"Library, UBC"@en . "DSpace"@en . "BCLA Browser, vol. 3, no. 1 2011"@en . "Drexhage, Glenn"@en . "2013-03-04T20:14:12Z"@en . "2011"@en . "A profile of Allan Bell, the new Director of Digital Initiatives at UBC Library."@en . "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/31139?expand=metadata"@en . " BCLA Browser: Linking the Library Landscape Volume 3, no. 1 (2011) http://bclabrowser.ca ISSN 1918-6118 Directing the Digital Agenda By Glenn Drexhage Allan Bell caught the technology bug when he began programming computers in high school. And he hasn\u00E2\u0080\u0099t recovered since. Bell \u00E2\u0080\u0093 the new Director of Digital Initiatives at UBC Library \u00E2\u0080\u0093 brings a lifetime of passion and expertise to his new role, including private and public-sector experience. Before coming to UBC, Bell served as the Associate University Librarian for Information Technology Services at the University of Waterloo. Prior posts include stints at Stanford University Libraries, Ovid Technologies Inc., the University of Texas and McGill University. Allan Bell, Director of Digital Initiatives, UBC Library. Photo by Martin Dee The future of the library His eureka moment came while attending a bibliography course at Queen\u00E2\u0080\u0099s University in Kingston, Ontario. There, Bell managed to indulge an interest that combined the esoteric world of rare books with the binary logic of the digital realm. \u00E2\u0080\u009CYou could see that computing was going to be the future for the library, for sure,\u00E2\u0080\u009D he recalls. At UBC, Bell will oversee and guide the Library\u00E2\u0080\u0099s digital initiatives. This new role is a key one, given the importance of the digital agenda to the UBC Library. Ingrid Parent, the University Librarian, has stressed this agenda as a top priority since arriving at UBC in 2009. In addition, the new UBC Library strategic plan, which can be found at http://strategicplan.library.ubc.ca, lists \u00E2\u0080\u009CManage Collections in a Digital Context\u00E2\u0080\u009D as one of its five main directions for the next five years. Bell began his new job in September, and his vision for the Library is already coalescing. \u00E2\u0080\u009CI would like the Library to be seen on campus as an active problem- solver and engaged academic partner to improve the teaching, learning and research at UBC,\u00E2\u0080\u009D he says. He would also like to make the Library\u00E2\u0080\u0099s rich collections more broadly available, and collaborate with other organizations to pursue projects. Partnering to solve problems Indeed, Bell\u00E2\u0080\u0099s a big believer in collaboration. During his tenure at Waterloo, he was part of a small consortia that included Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph. The trio shared an online catalogue and worked together on various projects. \u00E2\u0080\u009CWe were very, very different organizations, and yet we were able to work together to solve common problems,\u00E2\u0080\u009D he says. \u00E2\u0080\u009CHad we acted alone, we could not have afforded to do many of the things that we had done.\u00E2\u0080\u009D He\u00E2\u0080\u0099s keen to continue this approach at UBC. \u00E2\u0080\u009CCollaborations across the province are necessary. It\u00E2\u0080\u0099s important to try to bring these things out on a scale that\u00E2\u0080\u0099s broader than just your university \u00E2\u0080\u0093 and engage people across the province, across the country, across the world.\u00E2\u0080\u009D Glenn Drexhage is the Communications Officer for UBC Library and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. "@en . "Article"@en . "10.14288/1.0077920"@en . "eng"@en . "Unreviewed"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "British Columbia Library Association"@en . "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International"@en . "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"@en . "Other"@en . "Irving K. Barber Learning Centre"@en . "University of British Columbia. Library"@en . "Strategic plan"@en . "Directing the digital agenda"@en . "Text"@en . "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/31139"@en .