College Park, MD (August 1, 2008) – Maryland’s iSchool is pleased to announce the appointment of two new faculty, Dr. John Carlo Bertot and Dr. Jean Dryden.

Dr. John Carlo Bertot joins the iSchool as Professor and Director of the new Center for Library Innovation. Prior to joining the iSchool, Dr. Bertot served as Professor and Associate Director of the Information Use Management Policy Institute at Florida State University. A native of New York State, Dr. Bertot earned a Ph.D. from Syracuse University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the State University of New York at Albany.

Dr. Bertot’s research interests are in the areas of public library use of and involvement with the Internet as well as telecommunications and information policy development, with an emphasis on electronic network-based issues. His interests also include organization and management of electronic network-based information and development and implementation of electronic network performance measures.

Dr. Bertot serves as editor of two distinguished journals; he is sole editor of /Government Information Quarterly/ and co-editor of /Library Quarterly/. He is also the past chair of the American Library Association's (ALA) Library Research Round Table and a member of the Florida Library Association's Legislative Committee. Dr. Bertot serves as a member of ALA’s Ad Hoc Subcommittee on E-Government, Chair of the ISO Library Performance Indicator Working Group, and Board Member of the Digital Government Society of North America. He is the author of numerous journal articles, books and book chapters.

Dr. Jean Dryden joins the iSchool as an Assistant Professor in the archives specialization. She recently received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Dr. Dryden’s dissertation topic focused on the impact of copyright on making archival holdings available on the Internet.

Dr. Dryden’s current research interests include how institutions operate under the constraints of copyright, particularly in the digital environment, standards for archival arrangement and description, and the behavior and needs of users of archival material. As an adjunct instructor, Dr. Dryden has taught courses on archives, records management, and legal issues for information professionals.