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Library Staff News

August 10, 2006 Author: CDLCategories:

a. CDL Reorganization

The CDL recently reorganized in order to implement the vision that emerged from CDL’s Senior Management 2006 strategic planning process, which defined a revised mission and values statement (below), as well as chose and defined the boundaries of our programs and services.

The overriding goal of the reorganization was to provide CDL’s core programs with dedicated resources, decision-making capacity and budget so that they can develop and grow, providing the rich array of CDL services that are valued on the campuses and by the other constituencies we serve.  The five core programs are led by a program manager and have a technical lead plus a team of analysts and programmers. CDL’s five core programs are:

  • Collection development and management, led by Ivy Anderson.  Collection development and management are the core services from which the CDL derives its raison d’etre and through which it delivers value to the University by enabling the operational- and cost-effectiveness of the UC libraries. These services are comprised of collection development (licensed digital content, shared print, and built content developed through digitization efforts such as the Open Content Alliance project) and collection management (shared cataloging).  Other activities include one-time content purchases made with CDL core funds.
  • Bibliographic services, led by Patricia Martin; Technical Lead, Lynne Cameron. Includes a full range of bibliographic and interlibrary loan services – the Melvyl Union Catalog, Request, and UC-eLinks. Other services included here are ERMS (i.e. the software development and operations required to support collection development and management activities) and metasearch.  This is a potential growth area due to the unknown response to the BSTF report.
  • Publishing services, led by Catherine Candee; Technical Lead, Lisa Schiff.  CDL’s eScholarship Publishing Services were founded to provide low-cost, alternative publication services for the UC community, to support widespread distribution of the materials that result from research and teaching at UC, and to foster new models of scholarly publishing through development and application of advanced technologies. Publishing Services include support for digital publication in familiar formats, such as open access journals and monographs, dissemination and repository services for working papers, technical reports, preprints and postprints, and collaboration and support services for new models of publication, as in projects like GAIA and the Mark Twain Project.  Many of these services are offered in collaboration with the University of California Press.
  • Digital preservation, led by Patricia Cruse; Technical Lead, Stuart Sugarman.  The UC libraries’ digital preservation program was established to ensure long-term integrity of digital information that supports and results from research, teaching, and learning at UC. Included are e-journals, web-based content, digitally reformatted materials from UC libraries and museums, and online teaching and learning materials.  A preservation infrastructure composed of tools, guidelines, and best practices supports the Digital Preservation Repository (DPR), Web Archiving Service, and Rights Management Service, and strategies to ensure persistent access to content held by third parties. Strategies include developing, assessing and testing preservation infrastructure; extending preservation services to a broader community; developing additional preservation services; and evaluating additional preservation content needs and solutions.
  • Digital special collections, led by Rosalie Lack; Technical Lead, Brian Tingle.  Digital special collections are curated collections that embody the CDL’s commitment to public service.  They simultaneously leverage core collection development and management efforts while contributing to them a fertile ground for evaluating new service features and even paradigms.  They include:
    • American West: The American West is an openly accessible online collection that enables widespread engagement with information pertaining to the society, ecology, and culture of California and the American West.  Materials are sourced from libraries, archives, and museums in UC, California, and the world.
    • Calisphere: Calisphere is the University of California’s free public gateway to a world of digitized primary sources.  Selected from the libraries and museums of the UC campuses and more than 30 cultural heritage organizations, these images, documents, and works of art reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history.  California Cultures and the Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives (JARDA) are two significant sub-sites.
    • Online Archive of California (OAC): The OAC is single, searchable database of finding aids to primary sources and their digital facsimiles provided by a variety of California institutions, including museums, historical societies, and archives.
    • Counting California: This website provides a single online interface for accessing a variety of data and statistics about California from local, state, and federal government agencies.
    • Image Collections: These image collections provided through the UC Image Service include licensed collections and images from UC archives, museums, and libraries.

The Mission and Values Statement lays out CDL’s strategic objectives, which are to:

  • emphasize effective collection management and discovery;
  • encourage wide-ranging and unfettered inquiry of cultural, educational, and government information;
  • seek the widest possible dissemination of cultural, educational, and government information at the lowest possible cost;
  • achieve business efficiencies and improve effectiveness;
  • respond to the needs and interests of our diverse users;
  • research, develop and apply innovative technology in the service of scholarship, learning, and the stewardship of our cultural heritage.

It also names our audiences, in the following order of priority:

  • the UC libraries;
  • the broader UC community;
  • external constituencies and the general public.

The CDL also includes eight service groups that support its five core programs listed above:

  • Assessment & Web Design, led by Felicia Poe.  The CDL Assessment Team provides a range of assessment and evaluation services geared toward all stages of a project or service lifecycle in order to better understand the evolving needs of the academic community and their use of digital content and services.  The CDL Web Design and Production Team provides a range of web design and production services, ranging from interaction design, information architecture design, visual design, web site production, and ongoing web site maintenance.
  • Business Services, led by Cate Hutton.  This area includes budget; partnership planning and consulting on business arrangements; MOU and contract development, advising and execution; grants administration; purchasing; human resources; administrative services; space and facilities management.
  • Data Acquisitions, led by Robin Chandler; Technical Lead, Paul Fogel. This area includes data consultancy activities, ingest, and mass digitization projects.
  • Emerging Technology, led by Peter Brantley.  This team will help the programs and services identify and evaluate their technology development paths, encourage and help us to support common developments where appropriate, and support programs in their exploration of innovative applications.
  • Infrastructure and Operations, led by Stuart Sugarman. This team manages the set of common technology enterprise services that support all our program and services units.
  • Information Services/User Support/Education Outreach, led by Ellen Meltzer.  The Information Services group provides direct and indirect user support for a variety of CDL programs and services and is also responsible for the areas of general CDL education and outreach to the campus libraries.
  • Project Planning and Resource Allocation, led by Joan Starr.  The Manager of Project Planning and Resource Allocation provides the following services: advisory assistance to CDL project managers; support for and leadership of the Tactical Management Group; implementation and maintenance of a system for project and resource tracking; establishment and support of project planning, evaluation and resource allocation processes and practices; advisory support to the University Librarian’s Cabinet in strategic planning, resource allocation, capacity planning, and personnel decisions.
  • Strategic Communications, led by Jennifer Colvin.  The strategic communications unit provides the following services: advising and supporting CDL Program Managers on communications, marketing, and public relations projects; writing and editing technical documentation; coordinating communications activities between the CDL, Systemwide Library Planning, and Office of Scholarly Communication; and establishing and supporting communications best practices and guidelines.

Rosalie Lack and Robin Chandler will report to Ivy Anderson, forming a better integration of CDL’s various collection activities.

Laine Farley is now serving as Interim Executive Director of the CDL.  While Daniel Greenstein has become increasingly involved with other divisional duties at the UC Office of the President, he will remain the University Librarian and will continue to work closely with Laine and the program managers.

The reorganization does not affect the Office of Systemwide Library Planning which continues to report to Gary Lawrence, or the policy, outreach, and educational functions of the Office of Scholarly Communication which continue under John Ober’s leadership.

CDL’s web pages will begin to reflect these changes. As always, to contact CDL staff, go to http://www.cdlib.org/inside/contact/.