Library 101: Legal, Ethical, and Social Issues

Producing information takes time, effort, skill, and often money or other resources.  Because of this, information has value.  We need to respect those who create information by using it ethically and legally.  

View the following video from the Arizona State University Library that talks about the value of information.

OKStateLibrary. Inform Your Thinking: Episode 3 - Information has Value. YouTube. CC BY-NC 4.0.

Part of using information ethically and legally is giving credit to others.  Not giving credit for words, thoughts, and idea is called plagiarism.  

Watch the following video from GCFLearnFree to learn more about plagiarism and how to avoid it.

GCFLearnFree.org. Avoiding Plagiarism. YouTube. 

Something to consider is the source of your information, and whether it is privileged or not.  This means that information sources are given precedence because of their societally privileged status.  Life circumstances such as race, gender, nationality, sexuality, age, ability, and more can grant privileged status.  Works by minorities and underrepresented groups should be sought out when possible to get a full view of the information available on a subject.

Access to information is also a privilege that you have as a student at Northeast State.  You can use all of the sources available to you through the library, while those not affiliated with the college cannot.  Many people don't have access to information for a variety of reasons.  View the video below from Northern Kentucky University to learn more about information privilege.

Steely Library NKU. Information Privilege. YouTube. Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)