MDL Blog

“He unrolled his map at a board meeting and it was a revelation to see so much fabulous work. It was a great manuscript. The Surveyor-General saw it and said: ‘My God, we’ve got to publish it.‘”- Michael Smart, formerly of the Ontario Geographical… Read more ...

We are delighted to share a guest blog post by Jeff Allen, Senior Research Associate; Lead, Maps & Data Visualization, School of Cities, University of Toronto.
By looking at places from above, we can uncover the layered history of our… Read more ...

Who owns your data? What does it tell them about you? How do you identify online disinformation? Most importantly, how do you take back control?
In celebration of Data Privacy Week (January 26-30), librarians and staff from the Gerstein Science… Read more ...

AI is affecting many aspects of research and education, and qualitative research is no exception. There is a growing interest in the appropriateness and effectiveness of using AI tools in various aspects of qualitative research from transcription to… Read more ...

As many of you know, the Map & Data Library has been under renovation since May 1, 2024. Nearly two years later, we are finally preparing to move into our new space on the 5th floor of Robarts Library later this semester! There will be a soft… Read more ...

Leanne Trimble is Head of the Map & Data Library. She has a BA in urban geography & architectural history (U of T), a Master of Information Studies (U of T), and a certificate in Applied Digital Geography and GIS (TMU). She has worked at U… Read more ...

Ready to learn some new data skills for 2026! Now's the time to sign up for a Map & Data Library Workshop!
We are offering a variety of online and in-person workshops (in Robarts Library 4th floor computer lab).
Topics include:

Geographic… Read more ...

Imagine you’re a Mediterranean sailor in the late thirteenth century. You’re setting out from Genoa with little more than experience, the wind, and a hefty dose of bravery. But in your cabin lies a new kind of map, not a mystical mappa mundi dotted… Read more ...

Looking for a one-stop guide for getting started with particular data-related tools that includes tutorials, workshop recordings, article and book recommendations, and more? Check out our Getting Started Guides.
For qualitative data analysis (QDA)… Read more ...

Update December 10, 2025: many thanks to an attentive reader who noted we initially used the wrong image at the bottom of the blog post. It has now been corrected.
As we bundle ourselves up here in Toronto, let's take a moment to appreciate the… Read more ...

Did you know that in addition to the Map & Data Library's live workshops and past workshop recordings, we also offer a number of self-paced online courses, that you can self-enroll and take at any time using your UTORID? They are built in… Read more ...

Nick Field is our Data Support Specialist at the Map & Data Library. They have a PhD in the Study of Religion, and they are currently completing a Master of Information, both from the University of Toronto.  
Learn more about Nick:
Q:… Read more ...

The Map & Data Library follows the University of Toronto closure dates, so we will be closed Dec. 24, 2025 to Jan. 2, 2026 inclusive.
While our staff won't be around, there are still many ways to get help during the break:

Take on online self-… Read more ...

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
Hosted at the University of Michigan, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is a consortia of over 800 academic and research groups with a… Read more ...

The Map & Data Library's collection of fire insurance plans and atlases provides a wealth of information about the history of Toronto's built environment. These maps go back as far as 1880 and show details such as streets & railroads,… Read more ...

Celebrating GIS Day: Mapping for Everyone
Every November, we celebrate GIS Day - a global event that highlights the power of spatial thinking. Since 1999, it's been a day to share maps, tell stories, and invite others to explore the layers of… Read more ...

Researchers working with spatial data increasingly rely on authoritative basemaps, curated thematic layers and accessible climate information. Three Esri-affiliated resources—the Community Map of Canada, the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, and the… Read more ...

Did you really want to attend a Map & Data Library workshop, but it conflicted with your schedule? 
Did you attend a workshop, but wish you could go back and review one section? 
Are you someone who prefers to work through workshop… Read more ...

Are you looking to learn a new technical skill once the term is over? Is reacquainting yourself with Excel, Tableau, PowerBI, Python, or R a holiday goal?
U of T has a subscription to the O'Reilly Online Learning platform, where you can read their… Read more ...

On Halloween, it’s easy to think of haunted houses and ghost stories, but what’s truly chilling for researchers is the sudden vanishing of data, the silence of a backup that never ran, the crash you didn’t anticipate, the repository that disappears… Read more ...

In Canada, data is often framed as a neutral resource—a tool governments use to guide policy and measure progress. Yet, when it comes to Indigenous communities, the ways in which information has historically been gathered, stored, and interpreted… Read more ...

Kelly Schultz (she/her) is a Data Librarian at the Map & Data Library (MDL). She supports faculty, staff, and students with qualitative data analysis and data visualization. She is also the teaching coordinator at MDL and offers various… Read more ...

We're excited to announce two guides from U of T Libraries designed to support researchers with their research data management (RDM) needs.
The Research Data Management Guide offers comprehensive resources and best practices to support you and your… Read more ...

In honour of LGBT History month, it is important to recognize that although looking at the data can tell you a lot about history, that understanding is only as good as the data it relies on. Historically, many marginalized groups were excluded from… Read more ...

November is going to be a busy month for data visualization! I'm offering a number of introductory workshops on Gephi, Tableau, Infographics, and new for this term, Power BI.
First up we have Gephi. Gephi is a free, open-source, point-and-click tool… Read more ...