Member Spotlight: Karen Goodman

Posted by Margot M on December 6th, 2023 Posted in: Communities of Interest
Tags: hospital librarians, Member Spotlight, National Library of Medicine, New Hampshire

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If you had 25 hours in a day, what would you do with the extra hour?

I would love to focus more on my creative side…something I have yet to discover.  As I move closer to retirement, I need to find ways of staying relevant, purposeful, and yet enjoy a new chapter in Life.  I may even try to learn a new language…perhaps French or Italian.  Haven’t decided yet.  Or take voice lessons and join a choir! Volunteering is also on the radar, but the choices are overwhelming. 

Tell us about your position/institution.

I work at New Hampshire Hospital. We are New Hampshire’s only Acute Psychiatric Hospital for Adults.  Two years ago, we also treated children, adolescents, and young adults. That mission moved to Hampstead Hospital, which has become a State resource.  As the Director of Library Services, I am the sole librarian responsible for the administration, collection development, acquisition, research, reference, instruction, etc.  My library has recently moved from having print and electronic resources to just electronic…a virtual library.  I have physically moved locations. While still in the hospital, I now have just an office—though it is one with windows!  

I’ve been in this position for just over ten years, and it is indeed a very dynamic one.  I also oversee the budget of the Patient’s Library. Up until recently when we finally hired a replacement for the Media Specialist who retired about 4 years ago, I was ordering books and providing guidance on library operations to the Rehab department as well.   

What special projects are you working on?

I’m currently working in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Historical Society, and New Hampshire Humanities Council on the New Hampshire Hospital Digital Humanities Project to digitize our history and make available for research.  This project aims to build an online platform from which that history can be digitally preserved. After transitioning to a virtual library, I’m working feverishly on a marketing plan to increase visibility of library services. Additionally, I’m working to provide our staff and affiliates Remote Access to our electronic resources.  Exploring several options—TDNet, Open Athens, EZProxy.  I’d love to hear recommendations from other hospital librarians.   

What National Library of Medicine resource is the most useful to your work, and why? (ClinicalTrials, DailyMed, DOCLINE, History of Medicine Collection, PubMed, PubMed Central, MeSH, MedlinePlus, etc.)

I would have to say that I use PubMed and DOCLINE extensively.  The bulk of my literature searches are conducted through PubMed, and of course I use DOCLINE for ordering materials that are not available through other channels. Being such a small library, these tools are immensely helpful.  But I have to add that I depend heavily on library Listservs, such as MEDLIB-L in order to get some ideas for marketing, answers to search strategy questions, etc.  

What is the coolest thing about your library/organization/county/state?

New Hampshire is full of great outdoor opportunities and provides an unbeatable quality of life.  We have a good number of excellent academic institutions, one of which we are affiliated with, and faculty that provides care for our patients.  The libraries have a great network, both public and private, academic and medical. We easily share resources, which is something we all need to do in a time where budgets are tight.