`docs/cdnc-request-DRAFT.md`

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# DRAFT — NOT SENT
**To:** California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research (CBSR), UC Riverside — cdnc@cbsr.ucr.edu (general CBSR inquiries: cbsrinfo@ucr.edu; 900 University Ave., INTS 2117B, Riverside, CA 92521; (951) 827-5841)
**From:** Steve Abrams
**Subject:** Research access request — permission or bulk OCR export for "Paul Conrad" / "Los Angeles Times Syndicate" queries, 1964–2010

Dear CDNC staff,

I am compiling a private, non-commercial research index of Paul Conrad's editorial cartoons (1950–2010) that records where and when each cartoon appeared. Paul Conrad joined the Los Angeles Times in 1964, and his cartoons were distributed through the Los Angeles Times Syndicate to many California papers, some of which are digitized in the CDNC. The index is for internal research only: it is not redistributed, is not published to the open web (noindex), is access-controlled, and reproduces no page images.

CDNC's robots.txt disallows generic automated agents, and we have respected that — our tool records the site as "requires permission" and makes no requests to it. I would like to ask for your permission before doing anything further, in whichever of these forms suits you best:

1. **Preferred — a bulk OCR/metadata export.** Search-hit results (newspaper title, issue date, page, article/segment identifier, CDNC URL, and the matched OCR snippet) for the queries "Paul Conrad", "Conrad" together with "Los Angeles Times Syndicate", and "Times Syndicate" cartoon credit lines, limited to issues dated 1964–2010. A CSV or spreadsheet would be ideal.
2. **Or — an allow-listed User-Agent** for a small number of search-result queries on your Veridian interface. Our client identifies itself as "paul-conrad-archive/0.1 research metadata-only" with a contact address, and I would be glad to use any UA string or token you assign.

If you allow automated access, I commit to: a single connection at a time; at least 5 seconds between requests (or any slower rate you specify); running only at off-peak hours you choose; search-result and text pages only (no page images or PDFs); a total request budget you set; and stopping immediately on request. Every record would credit the California Digital Newspaper Collection and link back to the CDNC page.

If neither option is possible, I would be grateful for guidance on the proper process, and I will of course accept a "no."

Thank you for your time and for building such a valuable collection.

Kind regards,
Steve Abrams