POPLINE gets fixed

Here’s an update to yesterday’s post in which I passed along the story about “abortion” having been made a stop word in the POPLINE database. Michael J. Klag (Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which administers the database), said today:

I was informed this morning that the word “abortion” was blocked as a search term in the POPLINE family planning database administered by the Bloomberg School’s Center for Communication Programs. POPLINE provides evidence-based information on reproductive health and family planning and is the world’s largest database on these issues.

USAID, which funds POPLINE, found two items in the database related to abortion that did not fit POPLINE criteria. The agency then made an inquiry to POPLINE administrators. Following this inquiry, the POPLINE administrators at the Center for Communication Programs made the decision to restrict abortion as a search term.

I could not disagree more strongly with this decision, and I have directed that the POPLINE administrators restore “abortion” as a search term immediately. I will also launch an inquiry to determine why this change occurred.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and not its restriction.

POPLINE searching gets politicized

According to reports from some librarians (e.g., Rachel Walden at Women’s Health News), the word “abortion” has become a stop word on the POPLINE database, which is described as:

the world’s largest database on reproductive health, containing citations with abstracts to scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports in the field of population, family planning, and related health issues. POPLINE is maintained by the INFO Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development. (USAID).

UPDATE (4/4/2008) Wired published a more complete story today.

PsycINFO looking for input on cognitive science add-on

Excuse me for any cross-postings on this. Cognitive Science is very interdisciplinary and would enhance offerings for research in education, psychology, linguisitics, computer science and biology just to name a few.

APA Invites You to Participate in a Cognitive Science Survey

Dear Colleagues,
As a result of some requests from librarians, APA is seriously
considering the development of a cognitive science add-on to PsycINFO.
This enhanced version of PsycINFO would feature a new coverage list of
journals not currently covered in the database, as well as new index
terms. Searching across the entire database would be seamless.

We’d like to hear your thoughts about this idea. Please go to

http://apa.CognitiveScienceSurvey.sgizmo.com

to complete a brief survey-and enter our raffle for a chance to win a $350 Amazon gift
certificate. Please let me know if you have questions.

Cordially,
Susan B. Hillson
Manager, Customer Relations
PsycINFO/American Psychological Association
750 First St., NE
Washington D.C. 20002
shillson@apa.org