Margaret Mann Citation to Judith Hopkins
Contact: Charles Wilt
Executive Director, ALCTS
312-280-5030
cwilt@ala.org
For Immediate Release
March 14, 2006
Margaret Mann Citation to Judith Hopkins
CHICAGO — The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is pleased to announce that Judith Hopkins, retired technical services research and analysis officer for central technical services at SUNY–Buffalo, is the recipient of the 2006 Margaret Mann Citation presented by the Cataloging and Classification Section (CCS) of ALCTS.
The Mann Citation, recognizing outstanding professional achievement in cataloging or classification, includes a $2,000 scholarship donated in the recipient’s honor by OCLC Inc. to the library school of the winner’s choice.
Judith Hopkins is recognized for her contributions to the practice of cataloging, in particular, her early involvement with the fledgling OCLC as its first bibliographic editor. It was her task to explain to computer programmers exactly what displays and indexing was needed to move bibliographic information into the computer age. Hopkins helped lay the bibliographic foundations of OCLC. Her concern for communicating the details of descriptions set a standard of excellence that still permeates OCLC today. It was the force of her intellect and knowledge that helped shape the tools that have been of lasting value to OCLC users.
While at OCLC, Hopkins began her extensive career as an educator of catalogers. She first worked with Ohio librarians to educate them on OCLC using the Marc formats. She expanded her reach by teaching in formal classroom settings and giving lectures and workshops on cataloging, helping to shape the generation of catalogers that took bibliographic description from the card file to the OPAC and out to the Internet.
Hopkins has demonstrated a prolific and committed involvement in professional association work at regional and national level, including the American Library Association (ALA), the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) and ALCTS. She is well known for her role as secretary providing the minutes and documentation of meetings for “Big Heads.” These minutes enabled catalogers across the country to understand the trends and problems that the largest technical services departments face.
Hopkins is universally praised for her role with AUTOCAT, the library cataloging and authorities discussion group. Her pioneering work as moderator for AUTOCAT has set the standard for a moderator of a professional discussion list. Her wide-ranging experience and knowledge, her dedication to both the technique and the heart of cataloging has made it possible for catalogers around the world to share the experience of developing their cataloging expertise.
According to the awards committee, Judith Hopkins’ professional life is dedicated to communication, to teaching, and to service. It is to these ends that her knowledge and expertise have been focused. The range and depth of her contributions to promote and advance the art of cataloging and classification serve as a model for young professionals entering librarianship.
Hopkins holds a master’s degree in library science from Graduate School of Library Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has designated the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Buffalo as the recipient of the scholarship.
The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services. Areas of concentration of ALCTS members include acquisition, cataloging, collection development, preservation, and archiving of all library materials in all formats as well as serial collection management.
ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.
