Abstract
This paper is another exploration intended to contribute to the larger project of writing a history of information ethics. The focus here will be on an examination of a variety of online retrieval tools including commercial online databases, including The Web of Science (ISI), and specialized Internet databases as analytical tools for documenting and analyzing the literature of scholarly and practice-oriented interpretive communities in ethics and technology with specific emphasis on information ethics, computer ethics, cyberethics, and Internet ethics. A related issue is the role of web pages representing these various fields in creating and maintaining new interpretive communities of scholarship, teaching, and practice. The discussion will be focused on the character and adequacy of the tools that help us to understand the print and electronic presence of new areas of technology-related applied ethics and the ways these tools contribute to building and maintaining interpretive community identity, communication, and the growth of knowledge.
In this paper, I will report on research using Dialog databases, LexisNexis, the Web of Science (Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, Arts and Humanities Citation Index), search engines such as google and kartoo, and specialized sites from the invisible web.