The following points, derived from Gene Smith’s Among Tibetan Texts by Kurtis Schaeffer, were shared at Columbia University’s panel discussion on the future of Tibetan studies after Gene Smith.

Know the breadth and depth of Tibetan history
Read single works for depth
Read collected works for breadth

Collect all available works on a topic
List all unavailable works on that topic
Find those unavailable works
Make those works available

Collect, describe, and compare all editions of a given work
Know which edition you are reading and why
Know the material context of the text
Know the social context of the word

Know the author’s biography
Know the author’s teachers, students, friends’ and enemies’ biographies
Know the author’s collected works
Know the author’s teachers, students, friends, and enemies’ collected works

Do not trust the text to be that of the author
Trust the text to reveal something interesting about the context
Trust the work to reveal something interesting about the author
Rely on the context to discern what is interesting about the author

Study the breadth of Tibetan tradition
Study the depth of Tibetan history
Read single works with breadth
Read collected works with depth