Library Research & Digital Initiatives (RDI) Dispatch - January 2026

Let’s kick off 2026 with the library spotlighting what’s new and what’s on the horizon in research and digital initiatives. Whether you’re a long-time digital scholar or just beginning to explore what’s possible, we hope you’ll find something here that inspires you and sparks your curiosity. There’s a lot happening at the library.

Preserving Culinary History

Eating out? What’s something integral to the experience? A menu. Picking up your takeout? What’s in the bag? A menu. What’s that next to the cash register at the food court? Menus.

In addition to being an important part of restaurants, menus can also be significant research resources. Whether you are looking into the culinary history of a cuisine, the makeup of a community during a specific era, or even just tracing immigration history, menus tell a story that transcends academic disciplines. 

From Archives to Access: U of T Scarborough’s Digitization Efforts

The University of Toronto Scarborough Library was awarded funding from Council on Library & Information Resources for a major digitization project. “Unlocking Tamil Historical Archives: Digital Access and Contextualization of the S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Fonds” project received over $264,000 in funding. This two-year project aims to digitize and describe/contextualize (in both Tamil and English) the S.J.V. Chelvanayakam fonds (and related fonds) held at the University of Toronto Scarborough Library.