The Digital Scholarship Commons (DSC) had a productive 2024, supporting students, faculty, and staff to explore new ways to share their research. Going beyond traditional text, we helped them tell compelling stories that enhanced their public scholarship and boosted their knowledge mobilization efforts. For a visual summary of this report, please check out the DSC 2024 Year in Review Infographic.
“So far, I’ve found the Library to have the best UVic-based resources for AI in general. I’m recommending them to my students.” – UVic Professor
Workshops
The two most popular workshops in 2024 were our Generative AI Introduction and Infographics workshops, with 700 participants attending each. Another 228 people attended workshops in the newly created Generative AI Workshop Pathway, which focuses on using AI tools for research and productivity. Our next most popular workshops were Websites with WordPress, Data Analysis with Excel, Video Editing, Podcasting & 3D Design & Printing. DSC workshops are all Creative Commons licensed and align with the British Columbia Post-Secondary Digital Literacy Framework. In 2024, the total number of participants in DSC workshops was 6,389, a 1% decrease from 2023.
DSC workshops were led by a range of instructors, with DSC staff leading the majority of workshops and Advanced Research Services librarians teaching most of the rest. Please note that in addition to DSC workshops, librarians lead other non-DSC workshops for classes in their subject areas that are not counted here.
The DSC workshop curriculum web pages were accessed 84,600 times in 2024, up significantly from 51,532 in 2023. The global reach of the DSC continues to broaden with learners from all over the world using the DSC’s Creative Commons (CC-BY) licensed curriculum. The top countries accessing DSC workshops are Canada (32%), the United States (24%), Indonesia (7%), India (5%), the Philippines (4%), the United Kingdom (3%), Australia (2%), as well as 114 more countries (24%).
The DSC collaborated with professors in 24 departments to integrate DSC workshops into their course offerings. Professors in Education, Anthropology, Indigenous Education, English, Pacific & Asian Studies, and Gender Studies were our most frequent collaborators.
“The DSC often plays a role in filling ‘research education’ gaps that address a skill-based need appearing across campus but not sufficiently supported by current curricula.” – Graduate Student
Select Collaborations with Faculty & Community Organizations
Young Minds, Big Ideas, 3D Design & Print Adventures:
Twenty-eight bright, curious first-graders from Macaulay Elementary School’s French immersion program were by far the most interesting student group that visited the DSC in 2024. The DSC hosted hands-on workshops for seven different classes from schools around Greater Victoria as part of the Libraries’ public outreach and campus student recruitment efforts in 2024.
The first-grade students from Macaulay’s brought ample energy and enthusiasm to the 3D Design and Print workshop. Led by our talented Graduate Assistant, Brittany Johnson, these young students experienced a hands-on, gentle introduction to the world of 3D design and printing. Brittany guided the students through a simple, playful design activity that gave each child the chance to design a small 3D object and then have it printed using the Libraries’ 3D printers. The looks on their faces when they were told that each of their designs would be 3D printed for them were priceless.
The workshop not only introduced these young minds to digital design concepts but also sparked their interest in advanced technology in a way that was engaging and approachable. Brittany is researching how 3D design and printing could potentially contribute to learning in K-12 students as part of her Masters in Education major project.
We look forward to continuing to host more workshops that reach a broad range of age groups and interests, knowing that even the youngest members of our community have so much to gain from these interactive, skill-building experiences. This workshop was a clear demonstration of how 3D design and printing can be a very effective learning tool—and how it can help make learning an exciting and joyful experience!
DSC Support for SEXPO 2024 & Thunderfest:
The DSC supported the Libraries’ presence at the Student Unions’ SEXPO 2024 by 3D printing over 200 clitoris models in various colours. These models were popular with attendees and distributed at the library’s booth by librarians.
The DSC also supported the Libraries’ presence at Thunderfest by designing and fabricating 150 custom pins. Using the DSC’s laser-cutter, our student employees created these unique pins, which were given to students who visited the Libraries’ information table at Thunderfest. This contribution directly supported the Libraries’ outreach efforts during Thunderfest and increased the visibility of the DSC’s services to students.
Reproducibility for All Series:
In Fall 2024 we launched “Reproducibility for All”, a workshop series in collaboration with Research Computing Services to equip students and researchers with essential knowledge and skills in data management. Librarians, research computing experts, and faculty partnered to develop the workshops, which drew 127 registrants. Covering topics from pre-registration to software preservation, the series aimed to foster a culture of open science on campus, building transparency and trust in research. Read more about this wonderful event in ITHAKA S+R.
“I love all the workshops you offer, keep up the great work :)” – Undergraduate Student
New, Upgraded, & Upcoming Workshops
- NEW – GenAI: NotebookLM a Personal Tool for Research & Productivity: This workshop focuses on using NoteBookLM, a personal GenAI tool that becomes an expert on the specific documents you provide. It uses these documents as its training data. Participants will engage in hands-on activities to explore GenAI tool usage and learn how to evaluate output for accuracy and potential biases, based on the uploaded documents.
