Conceptualizing social justice in the information sciences

Abstract

Inquiries into information needs, seeking, and use continue to contribute a great deal of valuable theoretical and practical knowledge to information science (Fisher et al., 2005; Case, 2007). The principles of fairness, ethics, and equity are often implicit in many of these studies (Hersberger, 2003; Todd & Edwards, 2004; Courtright, 2005). However, the concept of social justice, an overarching concept that includes these principles, is rarely made explicit. An ad hoc gathering, originally coined the "Social Justice Forum" was held at AM'06 in Austin, Texas, to explore the usefulness of social justice concepts in information science. This meeting brought together researchers and practitioners who are generally interested in social justice issues as they relate to information. Since the term "social justice" in information science is a somewhat novel or under-used one, the discussion primarily focused on defining and fitting the term into information science contexts. One of the results was a list of keywords that represent social justice as it relates to information use, including: Under-served populations Agenda-setting Economic benefits of information access and use Cultural issues Marginalization Policy Community informatics Diversity Fair use Information sharing and exchange Given that many information professions mandate that practitioners be advocates for their constituents, and given the richness of extant social justice concepts in other fields, the group agreed that it would be a good idea to continue exploring the relationship between social justice and information studies and practice.