David Platt graduated with a PhD in Classics, from the Classics Department's Archaeology track, in June 2008. His dissertation was titled A Cultural Studies Approach to Roman Public Libraries: Social Negotiation, Changing Spaces, and Euergetism.
Since then, he has continued to work for Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (SULAIR). He started in the Art & Architecture Library in November 2005 as Evening Supervisor and was promoted to Operations Manager in May 2007. Most recently, his job was restructured to include the duties of Classics Bibliographer. As Stanford's Classics Bibliographer, he principally oversees development of the Libraries' holdings of materials relating to the ancient Mediterranean, whether these books (and other media) deal with archaeology, history, or literature. As a subject specialist, he is also responsible for "Bibliographic Instruction" (i.e. showing people how to get the most from the library resources at their disposal) and answering reference questions within the field.
In addition to beginning work on revising the dissertation into a book (working title: Gifts, Buildings, and the Making of the Roman Public Library), he maintains active research interests in the archaeology and history of the Late Republic-High Roman Empire, Roman urbanism, modern material culture studies, and the representation of contemporary cities as ruins in art, film, and literature.
David Platt currently works for Princenton University Library as Special Collections Assistant since August 2013.