Response to Protocol Review Scenario: Stepping on Stone

The Animal Welfare Act and why it matters to librarians

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief history of the Animal Welfare Act and suggest that librarians and other information professionals can play an active role in helping researchers to comply with the Act.

Design/methodology/approach

The author attended workshops directed towards Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) and Biomedical Researchers. As a result of attending these workshops, the author recognized the potential for librarians and information specialists to assist researchers in performing literature searches, a required component of research protocols. The purpose of the literature search is to seek alternatives to the use of animals in experiments and to ensure that the researchers are not unnecessarily duplicating previous experiments. A research guide consisting of proprietary databases, free databases, books, web sites, and tutorials facilitates the literature review mandated by the Act.

Findings

While serving on his institution's Animal Care and Use Committee, the author was charged with reviewing research protocols involving the use of live, vertebrate animals. These protocols call for a literature review to determine if there are acceptable alternatives to the use of animals, or to methods that cause pain and distress to the animals. The author found that the majority of the searches that were performed needed improvement, with many failing to meet the minimum requirements of the Animal Welfare Act. Through his participation in relevant workshops, the author also found that many researchers were unaware of the requirements of this search for alternatives, and that they lacked familiarity with the resources available to them.

Originality/value

The author performed a search in Library and Information Science Abstracts and Library/Information Sciences & Technology Abstracts using the keywords “alternatives” and “animals” and received only four relevant results, dated 1990, 2001, 2004, and 2007.

The use of databases, information centres and guidelines when planning research that may involve animals

In many countries scientists planning research that may involve the use of animals are required by law to examine the possibilities for replacement, reduction or refinement (the Three Rs) of these experiments. In addition to the large number of literature databases, there are now many specialist databases specifically addressing the Three Rs. Information centres, with a mandate to assist scientists and lay people locate information on the Three Rs, have also been established. Email discussion lists and their archives constitute another, although less quality-controlled, source of information. Furthermore, guidelines for the care and use of animals in research have been produced both by regulatory bodies and scientific organisations. The growth of the internet has put an enormous amount of data into the public domain, and the problems of accessing relevant information are discussed. Suggestions are also given for search strategies when using these information sources.