October is American Archives Month as well as National Medical Librarians Month. To celebrate, we’re sharing conversations with just three of the staff members that make McGoogan a shining example of a medical library and an embodiment of the archivist’s job. Today, get to know Education and Research Services Librarian Jess King.
What drew King to librarianship
Studying both the work of libraries and the lines of history as an undergraduate, King grew increasingly concerned with the presence of “fake news” and misinformation. Recognizing her own skill at performing literature searches and parsing out trustworthy and unreliable information, King wanted to share that skill with others.
Becoming a librarian, she said, seemed a “natural route.”
Approaching information sources, King said half the battle—or more—lies in “knowing what to ask” of the material. Even if an article comes your way through a reputable journal or reliable database, it still needs to be examined for red flags, King said.
Asking about sources of funding or potential bias, about what can and cannot be verified, will lead readers and researchers toward better information, she added.
King’s background informs appreciation for medical libraries
King’s past training to become an LPN covered the more everyday, embodied aspects of the work but not necessarily how to recognize and divide good information from bad.
Medical libraries such as McGoogan fill similar voids for students, helping them learn the how of exploring new and upcoming treatments and stay abreast of the literature in their field, King said.
How King integrates an awareness of mental health
Another of King’s roles translates quite well to her work at McGoogan. In the final stages of finishing a mental health counseling program at University of Nebraska-Omaha, King works with patients at the veterans’ hospital. King’s mental-health training reminds her that people need freedom to show up to work exactly as they are, and that they need to inch closer to a true work-life balance.
King brings that lens to McGoogan with her work on the wellness team and in more informal interactions, she said, where she reminds colleagues to take care of themselves as much or more than their work.
Taking the McGoogan catalog into the community
Another authentic human intersection between mental healthcare and librarianship yields rewards for King and her patients.
King is primarily responsible for building the graphic medicine catalog at McGoogan; it consists of graphic pathographies—or personal accounts—of health experiences from the perspectives of patients, caregivers and providers.
One of McGoogan’s physical collections, this array of approximately 70-80 books covers experiences with diagnoses, public and mental health issues and more.
King brings these books into substance-use disorder group counseling situations and has watched gratefully as veterans both connect with others’ stories and learn to draw boundaries through encountering them.
Read this month’s other profiles on Education and Research Services Librarian Danielle Westmark and Archives Specialist Kelly Gonzalez.