Societal expectation of accountability on the part of information professionals for the quality of the product they provide is increasing. In a recent case, a Marine Corps librarian was dismissed after the crash of an A-4 attack jet because he failed to update the maintenance manual for the jet. One of the central ideas of information resource management is that information professionals must safeguard information in their care. Information is a form of property and must be protected. The problems of copyright violations, software piracy, electronic harassment, break-ins to data systems, and computer viruses involve issues of security to property and the exercise of appropriate professional responsibility.
Information professionals are increasingly responsible for data accuracy and service quality.
Electronic media provides new means for publishing information and accessing information. Information professionals are often providing information direct from source where it was created. Formerly, librarians accessed packages of information which had already passed through a quality assessment process such as acceptance in a refereed journal. The profusion and diversity of sources of information further complicates and confuses this issue. There is an escalating potential for misuse of information and electronic technology.