At the Conference on Information Ethics (IE) held

in September 2010, a paper was presented which

gave an overview of library and information

science (LIS) departments in Nigeria and the

teaching of Information Ethics.

At the Conference held in 2012 at Pretoria, I

submitted a report on the situation at the

University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

It was reported then, that no department, was

teaching IE as a course.

On return to Ibadan, I organised a seminar for

academic staff, librarians and other stakeholders on

9 November 2010, to sensitize LIS practitioners in

tertiary institutions to the concept of IE, the need to

teach a course on IE, what is to be taught and the

expected challenges

Some of the challenges identified include:

promoting the idea within the university’s Senate

and getting approval,

the course content and

the time it will take to include the course in the curriculum

3-4 years before revision.

Colleagues were quite receptive of the idea of teaching IE.

Undergraduate Level

LIS113 Reference Sources and Services

LIS 312 Marketing of Library and Information Products and Services

Postgraduate Level

LIS 702 Reference Sources and Services

LIS 709 Research Methods

LIA717 The Information User

ARM 702 Records and Information Management

ARM 707 Oral Archives and Indigenous Knowledge Systems

ARM 713 Documents and Data Management

LIS 718 Information Resources Management

LIS 720 Information Products and Services

LIS 747 Knowledge Management

HPE 736 Ethics in Population and Reproduction Health Research

MPC 705 Legal Issues in Publishing

MPC 750 Copyright and the Literary Industry

MPC 751 Copyright and the Electronic Media Industry

The Department of Library, Archival and

Information Studies of the University of

Ibadan has the following degree

programmes in LIS:

PhD in Library and Information Science;

PhD in Publishing and Copyright Studies;

PhD in reservation and Conservation and

PhD in Archives and Records Management.

Masters in Library and Information Science,

Masters in Archives and Records Management,

Masters in Publishing and Copyright Studies,

Masters in Health Information Management

and

Bachelor in Library and Information Science.

The curriculums of the Department were

last revised and approved in 2011. They

became effective in 2011/2012 session.

The curriculums will be used till 2015 when

they will be due for a review. Normally, a

set of students are to graduate with the

curriculum in operation when they were

admitted into a programme.

A curriculum review committee has been

set up to design the curriculum for 2015/16

session. IE and Social Media will be taught

as two separate courses.

The Africa Regional Centre for Information Science (

ARCIS) is a centre that teaches only at the

postgraduate level and offers Masters in Information

Science and Masters in Information Resources

Management degrees.

The curriculum for M.Inf was revised in 2012. IE is

taught as part of the following courses:

FSC 701 Introduction to Information Science and

Theory

FSC712 Research Methods in Information Science

FSC 731 Information Users, Sources and Systems

FSC 755 Information Technologies

FSC 744 Design and Marketing of Information

Products and Services.

In the Master of Information Resources Management

programme, IE is taught as a full course in IRM 765:

Social and Ethical Issues in IT and Services.

IE is mentioned in the following courses:

IRM 766 Information Security

IRM 767 Government Information System and E-

Governance

IRM 768 Electronic Society.

ARCIS has no full course on Social Media but the concept is

taught as part of FFC 731 Information Users, Sources and

Systems.

This is a school library that has emerged into an

academic department that teaches media technology

and school media in education.

The Centre, which is proposing to become a teaching

department and to change its name, has submitted its

new curriculum to the Faculty Board of Studies for

approval. Reports from the Centre indicate that there

is no individual course on Information Ethics and

Social Media.

However, they are mentioned in two courses:

AMR 801 Themes and Issues in School Media

AMR 721 Information Centre Cooperation and

Networking.

At the Faculty of Law of the University of Ibadan,

Ethics is taught not as Information Ethics.

Professional ethical code is taught as part of

Nigerian legal system. There is no full course on

IE or Social Media

Ethics of communication is taught as a course

but not Information Ethics. Information Ethics is

mentioned in the following courses:

CLA 309 Legal Aspects of Communication

CLA 319 Ethics of Communication

LAC 709 Advertising Regulations and Ethics

In the Department of Philosophy,

Ethics is taught as a course. IE is

not taught as a full course.

