Richards, Pamela Spence, 1941-

Pamela Richards was associated with Rutgers University for 22 years, from 1977 until her death in 1999. During that time, she progressed from being an Instructor in the Department of Library and Information Studies, to an Assistant professor to Associate professor in 1984. She graduated as an undergraduate from Harvard, and received an M.A. and M.L.S. from Columbia. In 1979, she received her doctorate in Library Studies from Columbia. In addition to teaching at Rutgers, Richards was chair of the Library and Information Studies Search Committee, the LIS Scholarship Committee, the LIS Budget Committee and the Curriculum Committee. She served on the boards and committees of more than fifteen professional associations, contributed to an equal number of book chapters and encyclopedia articles, wrote more than twenty journal articles, including some in Russian, French and German, contributed to the publication of numerous conference proceedings and lectured internationally.

From the description of Pamela Spence Richards Papers 1963-1998. (Rutgers University). WorldCat record id: 767568277

Pamela Richards was associated with Rutgers University for 22 years, from 1977 until her death in 1999. During that time, she progressed from being an Instructor in the Department of Library and Information Studies, to an Assistant professor to Associate professor in 1984.

She graduated as an undergraduate from Harvard in 1963, then went on to receive from Columbia an M.A. in Germanic Languages in 1966 and an M.L.S. degree in 1971. In 1979, she received her doctorate in Library Studies from Columbia, doing her dissertation on “A History of the New York Historical Society Library, 1804–1979.”

Her language skills were extraordinary; she spoke, wrote and read Dutch, German, French and Russian. In 1997 she was a Senior Fulbright Scholar to Russia for the International Exchange of Scholars program. Her facility with languages was demonstrated repeatedly in her writing for foreign language journals and publications.

At Rutgers, she not only taught a large number of courses at all levels, but also in the Library and Information Studies department was chair of the LIS Search Committee, the LIS Scholarship Committee, the LIS Budget Committee and the Curriculum Committee.

Throughout her professional career, Pamela Richards devoted much of her time to serving the scholarly community. She served on the boards and committees of more than fifteen professional associations, contributed to an equal number of book chapters and encyclopedia articles, including a number in German, wrote more than twenty journal articles, including some in Russian, French and German, as well as contributing to the publication of numerous conference proceedings, more than twenty-five book reviews, including reviews of works in Dutch, German and Russian. Finally, Richards was in demand as a guest lecturer, giving literally dozens of lecturers around the world in her relatively short career.

From the guide to the Guide to the Pamela Spence Richards Papers, 1963-1998, (Rutgers University. Special Collections and University Archives.)