Quantum² : InfoStars : Pia Jeppesen Hansen

Pia Jeppesen Hansen

Lundbeck's Pia Jeppesen Hansen

Pia Jeppesen Hansen, an information specialist at H. Lundbeck A/S, a pharmaceutical company in Denmark, reaches beyond the traditional boundaries of her profession to raise the value and visibility of information services. As co-founder of PharmLib, a professional organization formed in 1999, Pia is helping to improve the network of information professionals in the pharmaceutical industry of the Oresund region, which straddles Sweden-Denmark, near Copenhagen. Pia served on the group’s steering committee for four years and as a result of this type of effort, Pia was named a Quantum² InfoStar in December 2002.

Choosing to become an information professional was an easy decision for Pia, who says she always has enjoyed searching and finding what others cannot. It is the desire to find the needle in the information haystack that makes her job fun.

Prior to 1999, Pia says that little cooperation existed among pharmaceutical companies in the Oresund region. PharmLib was formed in September 1999 on a joint initiative between Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk to help information professionals in these pharmaceutical companies manage the faster tempo of new technology and new providers by enhancing cooperation among the companies.

At Lundbeck, Pia works in the company’s Library and Information Center. Among her many responsibilities, Pia manages the Internet and database training for various departments and units at her company, including new employees, and helps to manage the company's online portal. Although the Library and Information Center supports the company from discover through development and post-marketing, you won’t find a traditional library at Lundbeck. “We are a virtual library,” says Pia. “All of our services and resources are found on our Internet portal.”

Currently, Pia is assisting in the library with several ambitious programs. The group has started a search for a new library management system, which it hopes to find in 2005. She also is focusing on the company’s DataStarWeb interface.

“When we switched to DataStarWeb, it was a big challenge to ensure our end users had the best interface,” says Pia. “We took the best from the old and the new system and created requirement specifications for our new interface. After several months, a new interface was born, with a few changes made since.”

Further, Lundbeck’s Library and Information Center has formed a new end-user database user group that will help with interface development and test databases in trial. By consulting with the end users, the group hopes to deliver products and services that better meet the users’ needs.

As for the future of her profession, Pia says there is a danger in overwhelming people with too much information and it is important that information service professionals help manage the increasing amount of information to improve people’s lives. The goal of information services, says Pia, must be to “avoid information overload.”