Ethics and Freedom of Information in the Library

I’m in the home stretch for my MLS and will walk the stage in May to collect my hard earned degree. One of my classes this semester is Information Ethics. Have you had to take this class or a similar one for your degree? A discussion that has gathered quite a response with varying degrees of hostility is the issue whether the Pernkopf Topographical Anatomy of Man should be allowed to remain in academic libraries. The atlas is considered by anatomists and surgeons to be a unique classic and in 1990, the New England Journal of Medicine praised the 3^rd edition as an invaluable resource and reference work. It is a considered to be a well-respected and highly detailed anatomical atlas that due to its prohibitive cost, is usually only accessible in a library. I have to confess that I had never heard about the atlas before this discussion, have you heard of or ever seen a copy?

Remember the interesting plastic overlays in encyclopedias back when everyone had a set in their house? I used to be fascinated with these overlays and would spend an inordinate amount of time flipping, adding sheets, and removing sheets to see the body change. The Pernkopf Atlas sounds much more interesting. So what is the ethical problem? Dr. Pernkopf constructed his atlas under the Nazi regime and although his personal viewpoints on race are a matter of record, he was never convicted of war crimes. During the time period the atlas was prepared, all cadavers from executed persons were delivered to medical colleges, including his anatomical college, for instructional purposes. These bodies were used for the atlas illustrations and in the 1990s the illustrations came under scrutiny as possible Holocaust victims. The final report of the Pernkopf Commission indicated it could find no evidence that the bodies used came from concentration camps and was unable to prove or disprove supposition and suspicion that they were of Jewish descent.  

            The ethical question posed is should the atlas remain in an academic library for its instructional knowledge or should it be removed because it was constructed by a doctor under the Nazi regime? Removing it smacks of censorship in my opinion. We should judge the book on its informational value. If the subjects pictured were proved to be Holocaust victims would that negate the informational value of the book? No. It would be a horrible discovery but the atlas is still a valuable resource and should be included in the library. The conditions for removing it as a reference work would be if the drawings or information in the atlas proved to be incorrect. If we remove items based upon our moral convictions we are standing against everything a librarian should stand for.

What do you think?

Reference

Atlas, Michael. 2001. “Ethics and Access to Teaching Materials in the Medical Library: The Case of the Pernkopf Atlas.” Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. 89(1):51-58.