Melissa Hudak is the HSLI Member of the Quarter for May! She works as Library Coordinator at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.
How did you decide that special libraries, particularly medical ones, were the best fit for your career interests and goals?
I like the challenge of medical librarianship—finding answers to questions that just might alter a treatment or save a life. Or, helping someone find information that can change a way the hospital does things. Sometimes, I’ll do a literature search and send the results off to whoever asked for it. Then, a few weeks, or even months, later, I see something on our portal announcing a new way of doing things that might be at least somewhat based on the literature I found. It’s a good feeling to know I may have helped improve the care our hospital and providers give to the patients.
What do you think are the most significant challenges facing medical and hospital libraries in Illinois, but especially in the central part of the state?
There really aren’t too many hospital librarians left around here. Twenty-five years ago, when I first moved to Peoria and started working at Methodist Medical Center, there were dozens of medical librarians working at hospitals in the area. Unfortunately, as many of the hospital librarians retired or otherwise left, their positions often weren’t filled. It’s sad, because I think we do vital work for hospitals.
What’s the most interesting reference question you’ve received during your time as a medical librarian?
There are so many that it’s difficult to think of just one. I actually find the questions with a tight deadline to be most interesting, like someone who needs information for a meeting they are going to in 10 minutes, or are actually in a meeting and want to address something that has come up. It’s fun working on something with an incredibly tight deadline.
What do you value most about serving as the HSLI liaison to the Network of the National Library of Medicine’s Region 6?
I like hearing what is happening at NLM and Region 6. They have so many interesting classes and learning opportunities.
More libraries are choosing mascots these days. What do you think would be an appropriate mascot for a health sciences or medical library?
I’d have to say a cat, since they are so curious about everything.