January 3, 2005 - Brookville, NY– John Sullivan, a retired NYPD precinct captain, knows firsthand that the information available to law officers plays an important role in deciding how to deal with a suspect. As a doctoral candidate in the Ph.D. program in Information Studies at the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, Sullivan is examining how the law enforcement community manages and exchanges that information and how that exchange can be improved.

"When a police officer pulls over a motorist, he or she accesses certain information through a computer. But is it accurate information - and more importantly, is it thorough enough?" he asks.

Information sources and information technologies must be designed and managed for effective use by those who need accurate, timely information in the most appropriate formats. The C.W. Post Information Studies doctoral program, which is in its seventh year, prepares students to effectively and efficiently access, manage and utilize the vast amounts of information available today. "I chose Post because the diversity of its Infor-mation Studies doctoral program allows me to pursue the research area," Sullivan said.

Sullivan, who resides in Lake Ronkonkoma, is one of 54 students studying in the program–the only one of its kind in the New York Metropolitan area. Alumni are now working as faculty in higher education and as information management consultants in various fields. Current students plan to apply their expertise to health care administration, art history, information systems design, governmental policy development and more.

The father of five and grandfather to eight, Sullivan, 62, was born and raised in New York City. He is a retired police captain who served 30 years in the New York Police Department and was the commanding officer in the 76th and 101st Precincts. "The more informed our local authorities are, the better they can help fight crime and terrorism," Sullivan said.

For more information about the Ph.D. in Information Studies at the Palmer

School of Library and Information Science, visit the Ph.D. Program web page at http://palmer.cwpost.liu.edu/PhD/PhD.html, contact Dr. Charles Hildreth, director of the doctoral program, at (516) 299-2178 or email hildreth@liu.edu.