Robarts Library

Scholars Portal

laurie.bulchak — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 18:39:41 +0000

Scholars Portal laurie.bulchak Sat, 07/27/2024 - 14:39

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Robarts Library at 50: How Fort Book became the ‘campus living room’

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 13:58:01 +0000

Robarts Library at 50: How Fort Book became the ‘campus living room’

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/26/2023 - 09:58

Cutline

As many as 18,000 people visit U of T’s Robarts Libary in a single day, while countless more access its collection online (photo by U of T Communications)

Topic

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Subheadline

As it celebrates its half-centennial, Robarts Library is reflecting on its past – and looking towards its future – with an exhibit that traces the library’s history

The ��Ƶ’s campus weekly, The Varsity, greeted students with a front-page photograph of John P. Robarts Library in 1973 – then a new, impossible-to-miss concrete giant on St. George Street.

“Welcome to U of T and Fort Book,” the headline shouted.

Cover of The Varsity newspaper from September 12, 1973 (��Ƶ Archives)

Now, as it celebrates its half-centennial, Robarts is reflecting on its past – and looking towards its future – with an exhibit that traces the library’s history, including the architecture, technology and social movements that shaped its evolution.

Originally built to house 2.7 million volumes and accommodate 4,100 people in reading rooms and study carrels, Robarts aimed to be the largest academic library building in the world, intended to make room for U of T’s growing library collection and the influx of students born during the Baby Boom.

Then-U of T President Claude Bissell, who played a central role in its construction, called it “the final, climactic stage in the development of the higher learning at the ��Ƶ.”

The triangular library complex included the School of Library Science and what is now the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The building’s namesake, Premier John Robarts, said the buildings – which came with a $41.7-million price tag – should not be judged based on cost, “but in terms of how many people would pass through them over the next fifty years.”

These days, as many as 18,000 people visit Robarts in a single day, while countless more access its collection online. The index card catalogue and coat check for visitors are long gone, but Robarts is now home to spaces for nursing, meditation, and mindfulness – even a family study room designed for parents and children, the first space of its kind in a Canadian academic library. Although the U of T Libraries collection contains more than 11 million physical items in total, it now mainly acquires electronic material and hosts data centres with a storage capacity of 1.5 petabytes.

Yet, while the library’s layout and technology have changed, its role remains the same: to support research, discovery and community, Chief Librarian Larry Alford said. “When Robarts Library opened, it was very much seen as a place for students – and faculty, but especially students – to come together to study and work together,” he said. “That hasn’t changed at all. I think it’s as important now as it was in 1973.”

Robarts Common (photo by Matthew Volpe)

To create much-needed study space, the library recently underwent its first expansion in 42 years with the addition of a free-standing, five-storey building on its west side. The project was made possible through the generous support of the late Russell and Katherine Morrison, along with one thousand other donors. Robarts Common came equipped with 1,200 new study spots – a 25 per cent increase – including soundproofed rooms with big-screen TVs for group study.

A group of students on the second floor of Robarts Common (photo by Hanna Borodina)

In the realm of technology, Robarts Library has long been a centre for innovation. Under the leadership of Robert Blackburn, chief librarian from 1954 to 1981, U of T Libraries became an early adopter of an automated catalogue. And while it was not the first institution to have a computer-output microfilm catalogue, Blackburn said Robarts was the first large research library anywhere that had converted its entire catalogue. “Our pioneering in the field was not unnoticed or unappreciated,” he wrote in Evolution of the Heart, a history of U of T Libraries.

The first online catalogue, “Felix,” came into service in 1987.

Today, Robarts Library supports digital scholarship including in the field of non-destructive analysis of ancient books by examining the physical properties of ancient volumes using techniques such as atomic force spectrometry.

Jesse Carliner, a user services librarian and co-curator of the Robarts Library exhibit with university archivist Tys Klumpenhouwer, said technology was not the only important driver of change at the library – so, too, was the U of T community.

Student sit-in protesting stack access to Robarts Library (photo by Robert Lansdale)

“The library has evolved from being this very formal, book centre to being more of a socially oriented student centre,” Carliner said. “It went from being an imposing concrete monolith to kind of the campus living room.”

While initially only faculty and graduate students were supposed to be granted access to the bookstacks, undergraduate students staged protests to open the stacks to everyone – and the library has continued to reshape itself over the years, hosting 2SLGBTQ+ events and adding prayer rooms and an ablution room for Muslim students. Just last summer, Fisher Library hosted Raymond Frogner, head of the archives at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, for a talk about confronting historic biases and promoting Indigenous knowledge within library collections.

What has remained constant, however, is the lively debate surrounding the library’s imposing concrete exterior.

