Faculty success: Partner with UVic Libraries

Andrea Walsh

"The library is a place through which all our knowledge can flow at the university – it is the most interdisciplinary space on campus, and it can be the anchor of what we know about human rights, and what we do to promote, ensure and respect them."–Andrea Walsh, Anthropology

UVic anthropologist professor Andrea Walsh is working with UVic Libraries to openly publish two graphic novels that will be collaboratively produced with Survivors of the residential and day school system and their families.

One novel will focus on the Alberni IRS (set in the late 1950s) and the other will focus on the Inkameep Day School (set at the outset of WWII). Both novels will tell stories through the eyes of the children who attended them, and who created the artwork that have come to national attention through Andrea’s current work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

UVic Libraries is honoured to help Andrea to share her work with community members, policy makers and social justice organizations across Canada and around the globe.

Read the full interview with Andrea Walsh to learn more about this project.

Erin E. Kelly and Sara Humphreys

“I often encourage students to take workshops with the terrific library staff at the Digital Commons.” –Sara Humphreys, English

“People with special knowledge—academics and librarians as well as people with deep experience—can guide us to different ways of seeing the world.” –Erin E. Kelly, English

Professors Erin E. Kelly and Sara Humphreys of UVic’s Academic and Technical Writing Program in the Faculty of Humanities recently published an open access writing guide titled Why Write? to help students in Canada to become more effective and confident academic writers. 

This open educational resource incorporates wisdom from the Four Feathers Writing Guide , with thanks to Elder Shirley Alphonse (THE-LA-ME-YÉ), Elder Nadine Charles (TEȺȽIE), and Theresa Bell, in order to create a welcoming text for all students, including those who are connected to Indigenous communities. Why Write? is the result of collaborative work from members of the Academic and Technical Writing Program, the Centre for Academic Communication, and the University of Victoria Libraries. 

UVic Libraries is proud to help faculty publish free textbooks that support student learning at UVic and beyond.

Read the full interview with Erin E. Kelly and Sara Humphreys to learn more about this project.

John Lutz

“The library is the heart of the university. Properly used, it is a perpetual motion, totally renewable, wisdom-generating machine.”
–John Lutz, History

Professor John Lutz, of UVic’s history department, has worked with UVic Libraries to create a number of valuable, free digital collections related to the history and politics of British Columbia.

John was instrumental in securing permission to digitize and openly share Victoria’s earliest daily newspaper, The British Colonist, with long-standing contributions from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre's BC History Digitization Program. He also helped the libraries to obtain permission to openly share many important BC historical maps including the Land Title Survey Authority historic maps, early BC maps and Hudson’s Bay Company maps.

John is currently working closely with UVic Libraries and the Humanities Computing and Media Centre on a project to decolonize the Colonial Despatches, which is the original correspondence between the British Colonial Office and the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.

Read the full interview with John Lutz to learn more about this project.

Charlotte Schallié

"An unexpected archival discovery tosses your entire previous research findings overboard. I am fortunate to have had my archival work derailed twice in this manner."–Charlotte Schallié, Germanic Studies

Germanic Studies professor Charlotte Schallié’s research project, Narrative Art and Visual Storytelling in Holocaust and Human Rights Education, brings Holocaust survivors and artists together to create open-access educational resources for students.

The project has produced several graphic novels and short films that will be used in Holocaust and human rights education. UVic Libraries partnered on this important project to provide digitization and metadata training for the research team, and to build a digital archive of materials donated by Holocaust survivors and their families.

UVic Libraries is pleased to work with Charlotte to develop pedagogical tools for human rights educators around the world.

Read the full interview with Charlotte Schallié to learn more about this project.

Carey Newman

"Growing up, I was homeschooled, and my mom worked at the Vancouver Island Regional Library in Sooke. I would often go there to look things up, find images to draw, do math, or just read. That experience made libraries a familiar and comfortable place, so my favourite place at UVic Libraries is anywhere with large shelves filled with books and the smell of paper, ink, and bindings."–Carey Newman, Fine Arts

Professor Carey Newman, Impact Chair in Indigenous Art Practices, recently co-edited a Special Issue of KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies, a peer-reviewed, open access journal. The Special Issue on Indigenous Knowledges features contributions in diverse formats that reflect the plurality of Indigenous Knowledges and ways of knowing.

UVic Libraries’ Digitization Unit has also worked with Carey to create a 3D model of the Turtle Island Trophy, a beautiful carving that is awarded to the winners of National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

UVic Libraries is proud to support Carey’s work to further Truth and Reconciliation. 

Read the full interview with Carey Newman to learn more about his work.

Lisa Surridge and Mary Elizabeth Leighton

"We are so lucky to work at UVic, where the librarians are our research and teaching collaborators! The UVic library is our lab for hands-on teaching as well as student and faculty research."
–Lisa Surridge, English

"One of my favourite library activities is sitting students down in front of a 19th-century magazine or newspaper volume in Special Collections and asking them to record what they discover."
–Mary Elizabeth Leighton, English

Professors Lisa Surridge and Mary Elizabeth Leighton from UVic’s English department have recently published a new book, titled The Plot Thickens: Illustrated Victorian Serial Fiction from Dickens to Du Maurier based in part on material from UVic Libraries’ Special Collections & University Archives.

