ABSTRACT
The study investigated librarians’ awareness and implementation of information ethics for effective service delivery in federal university libraries in South-East Nigeria. The study was conducted because of the need to ensure that librarians adhere to the ethics guiding the information service profession in this contemporary global world that is internet and ICT driven. Six specific objectives and research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. The population is 24,382, which consists of 119 librarians and 24,263 users. The entire population of the librarians were studied so no sampling was made; whereas, accidental sampling technique was adopted in selecting the library 278 users. A 79 items questionnaire titled Awareness and Implementation of Information Ethics Questionnaire (AIIEQ) was used to collect data from the librarians and users. Interview schedule was used to solicit information on awareness and implementation of information ethics from the University Librarians. The instruments were validated by three research experts. Descriptive statistics was employed to determine the mean scores and standard deviation and the results presented in six tables. Data from the interview schedule was analyzed qualitatively. The following are the major findings of the study: librarians are aware of the contents of information ethical codes such as free and unrestricted access to information, librarians should have respect toward their fellow employees and a spirit of courteous cooperation amongst colleagues and avoidance of discrimination of users based on race, gender, ethnic group, religion; the media for librarians’ information ethics awareness are seminars, conferences, workshops and on the job training; information ethics is implemented in the library services such as selection and acquisition of information resources, reference services, cataloging and classification and resources lending;Library users perception is that librarians implement information ethics in library services; the factors affecting awareness creation and implementation of information ethics are: lack of librarians’ awarenessof information ethics existence, users feel prejudiced when denied access to some information materials and lack of regulatory body to ensure librarians are aware and implement information ethics amongst others and Strategies for enhancingawareness creation and implementation of information ethics are: adequate sensitization programmes should be organized for the Librarians on information ethics, information ethics should be included in user education programs and librarians should appreciate and embrace information ethics in service delivery. Based on the findings the following recommendations were made: library management should provide copies of various ethical codes of librarianship professional such as Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN), International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and American Library Association (ALA) for the librarians; the management should as much as possible frequently organize seminars, workshops, job orientations and on the job trainings on information ethics implementation in library services. Also, the librarians should ensure they participate in information ethics conferences both locally and internationally; the library management should create a committee or a body that would ensure that information ethics are adhered to and implemented in all library services and also to checkmate unethical practices in library services.
