California Digital Library

What California Digital Library does

California Digital Library (CDL) is a non-profit digital library organization operated by The Regents of the University of California as a unit within the University of California Office of the President, headquartered in Oakland, California. Established around 2000, CDL serves all ten UC campuses (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz) plus Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory through a consolidated portfolio of systemwide library and scholarly information services. Its functional scope spans discovery (UC Library Search, UC-eLinks, SILS on Ex Libris Alma/Primo VE), publishing and repositories (eScholarship, Dryad, DMPTool, EZID), digital preservation (Merritt, Web Archiving Service), and shared collections (Licensed Resources, Shared Cataloging Program, WEST shared print, OAC, Calisphere).

CDL's technology foundation combines open-source digital preservation infrastructure (Merritt, CoreTrustSeal-certified), the Ex Libris Alma/Primo VE library services platform deployed as a Network Zone across campuses, and metadata management services (Zephir) supporting batch-ingested content. The organization maintains 632.8 TB of digital preservation holdings (May 2026), 60,000+ collection guides via OAC, and 350+ contributing archival institutions in California. CDL's revenue model is non-commercial: funding flows from UC systemwide budget allocations, Tier 1/2/3 cost-sharing among participating campuses for licensed resources, and grant partnerships. CDL does not sell services externally; rather, it operates as a centralized shared-service organization for the UC system, with selective international engagement through partnerships such as OA Forward, HathiTrust, and the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information.

Name

California Digital Library

Legal name

California Digital Library

Website

https://cdlib.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

California Digital Library operates the systemwide digital library infrastructure for the University of California's ten campuses, providing discovery, publishing, digital preservation, and shared cataloging services under the UC Office of the President.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Library Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (519210), Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing) (EDAEAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Archives, Libraries & Institutional Access Platforms (MPAJAMAJ), Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation) (EDAEAGAE), Origin & Media Storage Services (MPAHAIAB)

Keywords

• Digital library services
• Scholarly publishing
• Digital preservation
• Institutional repositories
• Library consortium

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Systemwide Licensing (Tier 1): CDL manages systemwide licensing of electronic resources (Tier 1) for all 10 UC campuses. Costs are shared according to standard shares models and tiered approaches for licensed collections.
2. Tier 2 and Tier 3 Licensing: Participating UC campuses contribute to Tier 2 (coordinated multi-campus) and Tier 3 (campus-specific) subscriptions, with cost-sharing arrangements.
3. University of California System Funding: CDL operates as part of UC Office of the President, funded through the University's systemwide budget to support the three-part mission of education, research and public service.

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

California Digital Library (CDL) provides digital library infrastructure and services for the University of California system, encompassing discovery (UC Library Search), open access publishing (eScholarship), digital preservation (Merritt, Web Archiving Service), archival access (Online Archive of California, Calisphere), curation and identifier services (UC3, EZID, DMPTool, Dryad), and shared collections management including consortial licensing, the Shared Cataloging Program, and the WEST shared print program. Services are coordinated systemwide across the 10 UC campuses and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to reduce duplication and leverage scale.

Product overview

California Digital Library (CDL) provides a comprehensive platform of library and scholarly information services for the University of California system. The portfolio includes discovery services (UC Library Search, UC-eLinks, SILS), institutional repositories (eScholarship for publishing, Dryad for data), digital preservation (Merritt with CoreTrustSeal certification, Web Archiving Service), digital collections (Online Archive of California with 60,000+ collection guides, Calisphere), identifier management (EZID), research support tools (DMPTool), and consortial resource management (Licensed Resources, Shared Cataloging Program, Shared Print/WEST). These services operate as an integrated ecosystem supporting the full research lifecycle from data management planning through publication and long-term preservation, with shared collections coordinated across UC's ten campuses and partner institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UC3 (University of California Curation Center): CDL division focused on digital curation and preservation services, managing repositories such as Merritt, DMPTool, Dryad, and EZID.
• eScholarship
• Merritt
• Calisphere
• Online Archive of California (OAC)
• DMPTool
• Shared Print Decision Suite (SPDS) (formerly AGUA)
• WEST (Western Regional Storage Trust)
• UC Library Search
• EZID

Products and services

• UC Library Search
• eScholarship
• Merritt Digital Preservation Repository
• Online Archive of California (OAC)
• Calisphere
• Dryad
• Shared Cataloging Program (SCP)
• DMPTool
• EZID
• Licensed Resources
• Shared Print (Western Regional Storage Trust / SPDS)
• Systemwide Integrated Library Services (SILS)
• Resource Sharing and UC-eLinks
• Zephir
• Web Archiving Service (WAS)
• UC Shared DAMS (Nuxeo) and ArchivesSpace
• Open Access Policy Tools
• Mass Digitization
• UC3 (University of California Curation Center) CDL division focused on digital curation and preservation services, encompassing Merritt, Dryad, EZID, DMPTool, and related research data management services.