The Brutalist landmark divided opinion from the start, with architect Ronald Thom saying it “represents everything in architecture that is arrogant and wrong.” It has been compared to everything from a “giant chess piece” to a “sci-fi version of a medieval castle.” But for the building’s many critics, there seems to be an equal number of admirers. Italian author Umberto Eco described it as a “masterpiece of contemporary architecture” and, more recently, Robarts topped Monocle’s list of architectural must-sees in its Toronto travel guide.

Larry Alford (photo by Paul Terefenko)

Chief Librarian Alford said he understands why the building’s architecture is controversial, but has always been a fan. “If you look inside the building, as I’ve often done, you stand on the second floor and look up, you can’t help but be impressed and it becomes clear that the architects paid a lot of attention to every detail,” he said.

As for what the library will look like 50 years from now, Alford said it’s impossible to predict – though he imagines it will play an increasingly important role in AI-assisted analysis and authentication of information.

“If you think about the radical changes over the last five decades, I don’t think any librarians could have said where we were headed.”

This story has been condensed. The original can be found here.

From soldier to scribe: PhD student Zak Jones explores veterans' narratives in literature

siddiq22 — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 13:49:52 +0000

From soldier to scribe: PhD student Zak Jones explores veterans' narratives in literature

siddiq22 Tue, 08/08/2023 - 09:49

Cutline

Zak Jones is being recognized for his writing, including recently winning the 2023 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award (supplied image)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

When Zak Jones was young, his mother encouraged him to carry around a notebook and write down any interesting observations.

“I've kept that practice going throughout my adult life,” Jones says.

Capturing those thoughts has paid off for the ��Ƶ PhD candidate. It’s led to two previous degrees at U of T, a poetry collection, a book of short stories and several writing awards – including the 2023 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for short fiction for his short story “So Much More to Say.” The award celebrates emerging Canadian writers in the fields of poetry and short fiction.

Zak Jones in his “dressed greens” military uniform
in 2010 (supplied image)

“Winning this award was a vote of confidence,” says Jones, whose story is set in a flooding South Carolina cemetery and delves into the thoughts of a young gravedigger who has the gruesome task of reburying the bloated bodies that have risen to the surface after heavy rains.

“I'm feeling much more secure in my self-conception as an artist. Now, when I tell people I'm a writer, I'm not half-joking.”

Jones also recently received the Norma Epstein Foundation Award in Creative Writing – part of University College’s writing awards – for another short story titled “Love Handles.”

For Jones, these are satisfying accomplishments – especially considering there was a time when he wasn’t sure if he would even finish high school.

Jones’ path to U of T was unconventional – before coming to university, he served in the U.S military.

“My grandfather, my dad and all of his brothers were in the army,” Jones says. “It was one of those things that was on the table for my brother and I since we were little boys.”

The brothers enlisted soon after they both completed high school. They trained together to become army medics at bases around the U.S. – but in a strange twist, were never sent overseas because they happened to be in the same unit as Chelsea Manning, who made international headlines in 2013 for violations of the U.S Espionage Act after sharing military and diplomatic documents on WikiLeaks.

“Thanks to Chelsea, my brother and I were spared a deployment,” Jones says.

While they trained, the brothers also took college classes online and Jones earned the equivalent of an associate’s degree from Columbia College in Missouri.

“From there, I learned how to write a paper and read for academic purposes,” he says.

Jones left the army and moved to Toronto in 2013 with hopes of attending U of T – but he didn’t get accepted on his first try. Determined to get in, he enrolled in Woodsworth College’s Academic Bridging Program, where he took a lone English course.

“I fell in love with English,” he says. “I fell in love with Robarts Library and the archives and just reading, so I ended up doing pretty well.”

Well enough, in fact, that he was accepted to U of T as a full-time student.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Jones then set his sights on a masters in creative writing, writing Fancy Gap – a novel about a family separated by illness and addiction in southern Appalachia – as his thesis project.

Outside of his studies, Jones also worked on a collection of poems, I Come Up From The Earth. Written from 2009 to 2021, the poems cover subjects such as his ethical concerns about serving in the army, the mental anguish surrounding his mother’s second bout with breast cancer and the intense nostalgia experienced upon returning to his home in the South to visit her. Tinderbox, a cycle of poetry from that book, was selected as a finalist for the 2023 Vallum Chapbook Poetry Award from the Montreal-based Vallum Society for Education in Arts & Letters.

When he decided to pursue a PhD and it came time to pick a program a year ago, the choice was easy, Jones says.

“Nothing was as attractive to me as U of T,” he says. “I even got into Oxford, but decided I wanted to be here.”

Jones’ doctoral research examines veteran narratives in American literature post-World War II, digging into the lives and surrounding literature of what he calls “bad veterans” who return home deeply affected from conflict.

“Veterans in American literature – especially in good novels, plays, movies, television shows – are not portrayed in the way that I want them to be, which is as complex and full characters,” he says.

The real-life stories of veterans are so powerful that they can have a profound effect in shifting perceptions of American identity and culture, Jones says.

