A Fond Farewell to Robin Chandler

By Ivy Anderson, Director of CDL Collection Development & Management

It is with much regret that we announce that Robin Chandler will be leaving the California Digital Library on November 30th to accept an appointment as Digital Library Program Manager at UC San Diego.

Robin has been a creative force at the CDL since her arrival in 2000.  Under her leadership as Director of Built Content, CDL cemented its reputation as a nexus of cultural heritage digital archives for the state of California.  Projects that owe their existence and/or development to Robin include the Online Archive of California, CalCultures, the Local History Digital Resources Project, and the American West virtual collection.  Most recently as Director of Data Acquisitions, Robin’s work at CDL has been synonymous with mass digitization.  Due to the efforts of Robin and her team working in close collaboration with campus libraries across UC, a robust infrastructure has been put into place through which more than half a million volumes from University of California collections have been digitized in partnership with the Open Content Alliance, Google, and Microsoft.

The CDL wishes Robin well as she explores new challenges as a valued colleague and collaborative partner in digital library development at UC.

Organization of CDL Data Acquisitions Activities Effective December 1st

In preparing for Robin’s departure, we have given considerable thought to how best to organize the diverse responsibilities currently performed by Robin’s unit within the CDL.  These activities generally fall into two areas:

• Data consultancy and ingest for CDL digital collections, including OAC, Calisphere, and the Local History Digital Resources Project (LHDRP)
• Mass digitization project coordination and partner relations

Staff contacts for these activities will continue unchanged, ensuring a high level of continuity for UC colleagues and other institutional partners.  Beginning December 1st , overall responsibility for these areas will be organized as follows:

• The Data Consultancy unit, including OAC and LHDRP, will report to the CDL’s Digital Special Collections Program, directed by Rosalie Lack.  Staff within this unit include:
  • Adrian Turner, Data Consultant, LHDRP
  • Gabriela Montoya, Built Content Operations Technician
  • Data Consultant (currently vacant)
• Mass Digitization will reside within the CDL Collections Program, directed by Ivy Anderson.  Staff within this unit include:
  • Heather Christenson, Mass Digitization Project Manager
  • Ann Jensen, Projects Liaison
  • Paul Fogel, Technical Lead

Colleagues both within and outside of UC should continue to interact with the staff in these units as you do currently.  As we approach Robin’s departure date, some leadership roles and responsibilities will shift to accommodate changes in reporting.  Beginning December 1st, questions and concerns relating to overall policy and program management can be directed respectively to Rosalie Lack for data consultancy and Ivy Anderson for mass digitization activities.

We are confident that this alignment will enable the CDL to maintain a high level of service and momentum in these strategically vital activities.  Please contact Ivy Anderson (ivy.anderson@ucop.edu) or Rosalie Lack (rosalie.lack@ucop.edu) with any questions.