Library and information science and related

programmes are available in about 30 universities in

Nigeria.

Many of them are newly established institutions in

the last five years. They all offer bachelors degree

and a few of them have postgraduate programmes.

In Nigeria, the National Universities Commission,

Abuja has provided benchmarks/minimum standards

for all programmes but there is some flexibility such

that individual institutions can adapt and include

some new courses in the curriculum.

Data were collected from the universities on

teaching of IE and Social Media at all levels. All

Nigerian LIS departments except two do not teach

IE Social Media as individual courses.

Africa Regional Centre for Information Science

teaches the course at 700 level and Babcock

University teaches at all the levels.They were

the exception.

S/No Universities Date Curriculum

was last Revised

Teaching IE as Part

of a Course

Teaching Social

Media as Part of a

Course

1 Abadina Media Resources Centre 2010 No Part of Themes and

Issues School Media

2 Abia State University, Uturu 2010 No Part of New Media at

700L

3 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University,

Bauchi

4 Adeleke University, Ede 2013 No No

5 Africa Regional Centre for Information

Science

2012 Taught as a course Mentioned in some

courses

6 Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 2011 400L Part of Digital Inf

Systems

7 Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma 2011/2012 Part of LIS 407 Public

Relations, Advocacy

and Lobbying

Part of LIS 415 Trends

in Information Science

and Modern Technology

8 Babcock University,

Ilishan

2011

Taught as a whole

course

Taught as a course

9 Bayero University, Kano Mentioned in IT courses Mentioned in IT courses

10 Baze University, Abuja

11 Benson Idahosa

University, Benin City

2012 No No

12 Benue State University,

Makurdi

2010/2011 No No

13 Delta State University,

Abraka

2012 LIS 103 Part of Emerging

technologies

14 Federal University of

Technology, Minna

2012 Intellectual Property

Laws and Information

Products and Services

No

15 Federal University of

Technology, Yola

16 Ibrahim Badamasi

Babangida University,

Lapai

17 Imo State University,

Owerri

2011 Mentioned in a course Mentioned in a course

Imo State University,

Owerri

2011 Mentioned in a course Mentioned in a course

18 Kwara State University,

Ilorin

2010 No No

19 Madonna University,

Okija

2011 No No

20 Modibo University of

Technology, Yola

2008/2009 No No

21 Nnamdi Azikiwe

University, Akwa

2009 No Part of Internet and

Electronic Libraries

22 Tai Solarin University of

Education, Ijebu-Ode

2011 As part of Information

Technology

Mentioned in a course

23 Umaru Musa Ya’adua

University, Katsina

24 University of Calabar,

Calabar

2013 Inf Ethics, Govt policy,

Inf User-

No

25 University of Ibadan,

Ibadan

2011 Mentioned in courses Mentioned in courses

26 University of Ilorin, Ilorin 2009 Part of Information User Part of web design

27 University of Maiduguri,

Maiduguri

2009 No No

28 University of Nigeria,

Nsukka

2013 Part of Inf User and

Information Policy

Part of Contemporary

Technologies in Africa

29 University of Uyo, Uyo - No No

Babcock University is indeed a model to other

Nigerian universities.

IE is taught at :

400 level as Legal and Ethical Issues in Information

Resources Management

800 level as Information Ethics and Policy

900 level as Information Policy.

Social Media is not taught as a course; but the

concept is embedded in a 300 level course:

Networking and Internet for Information Managers.

The table gives more details on these.

There is an urgent need to sensitize the

departments to the need to urgently include the

courses in the curriculums.

Thus, there is an urgent need to involve more

institutions and departments in ANIE programmes

and hold a national conference or workshop in

Nigeria to catalyse the desired change.

