Perception and Practice of Information Ethics by Librarians in Four Higher Institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study was designed to investigate the perception and practice of Information Ethics by librarians in four higher institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria. Survey research design was adopted with population size consisted of 47 librarians under population of the study; total enumeration sampling technique was used. Questionnaire and interview for four (4) Senior Librarians were the instruments adopted for data collection. Out of 47 copies of the questionnaire that were distributed, 46 were returned, and considered suitable for data analysis. Three research questions with one null hypothesis (tested at 0.05 level of significance) were formulated for this study. SPSS output format based on simple frequency count and percentage distribution, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s Chi-Square was used for data analysis. The findings of this study revealed both high positive and negative perceptions that: the activities of librarians in higher institutions are shaped by norms which include ethical and legal ones; ethical aspects of information profession are to be considered for professional practice and information services by librarians. Meanwhile, the level of practice of Information Ethics (IE) by librarians was moderate in some aspects and low in other aspects of Information Ethics; this also varies from institutions. However, it was revealed that there is no significant relationship between perception and practice of Information Ethics by librarians in four higher institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria. One of the recommendations made include: Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) should intensify her efforts in promoting professional ethics among librarians in Nigeria