On Feb. 27 - 28, 2018, the UC Riverside Library hosted more than 140 guests from all ten UC campuses and the California Digital Library (CDL) at the inaugural University of California Digital Library Forum (UC DLFx).

This was one of the first DLFx events – small, regional community-building events for Digital Library Federation (DLF) members – and the first of its kind held in California.

Local Arrangements Committee Chair Eric Milenkiewicz explained, “UC DLFx brought staff together from across the UC Libraries providing a great opportunity for us to share ideas, discuss ongoing projects, and connect with fellow UC colleagues working in this space.” Conference attendees included UC librarians, digital technology experts, educators, policy-makers, and other thought leaders from across the state.

The 2018 conference theme, Building the UC Digital Library: Theory and Practice, was explored through keynote addresses, presentation sessions, and break-out discussion groups that focused on topics including: data curation, digital asset management, digital collection building, copyright in the digital library, project collaboration, community engagement, and emerging technologies.

The conference featured two keynote presentations from Dr. Don Norman, Director of the Design Lab at UCSD, and Dr. Christine L. Borgman, Professor and Presidential Chair in Information Studies at UCLA.

California State Librarian Greg Lucas and Günter Waibel, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of the California Digital Library, provided closing remarks at the end of the event.

“I walked away from UC DLFx feeling inspired by the passion and creativity of everybody I spoke with and heard present,” said Waibel. “For the UC libraries to thrive in financially difficult times, we must continue to build on our long history of working together. There is nothing like getting together face-to-face to stay in sync, and come up with new ideas.”

“All of the feedback received from attendees afterward has been positive with an overwhelming response of ‘let’s do this again,’” said Diane Bisom, Associate University Librarian for the Digital Library. “We have set the gold standard for this event that will hopefully be carried forward next year by one of our fellow UC campuses.”

One UC DLFx attendee wrote on the post-event survey, “Attending this event reinvigorated my dedication to our mission. It was a real shot in the arm.”

Conference sponsors included the Digital Library Federation, California Digital Library, UCR Library, UC Merced Library, UC San Diego Library, UCLA Library, UCSF Library, UCI Libraries, and Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC).

The local arrangements committee was comprised of the following UCR Library team members: Digital Initiatives Program Manager Eric Milenkiewicz, Committee Chair; Associate University Librarian for the Digital Library Diane Bisom; Head of Preservation Services Patricia Smith-Hunt; Director of Research Services Brianna Marshall; Collection Strategist for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Carla Arbagey; Digital Assets Metadata Librarian Noah Geraci; and Communications Specialist Melanie Ramiro.