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Libraries are special places for academics. As we have come to expect all information at our fingertips, due to the wonders of technology, the role of the library has changed. In my case, the library has played multiple roles, beyond being the repository of the historical data that I collect and interpret.
First, the Stanford Libraries are as much 'creators' of the historical record as collectors of that record. The best but not only example of this is the decision to create a record of the history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. With limited resources, this Geneva based organization, now replaced by the World Trade Organization, would have been unable to preserve its history. But, with provision of technology and their willingness to partner, the University preserved the written record of what is one of the most interesting, and successful, of the post-WWII institutions created to preserve and grow the world economy. Without Stanford, there would be a scanty record of the organization. The willingness to commit to such projects that take countless hours to complete is just one way that the University is assuring that there will be a written record for academics to study in the future.
Beyond creating knowledge, most of us rely on the Stanford library system to track down existing information across the country and around the world. If we do not have a particular document on campus, the library seeks it out elsewhere. Like a group of detectives seeking out clues, the staff culls sources around the country in order to find a book, pamphlet or data source. I am a regular customer. Looking for data from the early part of the twentieth century is not easy. We have had to borrow from universities around the country and at times, looked to sources abroad. The staff are my regular emissaries, traveling to other libraries, talking to vendors, and looking at public and private information sources. They have traveled around the world looking for data to help me complete projects.
Finally, the library remains a physical place. I make five trips a day to the library to find some book, to ask a question or to check a citation. Some years I rent a space in order to work in quiet; other years, I will go over with a computer and settle in the empty sections of the lower levels. It is hard to imagine a great university without a great library system. Stanford has perhaps the most user-friendly library system in the world. Its mission is to partner to assure quality research. As a member of this community, it is hard to imagine any better organization.
Judith L. Goldstein
Judith L. Goldstein, Sakurako and William Fisher Family Director of International Comparative and Area Studies, and the William Kaye University Fellow in Undergraduate Education; professor of Political Science; received her BA (hons) in Political Science from UC Berkeley in 1973, her MIA in International A∂airs from Columbia University in 1975, and her PhD in Political Science from UCLA in 1983. Goldstein has been a member of the Stanford faculty since 1981, and has served the university in a variety of additional capacities over the past twelve years. She teaches an undergraduate course in America and the World Economy, and graduate courses in International Relations, and International Political Economy.
Goldstein is the author of Ideas, Interests, and America Trade Policy; Ideas and Foreign Policy (co-editor); Legalization and World Politics (co-editor); and The Evolution of the Trade Regime: Politics, Law and Economics of the GATT and the WTO (co-authored). She serves on the editorial board of International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, World Politics, and World Trade Review. She is a regular participant in the American Political Science Association. Current working papers include Was there a Magic Bullet: The Importance of Multilateralism in US Trade History (with Rubinfeld), and Membership has its Privileges: Understanding the Effects of the GATT/WTO (with Tomz and Rivers).
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