He notes he’s keen to examine the life of notable veterans such as Lee Harvey Oswald – the former veteran who later assassinated U.S. president John F. Kennedy – in his writing, as well as whistleblowers such as Manning, Edward Snowden and Daniel Hale.

After completing his PhD, Jones hopes to divide his time equally between creative writing and academic teaching.

“Hopefully I can find a job like that – ideally in Toronto. I love the ��Ƶ. If I could stay here forever, I would.”

U of T celebrates official opening of Robarts Common

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 13:19:08 +0000

U of T celebrates official opening of Robarts Common

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/13/2022 - 09:19

Cutline

Robarts Common, the new five-story addition to Robarts Library, provides room for 1,200 students to study in quiet or to socialize in soundproofed rooms and accessible spaces (photo by Matt Volpe)

Topic

The ��Ƶ community recently gathered at a special ceremony to formally open Robarts Common, the new five-story addition to Robarts Library that was designed as a dedicated space for students.

With ample natural light, room for 1,200 students to study in quiet or socialize in soundproofed rooms and accessible spaces for the entire U of T community, Robarts Common is a human-centred, collaborative area. Opening in advance of the 50th anniversary of Robarts Library, Robarts Common is part of a wider revitalization of the iconic building in the heart of U of T’s downtown campus.

The stunning new space was made possible through the support of a generous gift from the late Russell and Katherine Morrison, along with support from more than one thousand other donors.

“Russell and Katherine Morrison understood well the library’s central place in a student’s intellectual development and educational experience,” said U of T President Meric Gertler at the official Robarts Common opening ceremony on Sept. 9. “They were profoundly dedicated to ensuring that U of T students would have access to the very best library and study spaces – state-of-the-art, comfortable and beautiful. And through their vision and generosity, they have done just that, together with the many other donors who have made these light-filled spaces possible.”

A dream to create an amazing space for students

“Dedicated spaces like the new Robarts Common are vital not just for the student experience but also as a way to encourage more open inquiry and research, more democratic debate and more civic engagement – all critical factors in the future success of our country and, indeed, our world,” said Chair of U of T’s Governing Council Janet L. Ecker.

“Robarts Common is the realization of a dream shared by my late parents, along with so many others who gave generously to help create this amazing space,” said Robert Morrison, the son of Russell and Katherine. “This glorious new building will highlight the importance of the library in student life, and will inspire discovery, daring creativity, and a life-long thirst for knowledge.”

The Morrisons, who donated $40 million to U of T, were both ardent supporters of U of T Libraries. Katherine Morrison was among the first generation of students to use Robarts, which opened in 1973, and she recalled spending most of her time there during her graduate studies – a key factor in the Morrisons’ inspiration to support Robarts Common. The university awarded Russell and Katherine Morrison honorary degrees in 2004 in recognition of their tremendous dedication to students and higher education.

Devoted entirely to student use, the new addition is a “campus living room” and is available to anyone from across U of T’s three campuses. Robarts Common includes hundreds of spots for quiet reading, eight dedicated group study rooms, ample, comfortable seating and full connectivity. The addition represents a significant enhancement for the nearly 18,000 daily visitors to Robarts Library.

A campus jewel, Robarts Common was supported by more than a thousand donors

“Robarts Common reflects U of T Libraries’ global stature, and our special place at the heart of the U of T community,” said U of T Chief Librarian Larry Alford. “It is a crown jewel for the university libraries, a much-needed element of the revitalization of the historic Robarts Library, and an extension of our work not just in supporting our community – but building it.”

“[Robarts Common] will only amplify Robarts Library’s role as U of T’s heart,” said Rion Levy, who is a third year Faculty of Arts & Science student at Victoria College studying literature and critical theory and material culture and semiotics, as well as co-editor-in-chief of The Strand newspaper. “Its student-centred architecture and design has already drawn students in, and I’m sure it will quickly become a favourite spot for all kinds of scholars here.”

The official opening of Robarts Common comes during the first year of U of T’s Defy Gravity campaign, which aims to raise $4 billion towards the university’s highest priorities as well as inspire 225,000 alumni to get involved as volunteers, mentors, donors, participants and leaders, and contribute their time and talent to the university one million times collectively.

“Robarts Common embodies the spirit of Defy Gravity and how U of T and U of T Libraries continue to re-imagine the role of the modern library as a symbol of free and open inquiry,” said David Palmer, U of T vice-president, advancement. “This is a people-focused place for scholars at every level, who will forge bold new ideas and life-long connections – impacting not only their lives, but the wider world.”

Seven ways to connect with campus life at U of T

mattimar — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 18:41:07 +0000

Seven ways to connect with campus life at U of T

mattimar Mon, 08/29/2022 - 14:41

Cutline

Students explore the Highland Creek Valley at ��Ƶ Scarborough (photo by Matthew Dochstader)

Topic

Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

This year’s back-to-school season promises to be bigger than ever at the ��Ƶ.

