[2] She has written numerous articles on collection development, tribal libraries and Native American Librarianship.
Patterson is a University of Oklahoma Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Studies.
[6] She attended the Oklahoma College for Women and earned a Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.)
[15][16] She wrote and received many landmark grants for projects that furthered the progress of librarianship for and in native nation lands, one of which was a training program for teacher's aides of Bureau of Indian Affairs schools to become librarians.
[17] Patterson was Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Pre-White House Conference on Library and Information Services for Native Americans.