2003SummerQ5

Question #5
Information professionals are confronted with the challenges of keeping up with changes in the economic, political, and social environment of the world, local community shifts, and the institution in which they practice. For example, recent acts of terrorism in the United States have resulted in the rapid passing of legislation (e.g., the Patriot Act), broadly expanding the powers given to law enforcement officials to monitor the communications of citizens in order to detect potential terrorist activity. This has increased the tension between the desire for government to protect the national security version the civil liberties of individual citizens. information professionals may be confronted with difficult decisions when requests are made for information about their patrons/clients (e.g., tracking Internet activities, research requests, divulging circulation records, examinations of Web logs, etc.).

Given these environmental conditions, what core aspects of the information professions are most threatened by these moves (present two)? What core aspects of the information professions are unaffected (present two) by these moves? For each item that you present, describe the item, its source or justification, and why it is important to society.