| Information ethics is a growing concern in library science. Part of this concern centers around how much assistance a librarian is obligated to give when the information sought potentially can be used to harm one's self or others. Some argue that if it is suggested that the information will be used in a harmful way, the librarian should be able to show discretion; there should not be unlimited access to information. Others argue that a limitation on access to information presents the greatest threat to those whom the library serves. Each position makes a valid point, but I must question how these positions are reached. Upon what kind of moral argument are these positions based? It is my goal in this thesis to do the following: identify the underlying moral principle that libraries in the United States must serve; define moral agency, and thereby the moral agents served by the moral principle; and argue for the best way that such a principle be served. |
