Information Policies

Information Policies

Virtually all EDUCAUSE members are learning to deal with the explosive growth of networking, connecting every part of the campus community and linking to colleagues and information resources across the country and around the world. Many of the issues campuses are facing today relate to this proliferation of campuswide networks and Internet connectivity--free speech, censorship, student records privacy, ethical standards, defining "institutional information" on the World Wide Web, information environment, and so forth.

Many institutions are moving toward establishing policies to deal with these issues. How do you know when you need a policy? How can we best share existing policies so we can learn from the work of our peers? Is it possible to create a model set of policies based on work that has already been done in this area? As a forum for facilitating the sharing and exchange of information, EDUCAUSE has indexed and abstracted many information policies contributed by member campuses to the Library, as well as articles, papers, and web sites related to campus information policy challenges. You can browse through the Library to see abstracts of policy documents, from which you can retrieve an electronic copy. You can find a list of these information policies on the left navigation bar, under Sub Topics.

Let us know what other kinds of policies you'd like to learn about, or if you have a documented policy you would be willing to have us add to the Resource Center policy collection.

Other Information Policy Collection Sites

• EDUCAUSE/Cornell Institute for Computer Policy and Law (ICPL) Computer Policy and Law Resources

Other Relevant Resources on the Web

• Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Electronic Learners (from the Ethics and Technology Initiative for the American Association for Higher Education)
• American Library Association Documents, including the Library Bill of Rights, Interpretations of Library Bill of Rights, and the American Library Association Code of Professional Ethics
• American Communication Association site offering information on communication law and First Amendment issues

National Policy Issues

• EDUCAUSE Federal Policy Initiatives

Discussion Groups

• Policy and Law Constituent Group