Welcome back to another edition of the library RDI Dispatch! Whether you’re a seasoned researcher or just dipping your toes into the digital waters, there’s something here for everyone.
International Open Access Week: October 20-26, 2025
This year’s Open Access Week theme “Who owns our knowledge?” is an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.
The UTSC Library is proud to steward and provide open access to the scholarly outputs of our community through our ongoing collaborations, rich digital special collections, research projects and repositories such as TSpace.
Open Access Made Easy: Deposit with TSpace Today
TSpace is a free and secure repository established by U of T Libraries to disseminate and preserve the scholarly record of the University of Toronto community, including faculty and student research. All items in TSpace are publicly accessible, either immediately or after a publisher's embargo period.
Too busy to deposit but want to make a difference by openly sharing your scholarly publications? Complete the mediated deposit form today and the library will deposit for you!
Maximize Your Impact, Minimize Your Open Access Publishing Costs
The University of Toronto Libraries has simplified the process of identifying journals covered by our existing open access agreements and discounts with the UTL OA Agreements Journal Search Tool.
This platform helps identify journals with waived or discounted article processing charges (APCs). Your easy summary of journal titles, eligibility, APC details, payment options, Creative Commons license types, and more.
Media Literacy Week: October 27-31, 2025
In today’s media-saturated environment, young Canadians are not just consumers but also creators of content. Media Literacy Week emphasizes the importance of critical thinking, ethical sharing, and digital citizenship, helping individuals make informed decisions and contribute positively to online communities. This year’s 20th anniversary edition of Media Literacy Week takes place from October 27 to 31.
The week is designed to help Canadians of all ages navigate the complexities of the digital world, especially in the face of challenges like misinformation, online hate, and the rise of AI. The core themes often include:
- Use: Safely and effectively using digital tools and platforms.
- Understand: Critically assessing and contextualizing digital content.
- Engage: Creating and communicating responsibly in digital spaces.
- Access: Ethically finding and navigating media.
- Verify: Fact-checking and recognizing misinformation.
A special day of note during Media Literacy Week is October 29, 2025, and is declared Digital Citizen Day. A day dedicated to promoting responsible online behavior using the hashtag #DigitalCitizenDay.
For more information about Media Literacy contact your liaison librarian.
Biology in the Movies Database
The library's Digital Scholarship Team, in partnership with the Emerging Professionals program, is proud to have supported Aarthi Ashok from the U of T Scarborough Department of Biological Sciences on the development of the Biology in the Movies Database, which evaluates the accuracy of scientific claims made in over 150 films from around the world across many genres and decades.
To celebrate the database’s formal launch, the UTSC Library and Department of Biological Sciences are co-hosting a public film screening of The Martian on Saturday, October 11th as part of the “Science or Sci-Fi? The Biology behind the Screen” Science Literacy Week 2025 event. This collaboration is the first of its kind on campus, featuring partnership with the Ontario Science Centre, who will be hosting Mars-themed pop-up activities in tandem with the film screening. The event is free to attend and open to all (registration required), so feel free to spread the word!
If you have any questions about the upcoming film screening or the Biology in the Movies database, please feel free to reach out to Sarah Guay or Aarthi Ashok.
Meet our new Emerging Professionals
The UTSC Library’s Emerging Professionals program creates meaningful pathways for undergraduate and graduate students to contribute to research and scholarship across campus. Through work-study, Arts & Science Co-op, and iSchool jobs/short-term practicums, students gain hands-on experience in software development and information work while providing critical research and project support on campus.
This fall, we are welcoming 14 students from across disciplines to strengthen our research support and collaborations. These positions provide students with hands-on learning while expanding faculty research capacity in ways that align with academic priorities.
Through this program, the library maximizes the impact of available funding while connecting students with meaningful professional opportunities. These collaborations not only advance research and scholarship but also foster mentorship and community across UTSC.
Interested in working with an Emerging Professional in your research, or want to learn more about our Emerging Professionals program? Please contact us at dsu.utsc@utoronto.ca.
Library Storytelling Fellowship
The UTSC Library’s Sophia Hilton Storytelling Fellowship offers faculty a unique opportunity to collaborate with students on projects that engage with the Digital Tamil Studies collections. Through original research, creative reinterpretation, or community storytelling, Fellows contribute to the preservation and circulation of Tamil cultural heritage while gaining mentorship and hands-on experience.
Each year, up to three Fellows receive a $3,000 stipend and project resources to carry out work between February 2026 and January 2027. Projects culminate in public presentations during Tamil Heritage Month at the Digital Tamil Studies Symposium, amplifying the impact of student work for both academic and community audiences.
This program strengthens connections across campus and beyond by pairing students with faculty and community partners. It expands opportunities for mentorship, fosters interdisciplinary research, and enriches the library’s role as a hub for Tamil studies and digital scholarship. Interested in mentoring a Fellow or exploring how your expertise might align with the program?
Please contact us at dsu.utsc@utoronto.ca.
Have questions or feedback? Reach out to your Liaison Librarian to learn more about any of the items listed above.