Karen Hartman is Information Resource Officer (IRO) for Applied Technology and works in the International Information Programs/Information Resources Office at the U.S. Department of State. She served as regional IRO for eastern African Information Resource Centers (IRCs), posted in Nairobi, Kenya, from 2005 to 2008. Previously she served as IRO for southern Africa, based in Pretoria, South Africa. Before joining the State Department in September 2002, Karen was the director of the library at the University of Mary Washington’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies in Fredericksburg, Virginia for three years, and was a reference and instruction librarian at the University of Mary Washington’s undergraduate library for five years before this. Karen’s Masters in Library & Information Science was granted from the University of Michigan in 1978.