UNITED STATES: GOVERNMENT: CONGRESS :
DATABASES: POPLINE :
INVESTIGATIONS:
Dingell Examining Closure of Hopkins Health Database
Dingell Examining Closure of Hopkins Health Database
POPLINE Web site briefly blocked searches using the term 'abortion'
By a Sun reporter
April 16, 2008
Baltimore Sun
<http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/
bal-te.popline16apr16,0,7112518.story>
A shorter URL for the above link:
The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is investigating
why a government-funded, reproductive health database operated by the
Johns Hopkins University briefly blocked searches using the term abortion
two weeks ago.
The POPLINE database is funded by the U.S. Agency for International
Development and run by Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Bloomberg's dean ordered all searches restored after he learned that an
administrator had made it difficult to find abortion-related scientific
material on the POPLINE Web site. The restriction lasted several days.
"I am concerned that the restriction of certain search terms in the
POPLINE database is an ideological decision and not in line with the
spirit of free scientific inquiry intended by the creation of such a
database," Rep. John D. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, wrote in a letter
yesterday to USAID's administrator.
The congressman requested the names of the officials who were involved in
the decision to make abortion a "stop word" - one that a search engine
will ignore.
<snip>
Dingell sent a similar letter to Dr. Michael Klag, dean of the School of
Public Health.
<snip>
Some research librarians and others who were concerned about the
restriction on abortion searches said they were worried that it might have
been politically motivated.
-----------------------------------------
The complete article may be read at the URL above.
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@temple.edu
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