About

The ETCL is a digital scholarship lab based out of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

The lab leads various events and activities centered around the cross-disciplinary study of textual communication, digital humanities research, project development, and open social scholarship.

Through a series of highly collaborative relationships, the ETCL community comprises well over 600 international researchers. The ETCL is under the umbrella of C-SKI (Canadian Social Knowledge Institute) alongside the Implementing New Knowledge Environments (INKE) Partnership and functions as the hub for several associated events and dedicated research initiatives. The Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) was previously under the C-SKI umbrella until DHSI moved to Montréal in 2025. 

 

 

Values

  • Community-driven scholarship that recognizes collaborative models of knowledge sharing
  • Open practices in digital research, production, and sharing
  • The intellectual development and well-being of our communities
  • Shared mentorship, accountability, and support across multiple disciplines, professions, and groups
  • Inclusive and ethical practices as outlined in the DHSI Statement on Ethics and Inclusion

Our Priorities

  • To promote research that engages with partners and communities to maximize opportunities for impact with a focus on open social scholarship
  • To enhance support for graduate student and postdoctoral research.
  • To integrate and draw on university libraries and their expertise in research-related education, especially concerning digital scholarship
  • To provide opportunity to every student to become engaged in the culture and activities of a research intensive university

Events & Activities

  • Over 450 visiting speakers
  • Annual Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI; 2001–2024 in Victoria, 2025–present in Montréal)
  • Honorary Resident Wikipedian, which became the Future Knowledge Fellowship
  • Open Scholarship Awards
  • Digital Scholarship Fellowship
  • Visiting Scholar & Postdoctoral Opportunities
  • Open Knowledge Program

Core Initiatives

DHSI (until 2025), INKE, and C-SKI are all integral to the core initiatives of the lab. We are thrilled to be involved in several diverse projects with incredible support from each interconnected community. For more details about each initiative, including partners, activities and events, impact, and more, please visit the websites linked below.

DHSI

In collaboration with partners, the ETCL previously led the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI), the largest international DH training institute in the world. DHSI has welcomed more than 6,600 people including faculty, staff, students, and researchers from over 200 institutions around the world. 

Learn more by visiting the DHSI website.

INKE

The Implementing New Knowledge Environments (INKE) Partnership is a North American-based research network with the goal of fostering open social scholarship: academic practice that enables the creation, sharing, and engagement of open research by specialists and non-specialists in accessible and significant ways.

Learn more by visiting the INKE website.

C-SKI

The Canadian Social Knowledge Institute (C-SKI) actively engages with issues related to open social scholarship, creating and sharing research, and research technologies in a broad and accessible way. C-SKI is our primary service mechanism, allowing us to support fellow researchers and students at the University of Victoria and beyond.

Learn more by visiting the C-SKI website.