Patrice McDermott

Patrice McDermott joined OpenTheGovernment.org as director after more than four years as the deputy director of the Office of Government Relations at the American Library Association Washington Office. At ALA, she had lead responsibility for government information and privacy policy, and e-government policy issues. She joined ALA in December 2001 after having served for eight years as the senior information policy analyst for OMB Watch.

She previously served as the assistant director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association, taught information politics at Clark Atlanta University, and worked at the National Archives and Records Administration. Patrice was awarded her doctorate from the University of Arizona in political science and received an M.Ln. in library and information management from Emory University.

Dr. McDermott is the author of Who Needs to Know? The State of Public Access to Federal Government Information. She is a frequent speaker on public access and e-government issues.