Information Ethics for Students

Information Ethics for Students


Kathy Lehman, a librarian at Thomas Dale High School in Virginia, believes strongly in teaching students about information ethics. When freshman arrive the first thing they might hear from their librarian is, “No one from Thomas Dale High School will ever be kicked off a boat in Greece.” This is an effective way to get the students’ attention by referencing a situation where some students aboard a study abroad boat were asked to leave when they were caught plagiarizing a paper using wikipedia.
I hate that something like this happens, but it does provide a story that shows students the importance of information ethics. I like that Lehman understands her students. She knows that they need to be reminded and encouraged to follow copyright and fair use guidelines and to gather and use their information ethically. Some of the things she does in her library are:
· Teach a library orientation to incoming 9th grade students
· Teach 11th grade internet safety class
· Post copyright guidelines on printers and copy machines in the library
· Encourage teachers to have students base research on questions they have come up with and provide a template on the web page for teachers
· Conduct faculty in-services and send regular emails to teachers reminding them about these guidelines
· Provide guides for each type of resource (especially those used most often)
· Use www.turnitin.com as a way to keep up with plagiarism
· Encourage students to voice their opinions about copyright guidelines in an attempt to help them better understand why they are in place and why it is important. They use the 11th grade I-safe class for a place to debate these guidelines.
I think this article was both informative and interesting. It gave me some really great ideas about information ethics and how to teach this to my students. I especially like the idea of organizing a student debate on the issues of copyright. Young adults are accustomed to downloading music and DVDs and might not even realize when they are breaking the law. Debating these issues will help them personalize the matter, and as a result, guide them in the future. One of the sources Lehman references in her article is American Association of School Librarians, Standards for the 21st Century Learner. This article has encouraged me to review these standards right away. I don’t want any of my students to get thrown off a boat in Greece.



Lehman, Kathy. (2009, May/June). Mini Theme: Teaching Ethics to Students. Teaching Information Ethics to High School Students, Library Media Connection, 28-30.