With many upper-year students returning to campus in earnest after two years of virtual and hybrid classes, tens of thousands of students will be looking for ways to connect – or reconnect – with campus life.

So, whether you’re a first-year student or a returning student coming to campus for the first time this fall, here are a few suggestions on where to make friends and find your community – a key part of the U of T experience.

Get connected at Hart House

A hub of activity at U of T, Hart House is a picturesque space with an almost Hogwarts feel. Beyond the eye-catching architecture, there’s an art museum with year-round programming, a theatre, fitness centre, pool, basketball court and running track – and places to grab lunch.

Students can find a wide variety of speaker events focused on arts and culture, literature, and wellness, as well as a plethora of clubs for those interested in everything from archery and scuba diving to jazz music and film.

On Sept. 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hart House is hosting Xplore Hart House, an orientation and open house featuring free food, music, games and activities and more.

Hart House is located south of Hoskins Avenue, between Queen’s Park Crescent and Tower Road. There is elevator access to all floors of Hart House and accessible washrooms on the main floor outside of the Great Hall and in the Hart House Theatre lobby. There are two accessible entrances and exits on Tower Road and on Hart House Circle.

(photo courtesy of Hart House)

Catch up with friends at Innis Café

Before the cold weather arrives, grab a bite to eat at Innis Café and enjoy the rooftop terrace with a friend. A beloved institution among U of T students, Innis Café is located at 2 Sussex Avenue on the St. George campus. The café and bathrooms are accessible.

Long-time café owner Gunash Agar along with her husband and son make everything from scratch. Students can find a selection of daily breakfast and lunch specials, with vegetarian, vegan and halal options.

Get fit with your friends on the three campuses

U of T students looking to stay active or participate in intramural sports have plenty of options across the three campuses.

At U of T Mississauga, the Recreation, Athletics & Wellness Centre has two gymnasiums, three squash courts, an indoor track, swimming pool, dance studio, weightlifting room, soccer fields, facilities to play tennis and beach volleyball – and more. Located on Outer Circle Road, the fitness centre features group fitness classes as well as women’s-only programs. The indoor running track at the centre is accessible by an elevator. At the swimming pool, there is a lift that can be accessed from the whirlpool or the pool for individuals who may be mobility impaired. The change rooms are accessible.

Students at U of T Scarborough have access to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, which is co-owned by U of T Scarborough and the City of Toronto. It features a fitness and aquatic centre as well as a field house and climbing wall. There is a variety of drop-in programs, including badminton, basketball, table tennis and pickle ball. The centre meets the highest provincial accessibility standards with two accessible change rooms, oversized elevators, wide routes, powered door openers, as well as enhanced seating and tethering areas for service animals in all aquatic halls and the field house. The training pool has a moveable floor to accommodate various water depths and mobility levels.

(photo by Matthew Dochstader)

On the St. George campus, the Athletic Centre is home to seven gyms, three pools, a strength and conditioning centre, indoor track, field house, dance studio, cardio machines, tennis and squash courts, steam room, among other facilities. Some gyms at the Athletic Centre – located at the intersection of Spadina Avenue and Harbord Street – are accessible, including the strength and conditioning centre, sports gym, field house court and track lane, and dance studio. The Varsity and Benson pools are also accessible.

Students on St. George can also use the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, home to the U of T Varsity Blues basketball and volleyball teams. The facility, completed in 2014, features a strength and conditioning centre, fitness studio, sport medicine clinic, research and teaching laboratories.

Membership to all facilities is paid through a students' incidental fees and can be accessed using a TCard.

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Be part of the U of T Scarborough student hub at Highland Hall

Highland Hall is a central location on the U of T Scarborough campus that is home to hundreds of study and hangout spaces, the social sciences departments, a recently opened café, the registrar’s office, exam and conference centre, admissions and student recruitment office, the international student centre and much more.

The space – located on Military Trail – also features the Hub, U of T Scarborough’s entrepreneurship incubator. Students are welcome to work in the Hub to create and launch new business start-ups.

A cool feature of the building is the two large north and south-facing windows that depict maps of Scarborough in the 1960s and in the 2000s. The building has an accessible entrance and exit as well as an elevator indoors.

The U of T Scarborough campus is surrounded by beautiful green space and several walking and running trails. The Valley Land Trail provides an accessible link for students and the community to the Highland Creek Valley. The 500-metre-long trail features charging stations for motorized accessibility devices, multiple raised lookout points with accessible seating and LED lights built in for evening strolls. It’s a great way for students to connect with the campus, each other and the city of Toronto.

(photo by Matthew Dochstader)

Start a study group at Robarts Common

An airy new addition to Robarts Library on the St. George campus, Robarts Common is a five-storey study and meeting space for U of T students.

The multi-year renovations resulted in 1,200 new study spots, soundproof rooms with big screens to practice presentations and charging stations everywhere.

