Edward Kurdyla has been appointed publisher and editorial director of reference-book publisher Scarecrow Press. Kurdyla, who starts August 25, succeeds Shirley Lambart, who became head of the American Library in Paris earlier this year. Kurdyla has been general manager of Libraries Unlimited.

In making the announcement, Jed Lyons, president of Scarecrow parent company Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, cited Kurdyla's experience with electronic publishing as an important factor in his appointment. "Ed will guide us as we develop our electronic publishing program," Lyons said. Prior to joining Libraries Unlimited, Kurdyla had been executive editor and editorial director of Grolier Electronic Publishing and was also director of OCLC's electronic publishing and information-delivery division.