Collaborations

Library and Human Geography Enhance Student Research Skills  

In today's increasingly data-driven world, students need robust data literacy skills more than ever, and with the rise of creative assignments, understanding digital storytelling tools has become equally essential. The library is playing a pivotal role in bolstering student data literacy and digital storytelling skills by integrating these essential competencies into various courses through innovative workshops and collaborative projects.

Most recently, the library has extended its support to three faculty members in the Department of Human Geography: Fernando Calderón Figueroa, Julie Mah, and Nicole Latulippe. Through a series of meticulously curated workshops, David Kwasny, Data and Digital Literacy Librarian, and Sarah Shujah, Liaison Librarian for Human Geography, have facilitated the integration of data and digital storytelling tools into student academic repertoire.

Professor Figueroa: Census Data and GIS Library Workshops

In Professor Calderón Figueroa courses, the librarians have provided a CHASS database workshop and ArcGIS Online workshop. These sessions have equipped students with finding data, data cleaning, and visualizing data through geographic information systems (GIS).  In this hands-on workshop, students learned fundamental GIS concepts, participated in a discussion to interpret maps by examining the data and story the maps are discussing, and finally create their own map. Professor Calderón Figueroa describes the support:

“Sarah and David have a dual role in this process. On the one hand, they facilitate workshops where students practice downloading and processing data. On the other hand, they familiarize students with the many resources available through the library: data repositories, gray literature collections, software workshops, and one-on-one support, among many others. Overall, the Sarah and David contribute to the holistic approach to research and skill development we aim to provide to UTSC social science students.”

Professor Mah: Data Literacy Workshops to explore Housing in Toronto

In Professor Mah’s research lab, librarians provided graduate students and research assistants with an ArcGIS Online workshop. This provided the students with essential GIS skills to examine eviction and housing in Ontario. In another Professor Mah’s course (CITC03), students were assigned the Library’s Foundational Data Literacy Skill modules to learn the basic understanding of using Excel, creating tables and visualizations. Students who completed the module series received CCR recognition. In addition, David provided a workshop on using Toronto Open Data so that students analyzed census data of neighbourhoods to understand various issues like housing and employment.  

"To ensure that all students have the requisite data skills and knowledge to complete the final assignment in my housing course, I assigned certain modules in the Foundational Data Literacy course. The modules enhanced students’ knowledge of Excel and assisted in their learning experience."

Professor Latulippe: Creating a Library Collection of Student Storytelling on Treaty Responsibilities

Professor Latulippe has embraced the UTSC Library's Digital Storytelling instruction in GGRB18-ESTB02 and GGRD12 that focus on Land Back/Cash Back and relational modes of being and belonging. This has transformed students' learning and approach to knowledge sharing using digital tools like ArcGIS StoryMaps, infographics and videomaking. Students explored how they can integrate critical geography and narrative elements, providing a dynamic way to present research. David and Sarah are supporting Professor Latulippe in the next step of developing a library digital collection of these students' creative media-based stories.  

“There is no other space and place like the library, where, as a faculty, I am encouraged and supported to do this type of creative teaching and digital scholarship partnership”

Contact us about data literacy and digital storytelling instruction! The U of T Scarborough Library is here to support you in designing creative assignments and providing information literacy instruction to support student research and creative outputs that include data, maps and storytelling.

Reach out to your Liaison Librarian to learn how you can get started with data literacy and digital storytelling in your classroom.  

Meet the 25 Startups enrolled in the Nobellum Innovator Program

SCARBOROUGH, Ontario, Canada - As part of Nobellum's mandate to support the start-up of 100 Black-owned businesses in STEM by 2025, the Nobellum Innovator Program was created in partnership with the University of Toronto whose True Blue Fund matches the Nobellum True Blue Accelerator Fund. This program provides early-stage startups the opportunity to receive mentorship, education, and funding at no cost to them. This month, 25 businesses were welcomed into the program, and 10 of them are getting ready to pitch at the Innovation pitch event on August 26th, taking place at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Nobellum is dedicated to creating generational wealth through the African and Caribbean diaspora. they want the Black dollar to circulate through Black-owned businesses, ensuring spending power stays in the Black community for longer than ever before. Throughout their time in our program, our 25 start-ups will pitch their ideas for an audience and judges to gain exposure and receive award prizes. They will work with coaches like Mike Orr (Co-Founder, Grapevine6) and Dr. Georgette Zinaty (CEO & Founder, Women Helping Empower Women - WHEW!) who will share insight into the entreprenurial journey through their years of expertise. The time spent in the Nobellum Innovator Program will help these start-ups bring their innovative business ideas to life!

We are so excited for you all to meet the brilliant minds that make up Nobellum's 2023 Cohort of Innovators:

From July 25-28 2023, UTSC Library was a proud host and sponsor (with Carnegie Mellon University Libraries and the University of Prince Edward Island’s Robertson Library) of IslandoraCon 2023.

This conference brings together an international community of librarians and technologists that contribute to the Software Project “Islandora,” an open-source digital asset management system used by galleries, libraries, archives and museums to support digital asset management and preservation.

Islandora powers the digital scholarship projects of the library such as the Memory project, community-partnership initiatives such as the Digital Tamil Studies project and Faculty research projects such as Arab Women’s Writing and Scarborough Oral Histories.

“Publishing open-source software tools allows other institutions to benefit from the work that is done locally to support collections, digital scholarship, and research data management,” notes Chief Librarian Angela Hamilton.