There are also accessibility features for individuals with hearing loss, epilepsy, and those with autism spectrum disorder. The study rooms have dimmable lights, the walkways are wider in width and there are automatic curtains to block natural light to help with sensory output. There is a mix of fabric and non-fabric chairs as well as carpet to keep noise to a minimum. There are different heights and configurations for working stations, too.

The Fourth Floor Heritage Room is another revamped area of the library that’s newly opened for the fall semester. The space is an accessible and accommodating study area with features to give students a balance between wellness and education, including standing and sitting desks, lounge seating, acoustic panels to improve sound quality and two SAD lamp therapy lounges.

(photo courtesy of U of T Libraries)

Gather at U of T Mississauga’s Meeting Place

The Meeting Place – inside the William G. Davis Building at U of T Mississauga – is a great place for students to grab a coffee or tea, catch up with a friend or form a study group.

The Meeting Place received a recent makeover with a redesign of the food services area, student services plaza, a new entrance to the building and more seating indoors and outdoors. Located on Inner Circle Road, there is an accessible entrance and exit into William G. David Building, as well as an elevator.

Other services inside the building include a bookstore, an accessibility resource centre, conference and events services, a career centre and health services.

Socialize at the new Student Commons space

Student Commons is a new space on the St. George campus for students to study, meet and socialize. It will host its grand opening on Sept. 6 from 12 to 4 p.m. There will be food, movies and a disco party to celebrate the new space, which is run by the U of T Students’ Union.

There are several meeting rooms and study areas with Wi-Fi throughout the building. Programs such as bike repair, a food bank, club spaces, events spaces are available. The prayer room, which includes two ablution spaces and smudging rooms, is undergoing construction and will be ready by the end of the year.

There are two accessible entrances and exits to the building – one is on Huron Street on the west side of the building and the other is on the east side facing the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences. There is an elevator located at the centre of the building that runs from the basement to the 5^th floor and barrier-free washrooms on all levels.

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For more information on accessibility services, each U of T campus has a dedicated Accessibility Services office that helps students navigate the university based on their needs.

Finally! In a long-awaited sign of spring, cherry blossoms reach peak bloom on U of T's St. George campus

geoff.vendeville — Thu, 05 May 2022 16:21:15 +0000

Finally! In a long-awaited sign of spring, cherry blossoms reach peak bloom on U of T's St. George campus

geoff.vendeville Thu, 05/05/2022 - 12:21

Cutline

From left to right: Yi Huang, Bing Li and Marry Xuan take photos of the cherry blossoms outside Robarts Library (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Undergraduate Students

With the exam period wrapped up, and a long, snowy winter now firmly behind us, Bing Li and her friends met outside the ��Ƶ's Robarts Library this week to take pictures amid a blush cloud of cherry blossoms.

The first-year student, who has yet to declare a major, struck poses atop a folding chair against a backdrop of pink petals.

“It's my first time seeing cherry blossoms,” said Li’s friend Yi Huang, who is in her third year studying statistics and actuarial science.

The undergraduate students were among a small crowd who wandered under the library's cherry blossoms on Thursday morning, taking in the view and snapping pictures for Instagram.

“The spring is bringing people back,” said Marry Xuan, a second-year student who is majoring in health and diseases and cellular and molecular biology. Yingxi Zhu, a fourth-year student majoring in math and statistics, even wore a matching pink plaid skirt and floral earrings for the occasion.

Onlookers gather beneath a canopy of cherry blossoms at Robarts Library (photo by David Lee)

U of T received many of its Japanese cherry trees – known as sakura – from the Consulate General of Japan in Toronto as part of its Sakura Project. They have brought a dash of colour and sprinkle of joy to the St. George campus each spring since 2005.

The library planted 15 new cherry trees within the last year, bringing the total to 55.

In April, Michael Cassabon, director of advancement at U of T Libraries, attended a 10th anniversary event celebrating the end of the Sakura Project at the Japanese consulate.

“We celebrated this as an enduring symbol of friendship between U of T and the Japanese government,” Cassabon said, adding that U of T Libraries is home to important Japanese Canadian archives, including materials on the redress movement, a grassroots attempt by Japanese Canadians to hold the Canadian government accountable for human rights violations during the Second World War.

Each spring, Cassabon said he need only look out his window to be reminded of U of T's friendship with Japan.

“There's something magical about it,” he said. “They're right outside my office. When I look outside it's like I'm in a pink cloud.”

Cindy and Connor Ewing, both assistant professors in the Faculty of Arts & Science, take a stroll with daughter Margot and dog Buckley (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Cindy and Connor Ewing, both assistant professors in the Faculty of Arts & Science, went for a stroll under the pink blossoms with their newborn daughter, Margot, and eight-year-old dog, Buckley.

Whether seeing the cherry trees in High Park or at U of T, the sight of the blossoms each spring doesn't get old, according to Connor. “It's special... it's a sign of spring,” he said.

