DSM8520 Compliance Law and Ethics

Increasingly, the legal and regulatory regimes governing the creation, maintenance and access to records are affected by international developments and trends as the marketplace becomes seamlessly global. Even organisations limiting their activities to the UK are feeling the effects of wider legal requirements. The information professional should be able to facilitate compliance, transparency and accountability of the organisation in terms of the information they create, manage, and destroy. This course examines the impact of legal, regulatory and audit frameworks (e.g. GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation, and Freedom of information) on recordkeeping practices, the mechanisms open to organisations to ensure they comply with the relevant frameworks, and the ethical code within which information professionals should operate.

The course covers the following areas of expertise:

  • Tends and context in information management and records governance
  • Compliance: sector perspectives
  • Law: international and UK perspectives
  • Law: Freedom of Information and Data Protection
  • Business ethics: issues for information professionals
  • Challenges in information compliance law and ethics

Tutor

Anoush Simon BA MSc PhD FHEA — Head of Department and Senior Lecturer for the Department of Information Studies

I completed my PhD at the University of Salford, Information Systems Institute, researching women’s perceptions of social and technological change within the theoretical context of the information society concept. MSc in Information Management from the University of Sheffield (1998). Before this, I worked in the Book Library of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, as well as working as a bookseller for several years after finishing my first degree in Politics and Philosophy at Manchester University. Between completing my MSc and commencing my PhD studies, I worked at the North West Film Archive in Manchester and for BBC Information and Archives in London. I have an enduring interest in film and photo archives. I have been a lecturer in the Department at Aberystwyth University since January 2003, Team Leader for the Department’s Undergraduate programmes 2005-, Director for learning and Teaching for the Institute 2014-, and Head of Department since 2018. My research and teaching interests centre on the impact of technology on society and in particular the information profession, and include information society theory; social exclusion and the digital divide; ICT and community, gender and IT; library workers - careers and motivations. Publications include:

  • Information disclosure, privacy behaviours, and attitudes regarding employer surveillance of social networking sites McGuinness, D. M. & Simon, A., 2018 , In : IFLA Journal.44, 3, p. 203-220
  • Digital inclusion and social inclusion: a tale of two cities Mervyn, K., Simon, A. M. & Allen, D. K., 2014 , In : Information, Communication & Society.17, 9, p. 1086-1104
  • Living and Lurking on LiveJournal: benefits of active and non-active membership Merry, S. K. & Simon, A. M., 2012 , In : Aslib Proceedings.64, 3, p. 241-26120 p.
    Career History and Motivations for Choosing LIS: a case study at Aberystwyth University Simon, A. M. & Taylor, M. M., 2011, In : Library Review.60, 9, p. 803-815
  • Distance learning, e-learning and the digital divide Simon, A. M., Taylor, M. M., Nelson, J. & Lithgow, S. D., 2011 , Cambridge International Conference on open, distance and e-learning 2011. Cambridge: Unknown Publisher, p. 3-12
  • More publications on the Research Portal

Prerequisites

Students need to be able to demonstrate their knowledge of the recordkeeping requirements in laws and statutes and communicate their implications with legal, risk and IT colleagues. 

Learning Outcomes

After completing this short course you should be able to:

  • critically examine the legal, regulatory and audit trends and context in which information governance and assurance currently operates
  • identify and describe the range of laws, regulation and audit requirements currently affecting business information in the UK, European and international environment
  • evaluate the impact of specific legislation such as freedom of information, data protection, and copyright, on professional practice
  • distinguish the sector specific drivers and formulate methodologies for using the drivers to effect change within an organisation
  • assess the potential difficulties faced by those responsible for information compliance, transparency and accountability

Apply

To apply please complete the Short Course Application Form

This form should be completed and returned - with your reference - as soon as possible to the Postgraduate Admissions Office: 

For further information, please contact the Department of Information Studies tel: (+/0)1970 622731 / 622189; e-mail: dis-dept@aber.ac.uk