Quantifiable outcome

• Digital holdings growth from 584 TB to 632.8 TB in under one year (July 2025 to May 2026)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• OA ForwardmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 March 2026UC Libraries joined OA Forward as an inaugural contributing partner, an internationally governed initiative led by DEAL Open Access Services (DEAS) together with Consortia Colombia, the Council of Australasian University Librarians, the Max Planck Society, TIB, and SANLI. OA Forward builds on OA2020 and ESAC initiatives to advance open access publisher negotiations.
• HathiTrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCDL participates in HathiTrust as part of the UC Libraries system, contributing to and benefiting from the shared digital preservation trust. CDL also partners with HathiTrust and WEST to ingest and make available HathiTrust monographic shared print data in the Shared Print Decision Suite (formerly AGUA).
• Ex LibriscoreTechnology or IntegrationCDL uses Ex Libris Alma and Primo VE as the systemwide library services platform (SILS) for managing bibliographic records, electronic resources, and discovery across all UC campuses.
• 350+ California Archival InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Online Archive of California (OAC) is powered by contributions from over 350 libraries, archives, and museums across California, providing unified access to their archival collections.
• University of California CampusescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMerritt is a collaborative project between UC campuses and CDL. CDL UC3 maintains the repository while individual UC campuses use it for managing, preserving, and providing access to their digital content.
• WEST (Western Regional Storage Trust)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCDL partners with WEST, a shared print program for the Western region, and is renaming the AGUA system to Shared Print Decision Suite (SPDS) to expand functionality and community use.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• OCLC: Global library cooperative operating WorldCat and shared cataloging infrastructure used by thousands of libraries. Comparable to CDL's Shared Cataloging Program and discovery services but at vastly larger scale and as a broader incumbent.
• ITHAKA / JSTOR: Non-profit providing JSTOR digital library, scholarly publishing platforms, and shared print services. Comparable to CDL's eScholarship publishing, JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services (which CDL migrated to in 2025), and shared print programs.

Direct peers

• Internet Archive: Non-profit digital library providing preservation of and public access to digitized books, audiovisual materials, and web archives. Directly comparable to CDL's preservation and access mission at much larger scale.
• arXiv (Cornell University): Open-access scholarly repository operated by Cornell University Library, providing preprint hosting across many disciplines. Comparable to eScholarship as a non-profit, university-affiliated open access scholarly repository.
• Digital Preservation Network (DPN): Consortium of academic and research libraries providing cooperative digital preservation of cultural heritage content. Comparable to Merritt as a trusted preservation repository serving the academic library community.
• HathiTrust: Digital preservation consortium of academic and research libraries, including UC. CDL is a contributing member and partner, and they jointly operate shared print decision tooling — directly comparable in mission, scale, and preservation scope.
• LYRASIS: Non-profit technology and content services organization serving libraries, archives, and museums — including hosting DSpace, the leading open-source institutional repository platform. Directly comparable as a non-profit library consortium offering shared infrastructure.
• Dryad (data repository): Open data publishing platform for research data, operated within CDL's UC3 division. Comparable as a domain-specific digital repository serving the same research lifecycle needs as eScholarship and Merritt.
• Center for Research Libraries (CRL): Consortium of university, college, and independent research libraries providing shared access to and preservation of research materials. Comparable to CDL's consortial model for shared collections and licensed resources.

Emerging players

• Knowledge Unlatched / OA2020 initiatives: Open access publishing initiatives building consortial models to convert subscriptions to open access. UC's participation in OA Forward alongside these initiatives creates direct thematic and operational overlap with CDL's licensing and OA mission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/caldiglib
• GitHubgithub.com/CDLUC3
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/california-digital-library

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about California Digital Library