POPLINE


On April 2, controversy erupted when medical research librarians discovered that database administrators at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, took action to block the word 'abortion' as a search term for searches conducted on POPLINE, the 'world's largest database on reproductive health.'
Shortly after the news was made public, the ALA Washington Office approached officials at John Hopkins inquiring about the limitations placed on the database and demanding a full investigation into the matter. When informed about the administrators' decision, Dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dr. Michael J. Klag, reversed the decision to restrict the search term. Full access to the POPLINE database was promptly restored and Dr. Klag has since initiated an inquiry into why and how the block was established.