Use the Lab

Welcome! We are glad you are here

The Scholars’ Lab, part of the Library’s Digital Humanities Center, is a gathering place—and a tech-enabled workspace for learning, exploration, and practice of digital scholarship.

As a research center, we invite students, faculty, and community scholars who wish to ask new questions with and of technology, or to push disciplinary and methodological boundaries through new approaches.

Hours + Location Map

Hours

Unless reserved for a special event, the Scholars’ Lab is open whenever Shannon Library is open; Scholars' Lab's Makerspace is open for a subset of those hours that varies by term:

Availability

Planning a trip to the Lab? Check the calendar below to see if we have any events scheduled during your visit. During most of our public events, the Lab will remain open for quiet use, but it will be noisier than usual. Very infrequently, we host private events, and we may ask you to move to another part of the Library.

For more information about our space and what it has to offer, see Use of Scholars' Lab Spaces.

Location Map

The Scholars' Lab is located in the University of Virginia's Edgar Shannon Library (formerly Alderman), covering the 3rd floor east wing.

From the Memorial Hall entrance (4th floor), we're one flight down. From the new McCormick Road entrance (2nd floor), we're one floor up. The UVA Library provides directions to the building, including a guide to the new Shannon building.

Scholars' Lab Map

Click the map to view a larger version:

A map showing Scholars' Lab's place on the 3rd floor of Shannon Library
  • Green: public space
  • Yellow: mediated space (see hours, below)
  • Red: private space (or by approved appointment/office hours/event)

Shannon 3rd Floor Map

Click the map to view a larger version:

A map showing Scholars' Lab's place on the 3rd floor of Shannon Library

Spaces

Our public space includes:

  • GIS & 3D data processing workstations
  • Specialized software for GIS, 3D data processing, and OCR
  • Flatbed scanners (large format)
  • VR station for collaborative project development, immersive presentations, and demos
  • Makerspace (Shannon 308i)
  • Open co-work space (Scholars' Lab Common Room, aka "CR"; Shannon 308)
  • Teaching & event space w/ projection (Scholars' Lab Common Room, aka "CR"; Shannon 308)
  • Consultation room (available for reservations in evenings and on weekends; Shannon 308K)
  • Digital Humanities Working Library (for reference/in-library use)

Use of Scholars' Lab Spaces

The Scholars’ Lab public space supports a number of activities, including digital project presentations, collaborative project development, speaker events, workshops, technology demonstrations, instruction sessions, and interest groups./

Reservations for the presentation and VR spaces are available by appointment, with prior approval of Scholars’ Lab staff. If you have use requests or special event proposals, please send them to scholarslab@virginia.edu. Spaces may not be reserved for regular (semester-long) courses, student meetings, or group study.