“Our collaborations with the Islandora community are part of the way the library fosters Inclusive Excellence. Among other things, students working through the library’s Emerging Professionals program benefit from Islandora’s network of international memory institutions and service providers.”

Over four days of training and programming, forty developers, librarians, Faculty members and service providers gathered to share software tools and strategize for the future of Islandora.

Associate Dean of Libraries of Digital Strategy at Simon Fraser University and Islandora Foundation Board chair, Mark Jordan, says:

“We are grateful to the University of Toronto Scarborough for hosting us this week. By working together across institutional borders, we can support our individual institution’s commitments to making the research produced at our institutions accessible.”

A first-of-its-kind mural celebrating a unique partnership between U of T and Nobellum Enterprise to support Black entrepreneurship and underrepresented students in business and STEM has been unveiled at U of T Scarborough.

Read the full article here.

The Library is pleased to be one of three exhibition locations at UTSC for the Acorn Tri-Campus Art Festival (ATAF) from Monday, March 27th to Saturday, April 1st

ATAF is a week-long, multi-venue studio art festival led by students, in collaboration with art-focused groups across all three campuses at the University of Toronto.

Throughout the festival, attendees will have the opportunity to explore many student art exhibitions, attend student short film screenings, watch the opening night of student theatre, participate in a myriad of student club workshops, and join student staff and faculty in a major reception!

The festival is spearheaded by the staff of UTSC's Gallery 1265 with support from many student clubs and different bodies across UofT.

On March 9, 2023, the UTSC Library is proud to be partnering with the Department of Arts, Culture, and Media, the Doris McCarthy Gallery, and Student Life Programs to bring you an afternoon with Jesse Wente.

A self-described ‘Ojibwe dude’ with a national and international lens, Jesse’s work and words encourage his audiences to consider diversity and inclusion into the long-term, future view of their organizations, industries, and country. In addition to serving as the current Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, Jesse has previously served as Director of Film Programmes, at TIFF Bell Lightbox, where he oversaw theatrical, Cinematheque and Film Circuit programming. He also appeared on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning as film and pop culture critic for 20 years.

Come by for your chance to hear Jesse share stories of his personal experiences and those of his family coming from his most recent best-selling title, Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance. Through his engaging storytelling, Jesse helps to uncover the lies and myths that most often affect relationships between Indigenous peoples and white settlers. Using his voice to emphasize truth over comfort, Jesse will help audience members to gain an understanding of the state of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, and to move beyond ideas of allyship in order to foster real solidarity.

Jesse Wente will be signing books, with copies of "Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance" available for sale at the event.

Event Details

• Date and time: Thursday, March 9th, 2023 2:00-4:00pm 
• Location: Catalyst Centre, EV building, UTSC 
• Free and open to the UTSC community and public 
• U of T community registration via clnx.utoronto.ca
• Public registration via Eventbrite
• Light refreshments will be served

The University of Toronto Scarborough's The BRIDGE and Black Founders Network is partnering with Federation of Black Canadians on a new project that will support the next generation of Black entrepreneurs.

The partnership is part of a $1.3-million investment announced by the federal government for the Federaton of Black Canadians (FBC), a Black-led non-profit organization aimed at enhancing services that support and mentor Black youth and young adult entrepreneurs.

Read the full story here.

Please join us Wednesday, February 1st from noon-1pm for a reading with the author and a discussion of his work and creative practice.

The UTSC Library is pleased to join the UTSC English Department in welcoming Danny Ramadan as our Writer-in-Residence for 2023.

Danny Ramadan (He/Him) is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker and advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award, longlisted for Canada Reads, and named a Best Book of the Year by the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star. More recently Ramadan’s sophomore novel, The Foghorn Echoes (Penguin Random House – 2022) was released to critical praise by The Guardian, Vanity Fair and other media outlets across Canada, the UK and the US. Danny has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and currently lives in Vancouver with his husband, Matthew, and his dog, Freddie but is moving to the GTA for the term to join us as Writer in Residence at UTSC!

Read more about Danny Ramadan.

Register to attend.

We live in a world of information, and the knowledge we share matters: it can challenge or uphold the systemic barriers that many in our communities face. This February, we invite you to join your library in making the world of information more inclusive in the Black Histories Edit-a-thon!

Join us Feb 8, 1–2:30 p.m. EST for a kick-off panel event featuring:

• Moderator: Funké Aladejebi, University of Toronto historian and co-editor of Unsettling the Great White North: Black Canadian History - available through U of T Libraries
• Debbie Ebanks Schlums, multidisciplinary artist and PhD candidate in Cinema and Media Arts at York University
• Jonsaba Jabbi, writer, storyteller, and co-founder of Building A Black Archive (BABA)

🔗 Register: https://buff.ly/3kiVrUj

Then, every Friday in February, join your library for facilitated editing sessions on Zoom: you can learn the basics or get a refresher on editing Wikipedia and Wikidata, then write alongside others who are passionate about improving digital coverage of Black histories and experiences. No prior editing experience is required.

This event is organized by U of T Libraries, York University Libraries, Toronto Metropolitan University Library, and Toronto Public Library. We look forward to seeing you!

Editing sessions

Celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth by helping improve coverage of Black histories! Our Wikipedia/Wikidata editing sessions are every Friday in February:

📅 Fri, Feb 3, 1–4 pm
📅 Fri, Feb 10, 10 am–1 pm
📅 Fri, Feb 17, 1–4 pm
📅 Fri, Feb 24, 10 am–1 pm
🔰 No editing experience required
🔗 Register: https://buff.ly/3kiVrUj