- NEW – GenAI Advanced Research Tools: Participants install and use a local Generative AI software on a laptop to perform sentiment analysis on free-form survey questions, and query documents you provide it (RAG).
- NEW – Interactive & Multimedia Website Content with H5P: H5P is an open-source toolkit that allows users to create interactive web-based content to make learning more engaging. H5P can act as a tool for educators to create self-paced instruction and self-assessments. For example, H5P interactive videos help create a more dynamic, engaging, and learner-centred environment that supports various educational goals, from increasing engagement and comprehension to providing personalized learning experiences and real-time feedback.
- NEW – Zine Making: Zines are self-published works typically created to share thoughts, feelings, creativity, experiences, and knowledge. Zines are part of a DIY culture that often includes people from marginalized communities or those who lack access to mainstream publishing options.
- UPDATED – GenAI: Introduction & Prompt Design: We updated this popular workshop with an additional activity that explores how to effectively use a GenAI tool to give formative assessment for assignments you’ve completed. Also explored are specific prompts you can use to gain insights into whether you’ve fully addressed all aspects of the assignment and to receive targeted suggestions for enhancing the clarity and quality of your writing.
- UPCOMING – Laser-cut Ocean Floor Maps: This workshop walks you through the process of creating a laser-cut contour map of bodies of water and surrounding land.
- UPCOMING – GenAI: Presentation & Multi-Media Tools: Workshop participants will experiment with the use of GenAI tools to facilitate research and knowledge mobilization by creating media like images, videos, and audio recordings.
- UPCOMING – AI Tools for Advanced Literature Reviews: Workshop participants will explore the use of GenAI to assist with graduate-level research for idea generation and literature reviews, and consider ethical considerations.
“The written instructions for the Excel workshops were very clear and helpful. I love UVic workshops for this feature.” – Graduate student
Digital Badges & Informal Credentialing
The DSC informal credentialing pilot project continued in 2024 with a total of 490 badges issued for the successful completion of digital fluency workshops. Students had to explicitly opt in to receive a badge, at which point the workshop instructor reviewed the work to make sure it met the requirements for earning a badge.
By far, our most popular badge is for our Data Analysis with Excel workshop, which is a skill in high demand by many co-op employers. The Infographics, 3D Design & Print, Design and Layout with Canva, and Qualitative Data Analysis & Coding with Taguette workshop badges are the next four most popular informal credentials the DSC offers. These badges communicate to employers co-curricular and extracurricular skills in which learners have demonstrated competency.
“Even though I’ve already been using Zotero for a while, I learned some new things! It was useful to see Matt troubleshoot something about the program that had changed during the session.” – Staff, Social Sciences
Graduate Student Experts & Young Canada Works Interns
David Johnson was our Young Canada Works intern for 2024 and 2025. He completed a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at UVic and has 6 years of design & 3D modelling experience from his academics and his work on the UVic Formula Hybrid team. He supported the DSC by operating our 3D printers, laser cutter, and large format printer for jobs submitted by students, staff, and faculty. He created and edited content, and helped host our workshops offered each month.
Joshua Umahi was one of our new Quantitative Analysis GA’s. Joshua is close to finishing his Master’s degree in Computer Science, focusing on Artificial Intelligence. Joshua has also worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Faculty of Engineering, and brought with him a wealth of experience with not only Generative AI, but also data analysis tools like RStudio, and Microsoft Excel.
Audrey Tung was our Qualitative Analysis GA. Audrey is working on her PhD in Geography. For her MA, she critically examined responses to household food insecurity using a combination of qualitative methods. Audrey is also working as a Research Associate for the Solutions to Homelessness and Health in Older Women (SHHOW) project. Her PhD research focuses on older women who have experienced intimate partner violence and homelessness or housing insecurity. Some of her other research interests include: homelessness; housing insecurity; food insecurity; arts-based research; ethics of care.
Chloë Farr was our returning Computer Programming & Electronics GA. Chloe is a linguistics graduate student focusing on computer and mobile-assisted language learning and wrote her thesis on large language models’ place in additional language learning. Some of her other research interests include Human-technology interactions and technology-mediated communication; Humane technology; and Indigenous language revitalization.
Brittany Johnson was Curriculum GA. Brittany is working on her MEd degree, and you may recognize her from the two summer YCW positions that she worked in the DSC while she was an undergraduate student. Brittany was helping us update some of our workshops, adding additional activities to some of our newer workshops, and led some of the workshops that she has helped develop.
Farewells
Cameron Chevrier finished their summer Young Canada Works internship with us, assisting with our Laser Cutter and 3D printers. We wish them all the best as they further pursue their studies.
“The ArcGIS workshop was excellent and a great start. Made me interested in continuing to do workshops! I have to say the most valuable part was being able to chat with Daniel at the end. Great instructor, interested in our work, very helpful. Happy to have access to this service here at UVic!” – Graduate Student, HSD