The pink cherry blossoms offer a striking contrast to the soaring concrete and glass exterior of Robarts Library (photo by David Lee)

Hana Kim, director of U of T's East Asian Library, said seeing peak bloom this year was extra special after the long and ongoing fight against COVID-19.

“I feel that the pastel colours give me healing power and hope,” she said. “I feel more hopeful about the future during this uncertain time.”

The cherry trees also remind Kim of the viewing rituals she took part in as a child in South Korea.

“Cherry blossom viewing is very popular in East Asia,” Kim said. “It marks the arrival of spring. In spring, people there often gather and families unite for cherry blossom viewing, which has been practised for a long time. Many celebrations and festivals take place during the blooming season. The cherry blossom generally represents a time of renewal and optimism.”

Students connect and build community at hybrid Night Against Procrastination event

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 04 May 2022 15:55:33 +0000

Students connect and build community at hybrid Night Against Procrastination event

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 05/04/2022 - 11:55

Cutline

The study-focused Night Against Procrastination event, hosted by U of T's Academic Success, merged in-person and virtual elements, providing a proof-of-concept for similar events in the future (photo by Jonathan Vandor)

Topic

Undergraduate Students

In the run-up to spring exams, ��Ƶ students participated in the second annual “Night Against Procrastination” – only this time the study-focused event hosted by Academic Success paired virtual and in-person content to better connect with students.

Held at the end of March, the evening’s events included skills-oriented workshops that focused on motivation, managing time and – yes – procrastination. There was also a workshop that drew on the Anishinabek medicine wheel as a teaching tool to help students work through their learning process.

Virtual study hubs – where peer mentors helped students set study goals for the following two hours – were scheduled throughout the evening. Refreshments were available at Robarts Library, as well as puzzles and games.

“The end of March is a really hectic time for students,” said organizer Jonathan Vandor, learning strategist, peer programs. “This event showed that, although U of T is a vast and complex space, there are still opportunities to connect and find community.”

At the Night Against Procrastination, students were asked to share messages to inspire and encourage others (photo by Deepam Patel)

Staff at U of T Libraries provided ongoing guidance on citations and research throughout the evening. That included a 12 a.m. session called Midnight Magic that saw librarians offer a hands-on overview of the search process. There were also snacks and giveaways on site.

Vandor said the “casual mentorship” of volunteers was among the evening’s highlights. For example, work-study students who served as peer mentors engaged with students while handing out snacks and beverages.

“Juggling multiple exams and managing energy levels and projects at the end of the year is really challenging,” explained Vandor. “This helped students connect to their goals, build their own skills and motivation and reconnect with others in person – there was a real appetite for that.”

The event’s success provided a proof of concept for future hybrid efforts that similarly envision bringing together virtual features such as study hubs and workshops with in-person gatherings that take place in a common meeting place such as Robarts.

Academic Success plans to run the program again in November, and is currently planning other ways to use hybrid formats to engage students.

Students given early access to Robarts Library expansion: The Globe and Mail

geoff.vendeville — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 17:12:22 +0000

Students given early access to Robarts Library expansion: The Globe and Mail

geoff.vendeville Mon, 03/28/2022 - 13:12

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(Photo by David Lee)

Topic

��Ƶ students are being given early access to Robarts Common, a five-storey addition to Robarts Library that adds 1,200 study spaces to the St. George campus, the Globe and Mail reported.

Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the new wing offers impressive views, both inside and out. “Looking out you see a typical Toronto panorama: Victorian houses, a slab-like apartment block, a stone church, the modern university athletic centre. Looking in you see a glowing diorama of students at work,” Globe columnist Marcus Gee wrote.

“Soundproofed rooms with big screens on the walls give students a place to discuss their ideas and practise their presentations. Electric sockets for charging devices are everywhere. The WiFi is top notch.”

The expansion, which will officially open this fall, was made possible by gifts from Drs. Russell and Katherine Morrison, as well as over 1,000 other individual donors.

Critical Digital Humanities Initiative to examine history through lens of power, social justice

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 16:16:49 +0000

Critical Digital Humanities Initiative to examine history through lens of power, social justice

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 12/09/2021 - 11:16

Cutline

Cara Krmpotich, left, and Heidi Bohaker, right, are leading an international team that aims to decolonize museum practices (photos supplied)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Our Community

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From wampum belts to historical photographs, Cara Krmpotich and Heidi Bohaker are seeking to digitally reunite thousands of Indigenous artifacts from the Great Lakes region with the communities who once created them.

The pair of ��Ƶ researchers lead an international team that aims to decolonize museum practices by creating a database, or “knowledge sharing system,” that, for almost 15 years, has provided digital access to Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat artifacts currently scattered in museums throughout North America and Europe.

Since 2005, the Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture (GRASAC), has worked to both advance public knowledge about the history of Indigenous Peoples who inhabit the Great Lakes and provide Indigenous members of those communities expanded access to their artifacts.

