Judith Hopkins received her bachelor's degree in History from Wilkes College in Pennsylvania (1955) and her master's degree in Library Science from the University of Illinois (1957).

Judith Hopkins came to the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1977 to work as a cataloger, at the rank of Associate Librarian. She taught as an adjunct in the University at Buffalo's School of Library Science from 1979 to 1983. Additionally, Hopkins was involved in the Faculty Senate: she served as a Faculty Senator during the 1987-1988 and 1992-1996 academic years, and also from 2000 until her retirement, and held the post of Secretary for a number of years.

Before coming to the State University of New York at Buffalo she was an Assistant Professor in the University of Michigan's School of Library and Information Studies. She also worked at the Ohio College Library Center, now called the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), in the early 1970s, an organization that today is dedicated to providing computer library services for more than 50,000 libraries in 84 countries and territories around the world. She was among the original staff and the first librarian hired to work at OCLC.

Hopkins received the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship in 1985. "I'm the first person in technical services that has gotten it," Hopkins is quoted as saying in a July 1985 Reporter article. "Technical services librarians are back room people that are generally not known to the public."

Hopkins coauthored (1986) with John Edens and is the author of a number of significant articles including "The French Cataloging Code of 1791" and the "Origins of the Card Catalog" both published in Libraries and Culture.

Hopkins was also the list owner of AUTOCAT, a library cataloging and authorities discussion group with over 3,600 subscribers in forty-five countries. She has been a member of the American Library Association (ALA) since 1957 and the New York Library Association (NYLA) since 1977, serving on various committees throughout her tenure. She is also a member of Beta Phi Mu, an international Library Science honorary society.

Judith Hopkins retired from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2004 after 27 years of service in the University Libraries. In 2006 Judith Hopkins was the recipient of the Margaret Mann Citation presented by the Association for Library Collection and Technical Services (ALCTS), Cataloging and Classification Section (CCS) of the American Library Association.