I don't believe I have seen this thread on MEDLIB-L but I thought I
would forward these messages from SLA-DBIO to my colleagues on MEDLIB-L.
 My thoughts are how can abortion be a stop word?  Does that mean that
MEDLARS will not be using abortion as a MeSH term? How can we get
POPLINE to change their policy? 

See forwarded messages below!

MASH
 
>>> Jo Anne Boorkman <[log in to unmask]> 4/2/2008 6:11 PM >>>
Hello All,
The message string below addresses the decision by POPLINE managers to
make 'abortion' a stop word in that database...
Jo Anne

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Gloria Won" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] 
Cc: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], "San Francisco
Biomedical Library Network" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 2, 2008 12:48:09 PM (GMT-0800)
America/Los_Angeles
Subject: POPLINE - 'abortion' is now a stopword
To:  Debra L. Dickson
POPLINE Database Manager/Administrator
INFO Project
111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202
[log in to unmask] 
Tel: 410-659-6300 / Fax: 410-659-6266

Hi Debbie –

Thank you for your quick response to my e-mail.  I have forwarded your
e-mail to researchers with whom I am working; I suspect they will be as
puzzled as I about the decision to make “all abortion terms stop
words” in the government funded, publically available “POPLINE”
database.  Even more troubling is the implications for the average user
– eliminating this term essentially blocks access to the reports in
the database and ultimately to information about abortion.  “Unwanted
w2 pregnancy” is not a synonym for abortion.

My colleague, Gail Sorrough and I are also forwarding this e-mail to
several organizations whose members are primarily medical librarians. 
We suspect they will also be puzzled by the notion that a perfectly good
noun such as “abortion” should for no apparent reason be classified
as a “stop word” and equated with “a”, “an”, “the”.

A better explanation is deserved – the explanation should also be
posted on the website for all users to know, e.g.,  “The POPLINE
database producers have decided to ignore “abortion” as a searchable
to term because ……. ?

We look forward to a better explanation for why this term has been
eliminated; all of the users of POPLINE deserve to know.

Regards,

Gail Sorrough, Director of Medical Library Services and Gloria Won,
Librarian
H.M. Fishbon Memorial Library
UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion
1600 Divisadero St, Rm A116
San Francisco, CA  94115
415 885-7378
[log in to unmask] 
[log in to unmask] 

_______
From: Dickson, Debbie L. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 7:26 AM
To: Won, Gloria
Subject: RE: Popline retrieval discrepancy

Hi Gloria,

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.

Debbie

From: Won, Gloria [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 3:51 PM
To: Dickson, Debbie L.
Subject: RE: Popline retrieval discrepancy

Hello Debbie:

I left a message on your voice mail today regarding POPLINE, but
didn’t explain the problem I’m encountering, so here is an email
follow-up.

When I ran this strategy on Jan 18, 2008, POPLINE retrieved 1684 refs;
when I re-ran the same strategy today, POPLINE retrieved fewer refs, ie,
1478 refs.  Usually, when a search is re-run at a later date, the total
number of references retrieved is more, not less.    Has POPLINE
undergone some major change in the past few months that might explain
the decreased retrieval?    What can account for this discrepancy?

(strategy removed)

I also tested a second strategy that was developed in Jan 2008 and had
similar results, ie, fewer refs retrieved this time than previous.  
Puzzling?!?

Appreciate a prompt response --

Thank you, Gloria

Gloria Won, MLIS
H.M. Fishbon Memorial Library
UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion
1600 Divisadero Street, Room A116
San Francisco, CA  94115
415 885-7378



Mary A Hyde, MSLS AHIP ([log in to unmask])
Director
Resource Center
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
409 12th St SW
Washington  DC 20024
202-863-2518 (ref desk)  202-484-1595 (fax)