ABSTRACT
Frank Kellerman’s current paper presents our readers with at least three notable features. First, it is in tune with a tremendously important social and scientific problem. Even though this manuscript will appear some time after popular awareness has peaked, scholarly and policy-making interest will continue for what is hopefully a long enough time to deal with the issues meaningfully. Second, in light of this paper’s special timeliness, and with the courteous cooperation of other contributors who have held their manuscripts in abeyance, it has been decided that this will be the first repeat authorship in our series. (See STL volume 5, number 2, “Artificial Internal Organs: Brief Guide to the Research and Literature” for our colleague’s initial work.) Third, Kellerman’s is one of the most thoroughgoing papers in its exposition of a problem of information handling ethics: the shakiness of data in a critical situation. While Kellerman offers no clear cut answers on whether or not librarians should disseminate it in every circumstance, he suggests that we as professionals have some duty to inform clientele about credibility, basing our warning on a close examination of just how the information was gathered prior to its publication.
