Access Ethical use of information includes the ability of all people to access information in the public domain. The purpose of public libraries is to provide the general public with access to information, primarily in written form. Public libraries provide equitable access, regardless of race, creed, age, gender, or income level; of course, an overriding assumption is that the general populace can read.
Online information access is challenged even more than public libraries by the notion of universal access. First, individuals attempting to access and use online information must be educated enough to read, write, reason, and even calculate. In other words, they must have at least a minimal level of education; today, that minimum level is probably close to a high-school education to be able to fully understand the accessed content.
Second, individuals attempting to access and use online information must have physical access to the technologies—hardware, software, databases, telecommunications—that are necessary to retrieve information. For many less-affluent individuals, particularly minority groups, this is a major expense—too expensive for many lower-income households, since they require centralized facilities, such as schools or libraries, to view online information via information technology. In sparsely populated areas like the NorthWest Territories and Nunavut, this is particularly a critical issue, as Internet access is scarce.
Finally, the issue of property rights may restrict access to online information; unless individuals can pay to obtain the information, it may not be in the public domain
It has been said that a society that does not provide universal access, including education and physical access, creates a society of Knows and Know-nots. Knows are a class that has access to knowledge and learning, while Know-nots are an underclass of less-educated, less-affluent people who have little access to information and who suffer a disadvantage in the modern workplace. Here in Canada, governments take this premise