“Settler colonialism is intimately connected with why so much Indigenous culture is in museums around the world,” says Bohaker, an associate professor in the department of history in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“We want to create this [database] in a meaningful and respectful way.”

The Great Lakes Research Alliance is one of several projects recently supported by the Critical Digital Humanities Intitiative (CDHI). The CDHI launched earlier this year and aims to bring together researchers from a variety of fields to analyze and unpack power and social justice from a historical perspective. It supports projects at the intersection of humanities and digital technology, with an emphasis on anti-racist, feminist, queer, and decolonial scholarship.

Elspeth Brown

“The work that the critical digital humanities does can be quite different from traditional humanities work because most projects are team-based, last for many years and involve technical and computer-related collaborations,” says Professor Elspeth Brown, who is leading CHDI and is also director of U of T’s Digital Humanities Network

The Critical Digital Humanities Initiative is one of 19 projects currently supported by U of T’s Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISI) program, a tri-campus network that unites researchers, students, faculty and external partners to fuel multidisciplinary solutions to today’s problems.

“We’re usually asked to think of technologies as being separate from decision-making that is shaped by social inequalities and bias,” says Brown. “But technologies and algorithms are made by people whose outlooks on the world emerge from these same social structures.”

In the case of the Great Lakes Research Alliance, Krmpotich, an associate professor in the Faculty of Information, received funding for the database project through the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative’s Emerging Projects Fund. The support allowed the alliance to hire Richard Laurin, an award-winning museum project developer, to design a new, password-free interface for a public site of cultural belongings. The project, which first began in 2018, seeks to remove barriers such as logins, especially for Indigenous youth, artists and language speakers. Until now, the password-protected site was built for GRASAC members.

“Indigenous peoples have taken over digital spaces as cultural ones,” Krmpotich says. “It’s an active, productive and creative part of life.”

Sheila Wheesk

Meanwhile, research assistant Sheila Wheesk is seeking to enrich the database of Indigenous artifacts by describing the history and significance of items in the catalog, and including the names of belongings in various Indigenous languages.

“The information from research assistants, whether in English, Anishinaabemowin or Cayuga, will make it easy for anyone to find an item – like a beaded bag, for example – in the system,” says Wheesk who recently shared a Best Graduate Paper Award with other research assistants working on the project.

“That’s why it’s important to have all of this in the database.”

The Critical Digital Humanities Initiative is also supporting a number of other important projects.

Patrick Keilty

Patrick Keilty, an associate professor in the Faculty of Information and at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, is using support from the Emerging Projects Fund to fill in a gap in the historical record related to sex work, sexuality, and pleasure. Keilty is the archives director of the Sexual Representation Collection, the largest collection of adult film and sex work history in Canada with an emphasis on feminist, queer, trans and kink cultures. The archives contain 1,500 films, 3,000 AIDS-era video tapes and the personal papers of journalists, activists and others related to the global history of sex work and regulation of obscenity.

“Traditional archives and libraries don’t attach the same importance to these histories as they do others, which constitutes an archival gap,” says Keilty.

“What that means for historians, archivists and members of the sex industry is that to construct those histories, you often have to turn to the fan market to source and purchase your primary source materials.”

In other words, historians are forced to source materials from large, private (and often inaccessible) collections. In 2014, Peter Alilunas, a cinema studies professor at the University of Oregon, and Dan Erdman, a film archivist in Chicago, created an online archive space that gathers materials related to adult film history. They invited scholars around the world to collaborate in an effort to make these materials more visible and accessible.

Keilty answered the call.

With support from the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative, Keilty hired a research assistant to write a protocol on digitizing different media formats, which will equip researchers from universities around the world to contribute to the Adult Film History Project.

Through the project, students learn about digitization, the history of the Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts, and how to create metadata for effective information retrieval. Students are currently digitizing text-based materials, including case notes from legal cases and safe sex guides, and will soon digitize silent-era films.

“We’re interested in ways to build community, to disseminate items in new ways and create new arrangements online. We want to be a dynamic space that engages with old and new technologies,” Keilty says.

Earlier this fall, nearly 200 people registered for the fourth Digital Humanities Conference, which included presentations by U of T faculty, librarians, post-doctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students. Held online, the event featured conversations on everything from cultural identity and feminism to mapping archaeological sites and archiving music history.

At the conference, Mariam Karim, one of eight Critical Digital Humanities Network graduate student fellows, said the use of social media as a grassroots digital tool for documentation is limited in Arab women’s movements because it is often subject to censorship, and that meaningful engagement with social justice advocates and academics is vital to cite and preserve their work. Thy Phu, a professor in the deparment of arts, culture and media at U of T Scarborough, described a project that puts refugee perspectives front and centre, giving them control of a narrative about migration by documenting their own stories. And Robarts Library’s Alex Jung, an open technology specialist, and Kyla Jemison, a special formats metadata librarian, tackled the reconstruction of digital research infrastructures to community-driven tools such as Wikidata, a free, multilingual, open-knowledge database that makes information easily findable. Through shared meetups and training, participants from U of T Libraries have contributed about 4,000 Wikidata edits spanning a wide range of use cases including improved archival collections discovery and open-source bibliographic data and citation management.

