Quantum² : InfoStars : Lucy Park

Lucy Park

ASRC Aerospace Corporation's Lucy Park

The wide variety of information needs makes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency an interesting place to work, says Lucy Park, EPA national library network coordinator and EPA headquarters library manager. On any given day, EPA librarians might assist enforcement personnel who need business and financial information to determine appropriate penalties for polluters, public affairs staff who need current awareness tools, scientists who need scientific and technical research and policy specialists who need environmental management and policy information.

"Everyone is inundated with information, and our role is to help our clients deal with that flood of data by providing high-quality information sources and also saving them time by conducting research for them," says Lucy.

EPA librarians meet these diverse information needs through creativity and cooperation. To address the budget constraints that so many libraries face, the 28 libraries that make up the EPA's National Library Network rely on one another's strengths to achieve efficiencies.

Some of the EPA libraries may have expertise in business research, while others have expertise in ecological research, chemistry or toxicology. By sharing their individual expertise with other libraries, they enhance the collective capabilities and better meet their patrons' range of needs. It's Lucy's personal pursuit to meet her customers' needs that makes her an InfoStar.

"Librarians are striving to do a better job of meeting their patrons where they are," says Lucy. "We need to continually talk to patrons to find out what information services or resources would help them and then design and provide those services."

Lucy, who has worked at the EPA headquarters for eight years, explains that the conversation with patrons has to go beyond asking "what can your library do for you?" Rather, she says, librarians should be looking at broader issues regarding what kinds of information patrons have difficulty finding or what kinds of knowledge they feel they lack in making decisions.

An example of how the EPA library is improving the information flow is the recent introduction of e-mail Alerts that Lucy says are very popular. These Alerts contain relevant content from the key publications to which the agency subscribes. The Alerts minimize duplication of information, allowing patrons to find information more quickly. Further, these Alerts are branded with the EPA Libraries logo, so that readers know who is providing this valuable service to them. The library also has developed training programs that are practical and targeted to specific research needs.

"Our overarching goal is to help the agency make good decisions by providing the information that the staff needs, when and where they need it, and in the format of their choice," says Lucy. "By doing so, we save the organization time and money."

Lucy Park works for ASRC Aerospace Corporation, which holds the contract to operate the EPA National Library Network.