links
Syndicate
STOPLINE: operation sabotage access to information about abortion
I know it's probably bad form to post the same thing on more than one of my blogs, but it's hard not to when you really really really want to get the word out about something. So, please go see my Radical Reference post on how a government funded database on reproductive health is deliberately sabotaging access to information about abortion. (emphasis added)
Thanks to Lia for posting about it on her blog after reading about the issue on the PLG list (to which I also subscribe, but clearly don't read carefully enough).
nochoicebutchoice:
Thanks for posting this. I'm going to help spread the word and hopefully get some people to write some angry--and (now) informed--missives!
Deborah:
Hey - I just tried it and Abortion did appear in the index. Am I missing something?
jenna:
It's in the index (for now), but if you use abortion as the sole search term, you will get zero results.
As I wrote on Radical Reference:
jenna:
Actually make that Click Search, not Browse Index.
Deborah:
OK, I just tried this (using IE, as the database doesn't work at all using Firefox). I browsed the index, found Abortion, and then clicked Paste to put it in the subject window. I got 24943 hits.
Granted, this isn't a very intuitive way to search, but maybe it's just a crappily designed database? I haven't searched it before, so don't know. (I am more than happy to blow the whistle if it is anything beyond that, believe me...)
jenna:
Hey Deborah,
Fascinating that it worked when pasted.
But what folks need to know is that POPLINE deliberately made "abortion" a stop word. They recommend using 'Fertility Control, Postconception' instead. Per brassratgirl's post,
"A researcher wrote and asked why they were getting fewer results than before, and got this reply:
"Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008
"Hi researcher,
"Yes we did make a change in POPLINE. We recently made all abortion terms stop words. As a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now. In addition to the terms you’re already using, you could try using 'Fertility Control, Postconception'. This is the broader term to our 'Abortion' terms and most records have both in the keyword fields. Also, adding 'unwanted w2 pregnancy' in place of aborti*. We have a keyword Pregnancy, Unwanted and there are 2517 records with aborti* & unwanted w2 pregnancy
"I hope this helps.
"Popline database manager"
The POPLINE db manager being Debra L. Dickson, according to a comment from Arpita Bose on the Rad Ref post.
Deborah:
Aha. What turds they are! I am going to complain. Thanks for the info.
eric:
I gave them my feedback using the POPLINE's online comment form. I'll let you know if I get a reply.
my comment as submitted to popline:
I'd like to know how many labor hours and how much federal funding it took to modify your search system to turn abortion into a stopword.
I find your decision to do so offensive and clearly political in nature.
If Surgeon General Koop was as cowardly as you are, we'd still be pretending AIDS does not exist.
Shame on you for putting politics above public health.
Chrissy:
I blogged about this today and emailed POPLINE. I wish I could say this was unbelievable, but unfortunately I'm not really surprised.
Razzle:
They appear to have fixed it.
nochoicebutchoice:
I hope this is true.
this would be this:
http://ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2008/04/access_to_abortion_search_to_be_restored_in_p.php
jenna:
We Fought the Law and Gloria Won i.e. Reading the Press Release, I believe abortion should be restored as a search term imminently.
Hooray for hysterical and radical, militant librarians!!!