The ANIE Curriculum on IE and Social Media was sent to

Heads of Library and Information Science schools in

Nigeria for their information, adaptation and other

necessary actions.

All LIS professionals were also informed about the ANIE

Conference 2014 in Kampala, Uganda through the

Nigerian Library Association Online Forum.

A few have responded to the posting while the majority

have indicated that they would work towards adopting

the curriculum as soon as possible.

Heads of departments and individuals have expressed

interest in participating at the forthcoming workshop or

conference whenever it holds in Nigeria.

After the conference in Pretoria, it was decided that we

could hold a workshop at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

to sensitize LIS departments and other information related

institutions in Nigeria to IE and Social Media.

In July, 2013, Rachel Bothma suggested that the workshop

should coincide with a visit to Accra, Ghana, but the exact

details had not been worked out by then. In December 2012,

It was also suggested that we could involve the

internationally acclaimed Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation in the

programme at the University of Ibadan.

Mr Michael Anyiam-Osigwe, the Coordinator-General of the

Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, had already

participated in some of the Information Ethics activities in

the USA and in South Africa.

We received a tentative programme

of the workshop from Rachel.

ACIE requested from our institutional

support with accommodation,

venues, refreshments, participants

and speakers.

Some universities were to be invited from Ghana, including the

University of Ghana in Legon.

Major inhibitions were:

the national strike by all lecturers in Nigerian universities and

funding.

The strike lasted from June to December 2013.

When it was called off in January, all lecturers and students

returned to the classrooms and up till now, it has been work all

the way.

The strike also affected: other statutory

functions like holding meeting, so,

curriculum review was affected.

Obtaining financial support from the

University of Ibadan and externally, for the

conference was also affected.

It was difficult to function during the

second half of 2013.

There is no doubt that LIS professionals need to

know the ethics of information use, provision and

dissemination;

Know how to protect the interest of the information owner as

well as that of the information seeker,

Need to know versus privacy,

Be involved in protection of personal data and intellectual

property and protection of peoples’ integrity.

Recognize of information ethics as a vital tool in information

dissemination and repackaging.

The ANIE Curriculum on IE and Social Media was sent to Heads

of Library and Information Science schools in Nigeria for their

information, adaptation and other necessary actions.

All LIS professionals were also informed about the ANIE

Conference 2014 in Kampala, Uganda through the Nigerian

Library Association Online Forum.

A few have responded to the posting while the majority have

indicated that they would work towards adopting the curriculum

as soon as possible.

Library, Archival and Information Studies (LARIS) Department,

the premier and leading library and information Science (LIS)

School in Nigeria as well as ARCIS are quite willing to join the

ANIE programme and be fully involved.

STEP 1 The first step could be to further sensitize the

heads of the selected departments to the benefit of

offering such a course in the university.

STEP 2 Seminar/workshop for participants from all

the interested departments, in the University.

STEP 3 The national/international conference can be

hosted by the University of Ibadan for Nigeria and

African countries.

LARIS Department will include the courses

in its revised curriculum for the bachelors

and masters of library science degrees

programme, expected to be produced in

2014 and presented to the University

Senate, the highest academic body, for

approval.

Once it gets approval, the courses will be

taught to students in all LIS related

schools and be available as an elective

course in other relevant departments in

the University.

While collecting the data for this paper,

Heads of Departments have indicated

interest in belonging to the African Network

on teaching Information Ethics and they are

ready to include the courses. The conference

is likely to catalyze this.

Recently, I discussed a proposal to host a

conference for the ACIE in 2014/2015 with

the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic). He

was very receptive to the idea and has

asked me to submit a proposal to the Vice

Chancellor to include the support expected

from the University.

I believe relevant departments at the

University of Ibadan and other LIS schools in

Nigerian universities have been well sensitised

to make information ethics and social media

courses components of their curriculums.

The momentum must be maintained.

The proposed conference on Information

Ethics and Social Media at the University of

Ibadan in 2015 should be vigorously pursued.