title: Library workers' personal beliefs about childhood vaccination and vaccination information provision.
abstract: This is a report on the impact of library workers' personal beliefs on provision of vaccination information. Nine public librarians were interviewed about a hypothetical scenario involving a patron who is concerned about possible vaccination-autism connections. The analysis employed thematic coding. Results suggested that while most participants supported childhood vaccination, tension between their personal views and neutrality impacted their ability to conduct the interaction. The neutrality stance, though consonant with professional guidelines, curtails librarians' ability to provide accurate health information. Outreach and communication between public and health sciences libraries can help librarians provide resources to address health controversies.
authors.affiliation: keselmana@mail.nih.gov , Senior Social Science Analyst, Division of Specialized Information Services, US National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 510, Bethesda, MD 20892-5467; casmith24@wisc.edu , Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Room 4217, Helen C. White Hall, 600 North Park Street, Madison, WI 53706; savreenhundal@gmail.com , Contractor, Center for Public Service Communications, 10388 Bayside Drive, Claiborne, MD 21624.
authors.forename: Alla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keselman
authors.affiliation: keselmana@mail.nih.gov , Senior Social Science Analyst, Division of Specialized Information Services, US National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 510, Bethesda, MD 20892-5467; casmith24@wisc.edu , Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Room 4217, Helen C. White Hall, 600 North Park Street, Madison, WI 53706; savreenhundal@gmail.com , Contractor, Center for Public Service Communications, 10388 Bayside Drive, Claiborne, MD 21624.
authors.forename: Catherine Arnott
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: keselmana@mail.nih.gov , Senior Social Science Analyst, Division of Specialized Information Services, US National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 510, Bethesda, MD 20892-5467; casmith24@wisc.edu , Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Room 4217, Helen C. White Hall, 600 North Park Street, Madison, WI 53706; savreenhundal@gmail.com , Contractor, Center for Public Service Communications, 10388 Bayside Drive, Claiborne, MD 21624.
authors.forename: Savreen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hundal
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000379:methods*; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D016245:Librarians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011361:Professional Competence; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*