Philosophy and Progress: Vols. LI-LII, January-June, July-December, 2012 ISSN 1607-2278 (Print), DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/pp.v51i1-2.17677 INFORMATION ETHICS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS: A CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS Kazi Mostak Gausul Hoq * Abstract Information ethics provides an ethical framework for the information professionals for carrying out various information related works like acquiring, storing, processing and using of information. This has become vitally important in modern times, which has been dubbed as ‘information age’, because of the central role played by information in the socio-economic development of world nations. This also poses unique challenges for the library and information professionals, because the emergence of an ICT-driven information society has * Associate Professor, Department of Information Science and Library Management, University of Dhaka. Email: kmghoq@yahoo.com made their job much more challenging than before. This article explores the key questions related to information ethics and, in the light of codes of ethics promoted by national and international information organizations, discusses how information professionals could discharge their duties in an ethical and morally justifiable manner. Introduction The question of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ has been troubling human beings for centuries. Almost every man or woman faces a moral dilemma of determining what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ in their everyday life. This has resulted in endless debates, arguments and discussions which show no signs of abating. In recent times, the emergence of an ‘Information Society’, driven by unprecedented advancements in Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), has added a new dimension to this age-old debate on ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Like many other individuals, library and information professionals also are now burdened with this fundamental question: how would we determine whether what we are doing is right or wrong, ethical or unethical? Needless to say, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to come up with a definite answer to this question. Nevertheless, library and information professionals have been looking for answers to this other questions related to information ethics in myriad ways. Unprecedented explosion of information in all branches of knowledge and massive proliferation of ICT tools and techniques have raised fundamental questions about privacy, freedom of expression, right to information and accessibility, among other issues. This has made it imperative for library and information professionals to solve the problems related to ethical use of information and find out ways to serve their clients in a just and ethical manner. 38 Philosophy and Progress