Workshops

Winter Programming & Hours: January – April 2026

We are closed from December 22, 2025 – January 5 (Winter Break), February 16 (Family Day), April 3 (Good Friday) and April 26, 2026.
For full schedule of Library Building hours: https://library.torontomu.ca/info/hours/

The Library Collaboratory is staffed Monday – Friday (9:30 AM – 4:30 PM).
Please note: The Library Collaboratory entrance is affected by the SLC Building’s hours. Please plan accordingly.

TMU Libraries’ Collaboratory is open for access from:

Monday, December 15 to Sunday, December 21, 2025
Monday to Thursday: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Friday: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Saturday & Sunday: CLOSED

January 5 to January 11, 2026
Monday to Friday: 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Saturday – Sunday: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM

January 12 to April 12, 2026
Monday to Friday: 7:00 AM – 1:00 AM
Saturday – Sunday, 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM

April 13 to April 26, 2026
Monday to Friday: 7:00 AM – 1:00 AM
Saturday, April 18: 8:00 AM – 1:00 AM
Sunday, April 19: 10:00 AM – 1:00 AM
Saturday, April 25: 8:00 AM – 1:00 AM

Be sure to check our calendar for all other scheduled programs and closures not listed here.

Workshops are offered throughout the semester, some in-person only and some online only.
Research consultations are available for Library Collaboratory members. If you are not a member, and interested in becoming one, learn more about membership here.

If you are a faculty member getting new research off the ground, contact us about training and in-kind support.

* Appointments for consultation may only be made by members of the Library Collaboratory.

Workshops

* Except where otherwise noted, workshops, talks and presentations hosted at the Library Collaboratory are open to all of the Toronto Metropolitan University community.

January

Seeing Ourselves in Robots: A Curious Look at Anthropomorphism
Wednesday, January 21 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM | IN-PERSON

This presentation will not be discussing Large Language Models (LLM) or complex AI systems. Nor should participants expect  to build robots from scratch, either. Instead, come join the Library Collaboratory Research Technology Officer for a fun and curious look at how humans can’t help but see life in machines.

Through simple robot demonstrations and interactive moments, participants will explore how easy it is to  project emotions, intentions, and even personalities onto the most basic of robots. This presentation is  a lighthearted dive into the very human habit of treating machines as though they are alive.

Please note: Library Collaboratory workshop instructors will not sign attendance forms for courses.

Register Now

Text Mining and Topic Modeling with Orange 3
Tuesday, January 27 | 5 – 7:00 PM | IN-PERSON

Struggling to efficiently review extensive research literature? Join this hands-on walkthrough workshop to learn how topic modeling and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) can streamline your literature review process with the help of the open-source tool, Orange 3.

In this peer-to-peer learning workshop, you will learn how guest instructor Zarah, a TMU Professional Communication graduate student, is actively using topic modelling in her own research.

Participants will learn how text analysis capabilities of Orange 3 can speed up and automate literature reviews by analyzing papers without getting bogged down in manual reviews.

Using a case study of “binge-watching,” participants will be shown how to use this tool to efficiently uncover the core themes and topics within large volumes of text and research data.

No technical or previous experience is required.

Bring a laptop with the software and add-ons installed, along with the CSV.
All materials linked below are required to follow along, and should be downloaded and installed prior to the workshop.

Please note: Library Collaboratory workshop instructors will not sign attendance forms for courses.

Register Now!

February

Creating and Printing a Lithophane
Tuesday, February 10 | 1- 2 PM | IN-PERSON

A lithophane is an object for the display of an image in 3D relief. Illuminated from behind, light passes through layers of translucent material, revealing the image in detail. Invented in the early 19th century, and originally made of porcelain or bone china, lithophanes are becoming popular again because of modern 3D printing techniques. 3D printing techniques permit far easier and faster methods for making lithophanes.

Participants will learn how to:

  1. prepare an image to be printed as a lithophane;
  2. 3D print the image;
  3. display a printed lithophane.

No prior experience is necessary.

Participants are required to bring their own laptop, and encouraged to choose an image to work with, in advance of the workshop. There are no constraints on resolution or image size. The printed lithophane will be between 10x10cm and 20x20cm. Participants may wish to choose an image that will look reasonable at that size.

