Strategic funding
We provide funding each year to support innovative projects by librarians and library staff. These projects demonstrate the varied ways in which staff work to advance UVic Libraries’ values and strategic priorities.
From 2022–2024, these projects were funded through the Coming out of Covid Fund and the Strategic Directions Knowledge Impact Fund.
As of 2025, projects are funded through the Seed Fund, which is jointly presented by UVic Libraries and Kula: Library Futures Academy.
By the numbers
Total funding awarded each year:
2022 total
2023 total
2024 total
2025 total
Total number of funded projects each year:
projects funded
2022projects funded
2023projects funded
2024projects funded
2025
Sustainable Development Goals
UVic Libraries is committed to advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs promote practical solutions toward increasing equality, opportunity, and support for all.
Each of our funded projects is designed to align with one or more SDGs. Here are the top SDGs associated with our projects so far:
- SDG 4 (Quality education): 35 projects funded
- SDG 9 (Industry, innovation, and infrastructure): 12 projects funded
- SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities): 13 projects funded
- SDG 16 (Peace, justice, and strong institutions): 12 projects funded
Seed Fund projects
The Libraries and Kula Academy have funded 15 projects for the 2025/26 period.
Highlights from past projects
See the outcomes of some of our past projects. Browse exhibits and read about the initiatives and partnerships that have been in the news.
British Columbia Historical Textbooks Interactive Digital Library
Project years: 2022, 2023
The British Columbia Historical Textbooks (BCHT) Interactive Digital Library project is a successful, ongoing initiative with many collaborators. The aim of the project is to use digital technologies to preserve and increase access to central primary sources from the history of education in the province. BCHT also provides a significant opportunity for decolonizing collective historical narratives and working towards broad public dialogue for reconciliation.
Collaborate & Create: Enhancing Entrepreneurial Resources and Engagement at UVic Libraries
Project year: 2025
What role can UVic Libraries play in innovation? Inspired by successful campus competitions such as PlanIt and PitchIt, we introduced a program for student entrepreneurs tailored to library innovation. We invited students to pitch proposals to improve library services, enhance existing workflows, introduce new sustainable initiatives, or develop digital tools (e.g. a library app) that help us improve our services to the community.
Indigenous Histories Awareness Video Project
Project year: 2023
The Indigenous Histories Awareness Video was created to convey the multifaceted histories of these lands. Through this project we intended to not only acknowledge the territory where the university stands but also acknowledge the complex histories present on lands surrounding the university including acknowledgement of treaties, historical and contemporary community locations, and Indigenous place names.
Living with Climate Change: A Student-Led Learning Series
Project year: 2022
Living with Climate Change was a student-led initiative aimed at addressing climate anxiety and empowering students to consider creative ways to adapt to climate challenges. In addition to a library exhibition of student art and research, the project involved an arts-based workshop, three academic events, a full-day round table conversation, and a field trip to participate in a local climate change remediation activity.
The project took a multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach, with partners across campus and in the community. The team was made up of students, faculty, and staff from UVic, St. Margaret’s School and Claremont Secondary School, including support from multiple faculties, the Libraries, the community-engaged learning office, the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium.
Open Science Community of Victoria
Project year: 2025
This project supported the development of the Open Science Community of Victoria (OSCV), a collaborative initiative between the University of Victoria and Royal Roads University. This community of practice provides a collaborative environment where members learn open research practices and connect with colleagues across disciplines and career stages. The inaugural gathering featured short talks by founding members and a facilitated discussion. Activities also include workshops, meet‑ups, and panels that support learning and collaboration. As the community grows, its aim is to mentor the next generation of scholars, help shape institutional open science policies, and contribute to broader conversations on research reform.
Surfacing the Nature and Scope of Residential School Denialism in Canada
Project year: 2024
This project was launched to surface the growing harmful trend of residential school system denial in Canada and investigate the ways denialism is manifesting in our society. The project activities harnessed UVic Libraries’ digital resources and research expertise towards serving as a leader in raising awareness of this developing national concern. Outputs included online learning resources to raise awareness of and access to the findings and serve as ongoing educational resources towards the collective goal of broad public dialogue for reconciliation.
Unlocking the past: AI-powered Discovery for Victoria's Historical Press Archives
Project year: 2025
This project contributed to developing an open-source retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipeline using historic newspapers held by UVic Libraries. RAG is a powerful approach that blends information retrieval with generative AI to produce accurate, context-aware responses grounded in authoritative source material. This RAG pipeline can serve as a template for other institutions looking to responsibly use LLMs with digitized collections.
Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: Asian Canadian Content
Project year: 2022
This project provides practice-based teaching support for instructors and librarians who are interested in embedding Wikipedia assignments in their courses. Using the UVic course PAAS 302 (Fall 2022) as a case study, the project examines how librarians, instructors, and teaching assistants could collaborate in curriculum design and course teaching. We created a teaching toolkit based on the students' actual learning experiences and feedback, elaborating on the challenges, barriers, and possible solutions in using Wikipedia editing for assignments in multilingual and multicultural Asian Studies classrooms. The whole toolkit, along with its appendices, is readily accessible to all, offered under the Creative Commons license, and downloadable in both Word and PDF formats. Our article “Collaborative Teaching to Impact: Embedding Wikipedia Editing in an Asian Studies Curriculum” In Journal of East Asian Libraries received 374 downloads since March 2024.