Quantum² : InfoStars : Karen Reczek

Karen Reczek

Karen Reczek of Bureau Veritas

Despite the shift in recent years of information sources to digital format, Karen Reczek still values the human connection.

“I think the human connection gets overlooked a lot in this new environment,” said Reczek, who is Senior Manager for the Information Resources Center at Bureau Veritas in Buffalo, N.Y.

Bureau Veritas is a world leader in conformity assessment and certification services, helping clients to manage risk and enhance their performances in the fields of quality, health, safety, environment, and social responsibility. The company is headquartered in Paris, France and has more than 33,000 employees in over 140 countries.

Reczek, who joined the company as a solo librarian in 1996, believes that while the Internet is instrumental in identifying information sources, there are plenty of other places to find answers that shouldn't be overlooked.

“I have to remind the staff that there's a book on the shelf with the answer to the question and that they shouldn't spend an hour searching the web,” she said. “Likewise, I constantly say 'pick up the phone.' Instead of searching the FDA site for hours, call the right department at the FDA and let them point you in the right direction.”

At Bureau Veritas' Information Resources Center (IRC), which was formed in 1996 primarily to manage the standards and regulations documents collection needed to support the testing business, Reczek supervises seven other full-time employees. The IRC's primary services are:

• Library and information services, including reference and research, document delivery, online subscription licensing, translation coordination, document control, and collection management.
• Environmental scanning, competitive intelligence and market research.
• Knowledge management, which includes database development, oversight of document management tools and the company's intranet.

Reczek's focus on the human element of information services doesn't mean she's neglected the digital aspect of the business. In fact, she describes as one of her key initiatives for the year the automation of the company's regulatory update services which is currently in a newsletter format to a database format “so the information can be searched, exported and pushed out into a web environment.”

“The current process is not efficient and many internal departments spend considerable time on reformatting the information. The database will provide a real opportunity to increase efficiencies and reduce duplication in efforts,” she said.

Likewise, Reczek describes the IRC's knowledge products, which include both printed publications and databases, as unique to Bureau Veritas.

“This information does not exist elsewhere — we created it — and there is an increasing demand for this content in the industry,” she said. “One of the reasons our department has been successful over the years is that the IRC helps to differentiate our company from our competition.”

So while Reczek maintains that personal contact is one of the most valuable elements of information services, she also maintains that digital and online content is valuable as a tool to expedite the information process.

“We help employees work smarter and provide easier access to needed information. Collaboration and understanding our users' needs is priority one,” she said. “Priority two is determining which goals will deliver the most impact and focusing on them.”

That also means identifying what helps IRC employees and what causes library clutter, again in order to help people work “smarter.”

“We are moving the IRC to another building, and of course, a smaller space. The reduction in square footage and the concept of moving everything forced us to examine our collection and weed it out for the first time in 12 years,” she explained. “Many of the books and reference materials that were destroyed or donated were purchased when the Internet was just beginning to take off. Now that more authoritative materials can be easily accessed via the web, these types of materials are not needed and were out of date.”

Overall, Reczek thinks the human connection remains integral to information services because she thinks the best libraries and information centers will continue to focus on these qualities.

“My prediction is that information centers and libraries that break new ground or take up what are viewed as the 'nontraditional' roles are the ones that will thrive and flourish,” she said. “I think it is critical that people understand what they are bringing to the table is a skill set that is not tied to a specific job function or role. It would be nice if someone would develop a list of transitional skills for info pros so they can understand what they have to offer and not think they are defined by a job title like 'cataloger.'”

Reczek is a member of the Special Libraries Association, where she has chaired the Pharmaceutical and Health Technology Division, the Competitive Intelligence Division and the Knowledge Management Division. She has also served as the president of the Upstate New York SLA chapter and on the SLA Board of Directors.

She also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Information and Library Studies at the University of Buffalo, where she has taught and developed courses on special libraries and competitive intelligence.