Towards Professionalism and Commitment in Africa: the case for theory and practice of Information Ethics in Uganda

Abstract

Though one could not exhaustively and conclusively define all the attributes of an information/knowledge society, it seems Uganda has made commandable strides to such society. One of the prerequisites of such society is a corps of well-educated, trained and experienced information professionals to manage information and knowledge effectively in that society. Furthermore, the corps must perform professionally and ethically at all times. To fulfill this, an Information Code of Ethics (ICE) is required. However, Uganda has as yet to establish an ICE because of some reasons. These reasons are outlined in the paper. The ICE has two as-pects: theory and practice. These concepts are explained and related. The LA (USA) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professions (CILIP) formerly the LA (UK) are studied as living examples. The provisions of these ICEs are briefly explained. In view of the past experience a process of establishing an IME for Uganda is considered. The paper concludes with an outline of the content of an IME for Uganda.