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Unit Code: LIS703

Unit Name: Information Policy

Description: The course will provide an overview and discussion of the range and scope of information policies as they affect the information society today, among them freedom of information, intellectual property, privacy, and government information. We will try and understand how tensions between conflicting laws and policies are resolved on a legal and pragmatic level.

Learning Target Outcomes: On successful completion of this course students should be able to: • Investigate issues surrounding information policy development • Compose the purpose, origins and development of information policy • Evaluate the political, economic, social, cultural and ethical components of policy • Examine the complementary, and sometimes conflicting, roles of the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in information creation, provision and access • Analyse how information policy pertains to LIS, locally, nationally and internationally • Analyse the structure and salient characteristics of information policy literature, including electronic and print materials • Create an information policy document in response to a public policy issue such as intellectual freedom, freedom of information, the economics of information access and distribution, copyright, joint library use etc. • Promote advocacy of policy issues amongst information professionals

Prerequisite: Any Level 6 LIS course or consent from the HOD.

Prerequisite Sentence: N/A

Credit Point: 15

Offered In: Semester 1