Democratic librarianship: the role of the medical library in promoting democracy and social justice

Abstract

Evidence suggests that Erich Meyerhoff was one of the first practitioners of democratic librarianship throughout his long and productive life. This essay defines democratic librarianship in the context of democratic ideals and social justice and posits actions that the profession should be taking to thrive and lead in a multicultural environment, including being a place for active engagement, crucial conversations, and debate. Democratic librarianship is broader than social justice but incorporates social justice ideals in promoting a socially just and democratic society. Libraries…are essential to the functioning of a democratic society;…and libraries are the great tools of scholarship, the great repositories of culture, and the great symbols of the freedom of the mind. [1]—Franklin D. Roosevelt

Librarians and the challenges of Open Science: skills, resources and services

“…Medica Database (Embase), Cumulative Index to Nursingand Allied Health Literature (Cinahl), Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (Lista) e Web of Science Core Collection, referências e pesquisas direcionadas em sites e periódicos. Para os bibliotecários que atendem pesquisadores biomédicos, a promoção da Ciência Aberta e das práticas de dados abertos é fundamental para alcançar um ecossistema científico aberto, inclusivo e equitativo (Martin, 2020;Giustini et al, 2021).…”

On impersonal justice: libraries' neutrality as an act of change

“…Libraries' mission is to preserve and guarantee access to knowledge, to past and new voices and to give everyone the possibility to be heard and read. They offer informational, literary, scientific and educational services, a place to meet, socialise, debate and grow as a human being as well as a citizen “no matter the person's social status, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, racial or ethnic identity, or disability status” (Martin, 2020, p. 131). Briefly, libraries could be one of the few institutions left to manage knowledge and information, defending Weil's principle of impersonal justice, without which no democracy is credible.…”

Archivists' Information Work Lines: Affective, Information Management, and Hybrid Onsite‐Remote Work Performance

“…Medical history collections preserve records that underpin social memory, interdisciplinary scholarship, and even policy-making; they hold interest for humanities scholars, social scientists, and the public (Hoffman, 2003;McCall & Mix, 1996). The information work of information professionals in this domain directly informs human welfare and planetary sustainability (Martin, 2019(Martin, , 2020National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019).…”