This duo of skilled archival researchers has received several research grants to dig into UVic’s extensive collection of materials related to Victorian literature. They are passing their love of the archives on to their students by designing assignments that allow students to work closely with rare and unique archival objects.

Read the full interview with Lisa Surridge and Mary Elizabeth Leighton to learn more about this project.

Tom Gleeson

“I still retreat to my favorite carrel whenever I want to do some real, undistracted, deep work—I love the quiet and focus of this place.”
–Tom Gleeson, Civil Engineering

Professor Tom Gleeson of UVic Engineering is a global expert on hydrology and groundwater sustainability. 

He has worked with UVic librarians to create data management plans to ensure that data sets produced by his research projects are open, accessible, and reusable by other researchers, now and in the future. Tom believes that open access to research data is important to address environmental sustainability. It also provides higher visibility for his research that can lead to new partnerships and connections. 

UVic Libraries is pleased to support research contributions to the global knowledge that can help to tackle large-scale problems like access to clean water.

Read the full interview with Tom Gleeson to learn more about this project.

Sowmya Somanath

“Thanks to the Digital Scholarship Commons, students could borrow hardware from the library without having to purchase the materials, as well as work on their 3D printing assignment by accessing the DSC printers!”
–Sowmya Somanath, Computer Science

Professor Sowmya Somanath of UVic’s computer science department focuses her research on studying, designing, and evaluating computational systems that help people create digital and physical artifacts using electronics, fabrication devices, and virtual reality platforms.  

UVic Libraries has developed custom 3D design and printing workshops—interacting with data in a tangible and physical manner—providing opportunities for Sowmya’s upper level students to plan and fabricate 3D prototypes in creative ways.

UVic Libraries helps students gain practical experience with technologies that can support their learning and career goals.

Read the full interview with Sowmya Somanath to learn more about this project.

Nathan Lachowsky

"People from around the world come to UVic to visit the Transgender Archives. It is a humbling honour to witness the connection of people from a highly marginalized community with decades of history connected to their experiences and realities."
–Nathan Lachowsky, Public Health and Social Policy

Professor Nathan Lachowsky and his community-based research team have worked with the library to create an open access collection of oral histories containing the personal stories of long-term HIV survivors and caregivers in British Columbia.

This unique collection was created as part of the HIV in My Day project. UVic Libraries are providing hosting and long-term preservation of these materials to make certain that they are available for future scholarship and education. This is also an important knowledge mobilization effort, ensuring that the oral histories are returned to the communities that helped to create them.

As UVic’s Special Advisor Health Research, Nathan is also working closely with the libraries on issues related to the ethical management of health research data.

Read the full interview with Nathan Lachowsky to learn more about this project.

Ann Stahl

"The Digital Scholarship Commons and the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab afford free access to up-to-date equipment and software, together with a community of scholars actively working on projects that expand knowledge access through digital media."
–Ann Stahl, Anthropology

Internationally-renowned UVic archaeologist Ann Stahl is working with UVic Libraries to preserve and make available her vast and irreplaceable collection of research material from the Banda region in Ghana.

Her digital exhibit, Banda Through Time, contains photographs and video documenting how several Ghanaian communities negotiated change wrought by centuries of global connections, including recent electrification and the construction of a hydroelectric dam. The exhibit highlights local knowledge and ingenuity and it forms the basis for Middle School curriculum guides that will be implemented across Ghana. The photos, videos, and documents in this exhibit foster active learning about Ghanaian history and culture among Ghanaian and Canadian students alike. 

UVic Libraries is honoured to help Ann ensure that four decades of cultural research materials will be preserved for the ongoing use of the communities that helped produce them.

Read the full interview with Ann Stahl to learn more about this project.

Deborah Curran, Calvin Sandborn & Holly Pattison

"Librarians make the world go around. They help us access information that we have no clue how to find but that is crucial for our legal research and arguments."
–Deborah Curran, Executive Director of the Environmental Law Centre (ELC)

Under the guidance of law professor and Environmental Law Centre (ELC) Executive Director Deborah Curran and Senior Counsel Calvin Sandborn, and with the assistance of ELC Director of Communications and Operations Holly Pattison, students in UVic’s Environmental Law Club partner with the ELC to offer an annual research-a-thon related to a pressing environmental issue.

The event results in advocacy and/or legislative proposals for reforms to environmental laws. UVic law librarians work closely with the ELC to introduce students to tools and techniques for finding information, and to answer questions from the students as they conduct their research. 

UVic Libraries is proud to partner on this important work that tackles critical topics like water access for Indigenous communities, and the role of plastics in global pollution.

Read the full interview with Deborah Curran, Calvin Sandborn and Holly Pattison to learn more about this project.

Angie Chau

"The library has so many amazing resources that our students and faculty should take advantage of—many of our students may not be aware of the Digital Scholarship Commons and what the physical library space offers, so I encourage them to go and check it out in person!"
–Angie Chau, Pacific and Asian Studies

Professor Angie Chau engages students in creative class assignments that allow them to apply their knowledge in artistic ways, while also acquiring practical technical skills.

UVic Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Commons staff have developed custom video editing workshops to help Angie’s students create their own short adaptations of the Chinese-language movies and literature that they have studied in class. In addition, Angie’s students have learned how to imagine alternative narrative possibilities by training them to use the interactive storytelling tool Twine.

UVic Libraries works with instructors to develop hands-on learning opportunities for students.

Read the full interview with Angie Chau learn more about this project.