Participants should also install Bambu Studio in advance. Bambu Studio is free and available at this link: https://bambulab.com/en/download/studio

Please note: Library Collaboratory workshop instructors will not sign attendance forms for courses.

Register Now

Text Mining and Topic Modeling with Orange 3
Tuesday, February 24 | 5 – 7:00 PM | IN-PERSON

Struggling to efficiently review extensive research literature? Join this hands-on walkthrough workshop to learn how topic modeling and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) can streamline your literature review process with the help of the open-source tool, Orange 3.

In this peer-to-peer learning workshop, you will learn how guest instructor Zarah, a TMU Professional Communication graduate student, is actively using topic modelling in her own research.

Participants will learn how text analysis capabilities of Orange 3 can speed up and automate literature reviews by analyzing papers without getting bogged down in manual reviews.

Using a case study of “binge-watching,” participants will be shown how to use this tool to efficiently uncover the core themes and topics within large volumes of text and research data.

No technical or previous experience is required.

Bring a laptop with the software and add-ons installed, along with the CSV.
All materials linked below are required to follow along, and should be downloaded and installed prior to the workshop.

Please note: Library Collaboratory workshop instructors will not sign attendance forms for courses.

Register Now

March

POSTPONED

Text Mining and Topic Modeling with Orange 3
Tuesday, November 25 | 5 – 7:00 PM | IN-PERSON

Struggling to efficiently review extensive research literature? Join this hands-on walkthrough workshop to learn how topic modeling and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) can streamline your literature review process with the help of the open-source tool, Orange 3.

In this peer-to-peer learning workshop, you will learn how guest instructor Zarah, a TMU Professional Communication graduate student, is actively using topic modelling in her own research.

Participants will learn how text analysis capabilities of Orange 3 can speed up and automate literature reviews by analyzing papers without getting bogged down in manual reviews.

Using a case study of “binge-watching,” participants will be shown how to use this tool to efficiently uncover the core themes and topics within large volumes of text and research data.

No technical or previous experience is required.

Bring a laptop with the software and add-ons installed, along with the CSV.
All materials linked below are required to follow along, and should be downloaded and installed prior to the workshop.

Please note: Library Collaboratory workshop instructors will not sign attendance forms for courses.

Register Now

April

PART 1: Pre-Production from Idea to Script: Adapting Scholarly Writing for Podcasting for Grad Students
Monday, December 1 | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM | ONLINE

Podcasting is a creative way to disseminate current or past research and ideas in an audio format.

This workshop will take participants through some of the basics of adapting pre-existing papers or other written research into a podcast script. Participants will also be guided through advantages and disadvantages of different types of podcast structures and format, as well as considerations for clarity and word choice and tips for incorporating sound and music to enhance the overall narrative.

As an added bonus, through the process of adapting scholarly work into a script, researchers may even re-examine their work in new ways or gain further insight by coming at it from another perspective. Podcasting can be a creative and satisfying outlet that doesn’t derail the research and dissemination process, but rather makes it stronger.

Participants can expect to listen to excerpts of both scholarly and less scholarly examples. If time permits, participants will have the opportunity to work on “translating” a sample of writing from something scholarly to something still scholarly but more meaningful and engaging.

Please note: Library Collaboratory workshop instructors will not sign attendance forms for courses.

POSTPONED

PART 2: Audacity 101: Podcast Production and Post-Production for Grad Students
Friday, December 5 | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Location TBD

Picking up where Part 1 leaves off, this workshop is designed for students who are about to go into production and/or post-production of a podcast or audio piece. Participants can expect to learn:

  1. Tips on how to best record voice and sound without breaking the bank
  2. How to edit raw recordings
  3. How to incorporate sounds and samples using Creative Commons-licensed sources
    • Learn to cite sounds and samples from other sources

This workshop will use Audacity, a free, open-source and powerful little multi-track audio editing piece of software. Audacity is available for a variety of operating systems, including Mac, Windows and Linux.
Find the right version of software at this link: https://www.audacityteam.org/

Audacity should be downloaded and installed prior to the workshop so that participants can more easily follow along.

Participants should expect to leave the workshop with a completed 2 – 5 minute audio piece of their making. If time allows, there may be a short discussion on where to “publish” podcasts for dissemination.

Please note: Library Collaboratory workshop instructors will not sign attendance forms for courses.

POSTPONED