Marginalized Knowledge: An Agenda for Indigenous Knowledge Development and Integration with Other Forms of Knowledge

Conclusions

Through this review, it became apparent that information professionals regularly face ethical dilemmas that fall within the scope of information ethics. The review of literature was useful in identifying the ethical problems faced by information professionals, and providing a rationale for information ethics education in library and information science departments. The rationale was based on the urgency of issues in global information justice, such as threats to information access, accuracy, and privacy, and matters relating to the digital divide and alternative technologies. In as much as the review was helpful, there were, however, some inconsistencies, gaps and contradictions. In terms of gaps, a study conducted by Buchanan (2004) on the information ethics courses offered by Library and Information Science programs in the United States revealed that less than half of the American Library Association accredited programs offered such courses, and only a few of these courses required students to take a course on information ethics. There was, however, no such literature found that reflected on what is going on within the African context.
In terms of contradictions, it was noted by Fallis (2005) that an information ethics course should give library and information professionals an understanding of ethical theories, yet the course should be taught by library and information science professionals. Ethics is an area of philosophy, and what is not clear is how much of the philosophical content these library and information professionals should possess. Moreover, most of the issues in this review have been presented as questions with no solutions. This is due to the nature of the concepts involved, i.e. information ethics, privacy, accuracy, property and access. The questions include, among others: What information should one be required to divulge about one’s self to others, and under what conditions? What information should one be able to keep strictly to one’s self? Who is responsible for the authenticity, fidelity and accuracy of information? Who is to be held accountable for errors in information? And who should have access to what information? Given the scope of this review, it did not further investigate the above mentioned questions. Further investigation, possible reflecting on what is going on within the African context on these questions is consequently recommended