Ethical Use of Information by Library and Information Professionals of Bangladesh: a study

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to assess the status of ethical use of information of LIS professionals in Bangladesh. In accomplishing this purpose, the study advanced by generating three precise objectives and three research questions (RQs) on the basis of the literature reviewed. It also tested different test; (Kruskal Wallis test and Mann Whitney U test) to find the answers to the RQs. In conducting this study; survey, quantitative, comparative and exploratory approaches were adopted. A pre-coded questionnaire was used to collect primary data from the sample drawn from the LIS professionals of the selected public and private university, national, central public, school, college and special libraries through personal visit. The collected data were analyzed by applying frequency distribution, descriptive statistical tools while the different opinion of professionals were tested by applying Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test based on the scale of measurement. The major findings of the study were the perceptions of the LIS professionals from the selected libraries about the importance and application of copyright act, importance of IFLA code of Ethics for LIS professionals, Censorship, use of internet in libraries, photocopying service and library rules. The study has the potentiality for implementation in the practical field to introduce and/or transform the conventional and unorganized concept of copyright, censorship and different code of ethics practices for ethical use of information by professionals. The major limitations of the study are the selection of the libraries situated only in Dhaka city, excluding the library users from the population. Therefore the study suggested future research by selecting libraries from different part of the country, including the user category in the population.