Dr. John V. Richardson Jr., Professor

John V. Richardson Jr., PhD

Professor of Information Studies

UCLA Department of Information Studies (BruinCam)

Associate Dean, Graduate Division (2002-2007)

Fulbright Lecturer, Vladivostok State University of Economics and Services, 2005

Presidential Scholar for Virtual Reference Services, Library Systems and Services L.L.C. (now Tutor.com), Academic Year 2002; January 2003-October 2003

Editor Emeritus, The Library Quarterly (April 1995- July 2003)

Member, UC Systemwide Privilege and Tenure, 1999-2002; UCLA Privilege and Tenure, 1999-2001; Chair, 2000-2001; Member, UCLA Committee on Committees, 2000-2003

Faculty Sponsor, UCLA-St. Petersburg State University of Culture Exchange Program

204 GSE&IS Building, Box 951250
300 Charles E. Young Drive North
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1520
33 57 42 N, 118, 21, 08 W

Internet: jrichard at ucla dot edu

UCLA Telephones:
(310) 206-9369 (DIS Office)

(310) 206-2281 (Murphy Hall)
(310) 994-9494 (World Mobile Cell)
(310) 206-4460 (DIS Fax)

(310) 825-8099 (Murphy Fax)

Academic Background

Ph.D., Indiana University, 1978
M.L.S., Vanderbilt University, Peabody College, 1972
B.A., Ohio State University, 1971 (Sociology)

Areas of Research Interest

History of education for archival, library, and information science (especially US and Russian); government information (United States, federal level); process of general question answering--systems analysis, numerical modeling and Question-Master implementation as expert/knowledge-based systems.

Selected Publications (from more than 230 items)

Reference Related Research

Virtual Reference Transactions: Applications, Problems, and Progress, in progress.
Understanding Reference Transactions: Turning an Art into a Science, with Matthew Saxton. Library and Information Science Series. New York: Academic Press, 2002.
"The Current State of Research on Reference Transactions," In Advances in Librarianship, vol. 26, pages 175-230, edited by Frederick C. Lynden. New York: Academic Press, 2002.
"Reference is Better Than We Thought," Library Journal 127 (15 April 2002): 41-42.
"Modeling the Reference Process: A Systems Approach," College and Research Libraries 60 (May 1999): 211-222; reprint ed., Understanding Reference Transactions, chapter 7 and figures.
"Question Master: An Evaluation of a Web-based Decision-Support System for Use in Reference Environments," College and Research Libraries 59 (January 1998): 29-37.
Knowledge-based Systems for General Reference Work: Applications, Problems, and Progress. Library and Information Science Series. New York: Academic Press, 1995.
"Teaching General Reference Work: The Complete Paradigm and Competing Schools of Thought, 1890-1990," The Library Quarterly 62 (January 1992): 55-89.

Selected Research Monographs

An English-Russian-English Dictionary of Library and Information Science. St. Petersburg, Russia: Professiya Publishing House, in press.
The Gospel of Scholarship: Pierce Butler and A Critique of American Librarianship. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1992.
The Spirit of Inquiry: the Graduate Library School at Chicago: 1921-1951. ACRL Publications in Librarianship, No. 42. Foreword by Jesse H. Shera. Chicago: American Library Association, 1982.

Selected Research Articles

"Eritrea, the World's Newest Country: The State of Its Library and Information Economy," IFLA Journal 30 (no. 3, 2004): 231-240.
"Recent Developments in the Russian Far East: The State of Education for Librarianship," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 44 (Summer 2003): 137-152. (901 KB)
"Edith Guerrier: 'A Little [Warrior] Woman of New England, 1870-1958" with Kellie D. Clark. Journal of Government Information 29 (2001): 267-283.
"The Origin of Soviet Education for Librarianship: The Role of Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Lyubov' Borisovna Khavkina-Hamburger, and Genrietta K. Abele-Derman," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 40 (Spring 2000): 106-128.
"Education for Library and Information Science in Russia: A Case Study of the St. Petersburg State Academy of Culture," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science Education 39 (Winter 1998): 14-27.
"Paradigmatic Shifts in the Teaching of Government Publications, 1895-1985," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 26 (Spring 1986): 249-266.

Areas of Teaching Interest

DIS 237 "Analytical Bibliography"
DIS 245 "Information Access"
DIS 280 "Research Methodology" (Fall 2005)
DIS 455 "Government Information" (Fall 2005)
DIS 485 "American Archives and Manuscripts"
DIS 596 "Individual Directed Studies"
DIS 597 "Directed Studies for PhD Qualifying Examinations"
DIS 599 "PhD Research and Writing"

Areas of Personal Interest

In my spare time, I like to travel abroad with my wife, spoil my lilac-point Siamese cats, find geocache sites, collect Cooke Street Hawaiian shirts, vintage Russian and electronic wrist watches, and drive in sports car gymkhanas or go off-highway for desert flora and fauna. The best works of fiction I have read recently is the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian and the Stone Barrington series by Stuart Woods. At present, I am fascinated with some online tests: IQ (higher than you'd think), the Kuder Preference (yes, librarian was one of my top ones), something pseudo-sciencey called colorgenics, and the Myers-Briggs (I'm an INTJ). My favorite government web-sites display space, airport, and auto (i.e., street and interstate) traffic, weather and earthquake information in a spatial manner.

Last Updated: 15 September 2005. Created: March 1995.