be disseminated and accessed (Lester and Koehler, 2007). This is mostly in relation to information produced by the government, "access to information in the private sector and government access to personal information" (Lester and Koehler, 2007, p. 308).
Current policies favor wide access to information, especially as it relates to government information. Information should be easily obtained and without restriction to anyone wanting it (Lester and Koehler, 2007). However, there are restrictions on this, to an extent.
False or misleading information, slanderous or libelous, obscene and personal information all have restriction on dissemination. Information that may "imperil or threaten national security" (Lester and Koehler, 2007, p. 308) also faces strict restrictions. When looked at with a common sense and logical approach, all of these make sense. Information that is false, misleading, personal or obscene should not be disseminated by information professionals, unless they are itching for a lawsuit.
Bloggers are also facing challenges to this. A recent Associated Press article discussed the challenges facing bloggers and lawsuits faced by some bloggers because of their dissemination of information. According to the article, "more than 100 judgments valued at $17 million have been handed down against bloggers over the last three years" (Rousseau, 2008).
So while blogging is an important outreach tools for librarians and information science professionals, careful attention to information policies and the proper dissemination of information is paramount.
Citations
Rousseau (2008, June 13). Training held bloggers hone professionalism. Associated Press. Retrieved: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jDcycDsY5menjjbjiq_hZf60NqqwD919LS800
3 comments:
From what I gather, it seems that information like on wikipedia, blogs or other non professional source are not to be are trusted as with the same information that could found on in library or from a government site.
Is this a fair statement?
Montgomery:
I think stopping at wikipedia or a blog for initial information to point you in the right direction is okay, IMHO, but as far as being a trusted source - I don't think so. For my own personal use - I don't work in a library, I like reading wikipedia for a cursory look at something, since they have gotten much better at kinda policing their entries (if that makes sense).
Government sites or any type of reference resources we can find through the reference section of the USF library would be fine.
Thank you for coming by!
Traci
You bring up a great point here. Having a written policy allows the institution to both clearly define it's purpose and to defend it's decisions on which information it deals with and which it does not. This is very important, I feel, because there will always be those who feel that certain information is not valid and those who feel that that same information is. Having a clearly defined policy gives a road map for dealing with these controversies, and it keeps the organization from straying into areas that are outside it's specified influence and thereby wasting time, effort, and funds that could have been used to information that did meet it's goals.
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