Presently David's collection responsibilities include Religion, Folklore, Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, and the History and Sociology of Science. He also has broad experience with U.S. and British government publications. David manages the Reference collection at Van Pelt Library and is the bibliographer for the Yarnall collection, a specialized Anglican studies collection. David has published articles on multiculturalism in the American West, and has contributed to the Guide to Reference Books and a range of other library publications.

In addition to being a Collections and Liaison Services librarian, David is an instructor in Folklore at Penn. He earned his BA, MA, and PhD from Penn in Folklore, concentrating on the study of oral narrative in everyday life. He also holds an MS from the School of Library Service at Columbia University.

Before coming to Penn, David worked in the Reference departments at Columbia, Johns Hopkins, and Rice Universities, where he was also the Social Science and Map librarian.