Ethics and the role of the medical librarian: health care information and the new consumer.

Because medical libraries increasingly serve nonprofessionals, medical librarians may need to reconsider their role. In addition, as clients alter their expectations about librarians and begin to think of them as participants in health care delivery, librarians face new ethical challenges. This paper compares the values and goals of the library and medical professions in the provision of health care information. In examining the factors that health care professionals consider when deciding what information to share with patients, the author challenges medical librarians to reconsider their duties toward their nonprofessional clients, whether patients, patients' families, or other laypersons, and to clarify the goals of the health science library profession regarding the provision of information.