Internet column

Citation

O'Beirne, R. (2004), "Internet column", Reference Reviews, Vol. 18 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/rr.2004.09918bag.001

Internet column

Few of us within the library and information profession can ignore the moral dilemmas, which we face on an increasingly frequent basis. More often now we find ourselves taking tough decisions, not just about the deployment of financial resources or the selection of staff, but on real ethical problems. These decisions are often compounded by a need to adhere to fledgling legislation, sometimes with minimal case law to give any guidance in precedent. Additionally, the use of technology can serve to cloud and obscure the nub of the issue.

Take the recent UK copyright law, or, to give it its full name, The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 SI No. 2498, which came into force from 31 October 2003, and of course its sister from across the pond, the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998. Just a little practical application of these measures gives way to many scenarios where the library professional quickly gets into hot water. For example, how does the librarian shoulder the requirement to be "responsible" in dealing with probable misdemeanours? The use of the Internet has provided a more readily available means to replicate and duplicate data. The speed at which this is progressing is fascinating. It is in fact uncontrollable, certainly in terms of commercial and market control. Witness the pirated version of the latest blockbuster movie available online within a matter of hours of the first screening on the other side of the planet. Some would argue that recent copyright legislation has a more sinister role that seeks to exert some influence over and above the commercial interests of the author or originator. Either way, the information world is the theatre for this war, where it is fought out through many small-scale battles.

In a similar vein, yet in many respects from the opposing perspective, the recent UK Freedom of Information Act 2000, which makes its true impact in 2005, will pose many challenges to the information profession. Again these challenges will be characterised as fundamentally ethical with quite probably some technological twist. For instance, the requirement for all e-mail correspondence from those party to local government land development decisions to be put into the public domain. This raises one important question that we should all ask ourselves; how is e-mail stored, organized, archived and retrieved within my organization? What then of data protection? At what stage does this legislation, with its lofty principles of protecting the individual, square up to freedom of information?

It looks likely that there will be more legislation on its way, dealing directly if not with information, then certainly with communications methods. Again, the ethical and the technological are blended when issues related to chatrooms are debated. Certainly there are issues of appropriate use with this form of communication. A number of high-profile stories in the UK media involve court cases where chatrooms are given in evidence as places where young people have been lured or "groomed" into compromising situations. This has led to a general misconception that the technology is at fault. There is a facility within a chatroom for the participants to remain anonymous or, as is more often the case, for them to take on the persona or avatar of someone else. The nefarious use of chatrooms by a minority should be seen as a social problem not a technological one. Yet the decision by MSN UK, part of the Microsoft Corporation, to close down all its chatrooms will affect around 1.2 million people who regularly log on to its chat service. The reference library, whether general or specialist in its approach, will need in the future to become embroiled in these issues.

Ronan O'BeirnePrincipal Libraries Officer – Information, Bradford Libraries, Archives and Information Service, Bradford, UK