But there is another, less visible intersection of interest that we share in GSE&IS: the idea that all persons should have the means and the chance to learn and inform themselves about the world, for whatever reasons they see fit, and that our mission is to facilitate their discovery and use of knowledge. This idea depends on what I think of as the "free information ethic" -- the belief that learning and knowledge are necessary goods for human existence. Given this ethical stance, it follows that we must make every effort to keep knowledge open and available and to devise organizational and technological systems that ensure and promote learning. If these ideas seem obvious, especially among those of us fortunate enough to work in a university environment, consider the following challenges:
These examples may seem isolated or obscure, but together they are indicators of a fundamental change in our cultural attitudes about knowledge. Traditional Enlightenment beliefs in education and self-improvement as the keys to emancipation and democratic participation, embodied in the unique American institutional forms of the public school, the public library, and the "penny" press, are fading before economic forces that convert all kinds of knowledge and information into commodities to be exchanged on a market basis.
It is certainly true that some kinds of information always have been considered valuable and have been purchased. But the current scale of commoditization and privatization of information is unprecedented, made possible by the use of information technologies. In the past, our institutional framework of public education, libraries and the press provided a kind of "knowledge safety net" that assured access to learning for citizens unable to pay for it. Today, those institutions are being questioned and even undermined. So while those with the ability to pay continue to obtain whatever information they need, those who cannot pay are losing the access they once had.
The implications for GSE&IS are both ethical and pragmatic. Ethically, we must articulate our values about knowledge, who may have it, and how they may get it. We should recognize that our presumptions about access and learning are not necessarily shared by other interests in society; indeed, they actively are being challenged. Pragmatically, we can advocate and enact the free information ethic in the research we do, in the consultancy we provide to clients, in our teaching and writing, and in our outreach to the community. Consider that as the newest of all the various specialties and divisions in the University, we may now have a unique opportunity to crystallize and express our shared ethical position about knowledge in society, as well as to put it into action.
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