One of the network’s most successful platforms is the Lightning Lunches series. The moderated panels bring three scholars together to discuss various themes centred on equity and justice. Discussions have included surveillance studies and challenges faced by multilingual digital humanities scholars.

The Critical Digital Humanities Network is also developing a spring speaker series and an international conference for next fall – and exploring global partnerships to break barriers in obtaining funding for critical digital humanities scholars.

“It’s often difficult for [critical digital humanities] scholars to find support,” Brown says. “That’s why it's wonderful that U of T gives us the opportunity to create a robust network.”

This article is part of a series about U of T's Institutional Strategic Initiatives program ─ which seeks to make life-changing advancements in everything from infectious diseases to social justice – and the research community that's driving it.

Looking for a study spot on campus? Here’s where – and how – to find one near you

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 20:34:08 +0000

Looking for a study spot on campus? Here’s where – and how – to find one near you

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 10/19/2021 - 16:34

Cutline

The University College library, reopened after an 18-month closure, is located in a newly renovated heritage space in the building’s East Hall, which was the library’s original 19th-century home (photo courtesy of University College)

Topic

With both online and in-person classes scheduled this fall, many ��Ƶ students may find themselves on campus in need of a quiet space to kick back for a few hours, do some homework or listen to a lecture on their laptop.

U of T has more than 40 libraries across its three campuses with places to study, but they are far from the only options.

Here are some quiet and welcoming spots, as well as three online tools to help locate them.

Study spaces on the three campuses

U of T Mississauga

Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre (1675 Outer Circle)

U of T Mississauga’s library provides study spaces for 228 students on the main, third and fourth levels. On the main floor, there are an additional 42 physically distanced study spaces with computer workstations. Advance booking is no longer required; all are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Instructional Centre (1599 Outer Circle)

The instructional Centre has study spaces on the second and third floors.

Communication, Culture and Technology Building

Study spaces are available on the second and third floors.

Maanjiwe nendamowinan (1535 Outer Circle)

One of UTM’s newest buildings, Maanjiwe nendamowinan (which means “a gathering of minds” in Anishinaabemowin) includes study spaces on the first floor.

St. George

Robarts Library (130 St. George St.) and Gerstein Science Information Centre (9 King’s College Circle)

Space has been reserved for students to join online classes from campus on the first floor of Robarts Library and the Gerstein Centre’s Wallace Room. Space is provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Student Commons (230 College St.)

The newly renovated building’s interiors aren’t entirely finished, but there are open spaces, seating areas and meeting rooms with Wi-Fi on the second and fifth floors. The building’s capacity is limited right now to 355 students.

Hart House (7 Hart House Circle)

Students can book two-hour slots in the Reading Room, the Map Room and Hart House Library. All have Wi-Fi; capacity ranges from 10 to 22. The newly renovated and accessible Arbor Room, with healthy food and drink options, has also reopened in the lower level of Hart House.

University College Library (15 King’s College Circle)

The UC Library has reopened after an 18-month closure. It has moved to a newly renovated heritage space in the building’s East Hall – the library’s original 19^thcentury home – and currently has 33 study spaces available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

U of T Scarborough

��Ƶ Scarborough Library (1265 Military Trail)

In addition to about 100 regular study spaces, the UTSC Library has six individual study rooms available for booking.

Instructional Centre (1095 Military Trail)

This north campus building includes study spaces and student areas, as well as classrooms that are available to students when lectures are not taking place. The BRIDGE Library is also available as a study space.

Online space-finding tools

SpacePlusU

This U of T Scarborough app, available for Android and iPhone, locates study space at the campus and lets you know how many people are using them. The app allows you to filter by building or type of study space. U of T Scarborough divides study spaces into three “zones” – for quiet study, group study, or silent study, with different rules for each about permitted noise. U of T Scarborough students are also welcome to use empty classrooms as study spaces; a schedule for all classrooms is available online.

St. George Online Synchronous Space Finder

This St. George app operates much like the space finder at U of T Scarborough, though it engages the map function on your mobile device to show you the nearest available study spaces. You can also “favourite” your preferred buildings.

U of T Map

With the online U of T Map you can search the three campuses by need, as well as by specific building. Each campus map has at least 10 categories, including washrooms, food, accessibility and student spaces. Click “student spaces” at U of T Mississauga, for example, and you will see another nine options, including “computer labs” and “study spaces.”

Robarts Library

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Looking for a study spot on campus? Here’s where – and how – to find one near you

Study spaces on the three campuses

U of T Mississauga

St. George

U of T Scarborough

Online space-finding tools

Find out more at UTogether