Where is Information Ethics in Iranian Library and Information Science Publications and Services?

Abstract

There seems to be very few signs of the politeness peculiar to Iranians, when considering information ethics in Iranian library and information science scene. An expressed dissatisfaction appears to exist with library services among users studied in some dissertations on user satisfaction in library and information science in Iran. In spite of this fact that might be at least partly related to misbehavior of librarians, the words "ethics", "moral issues", and "morality" are not found in almost all of the publications related to library and information science in Iran, even in the most formal ones. These publications and documents as well as the current attempts to develop the topic in Iran, including both publications and activities, will be studied in this paper. The social, economic, and ethical aspects of the issue including the misunderstanding of the concepts of who serves and who must be served, who pays the tax and who must obtain service due to tax paying, the overall dissatisfaction of librarians concerning their social status as well as salaries and wages, the low costs, if any, of library and information services in Iran, will also be considered to show why this negligence has occurred in the profession. There are some efforts to be made however, to improve the situation. Library and information science educators firstly must do their best to show the significance of ethics in the profession. Their efforts must comprise the formal and informal teaching of information ethics to their students. Inclusion of courses of ethics in formal syllabi is among formal attempts. The demonstration of this ethics in LIS educator's behavior is an informal one. Publication of papers on information ethics is another duty of LIS educators. Setting up workshops on information ethics is a necessary step to be taken. Professional associations such as Iranian Library and Information Science Association (ILISA) can play an important role on the scene. The provision of an information code of ethics is a major responsibility of this association and is highly recommended.