Dr. John V. Richardson Jr.
UCLA Professor of Information Studies
4 th Kaser Lecture, Lilly Library, 2009
“In most things, to understand the present
and anticipate the future,
it is important to know
something of the past,
and so it is with [our own field]”
 Sociology at Ohio State University
 Relevance
 Criminology by Simon Dinitz (distinguished teaching)
 Sociological Theory by Laurel Richardson (no relation)
 Librarianship at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody
College
 Practical
 Wiley J. Williams (interned at JUL’s Documents Dept.)
 Frances Cheney (my reference instructor)
 Going on for the Doctorate:
 University of Kentucky: Documents and ILL
 Taught LIS 636 “Government Publications”
 SLIS faculty:
 Ellen Altman (Rutgers; moved to IU)
 Mike Harris (IU)
 Tom Waldhart (IU)
 Wayne Cutler (History at UTA)
 SLIS faculty (*indicates committee members):
 Altman*
 Bennett
 Fry
 Kaser*
 Pratt
 Shepherd
 Whitbeck*
 The Period, 1978-1988 (great time)
 The Period, 1988-1998 (not so great)
 The Period, 1998-2008 (better time)
 Just Show Me Your Publications
 Municipal Government Reference Sources (1978)
 Calligraphy (1981) and
 Dozens of book reviews
 National, if not international reputation
 Refereed Journal Articles
 The Entrepreneurial Professoriate
 Need for extra-mural grants
 Research Centers
 Rise of the i-School movement
 Intersection of three concentric circles
 1) Information resources (bibliography)
 2) Information technology (internet/WWW)
 3) Information processes (cataloging & classification)
 Information Ecology
 This topic intersects:
 anthropology,
 archeology,
 astronomy,
 biography and history,
 folklore,
 geography,
 geology, and
 linguistics
 Undergraduate Course at UCLA 180 entitled
“Information Ecology”
 PhD Seminar proposed for 2009/2010 academic year