Booking Space in the Lab
Current Arts and Humanities students, instructors, faculty, and staff are eligible to request VRC Lab appointments to use select equipment and software to digitize or photograph negatives, 2D artworks, and other visual materials.
Unfortunately, the VRC cannot support Lab access for alumni or others not affiliated with the University. For text scanning projects, please explore opportunities at the DIY Digitization Lab.
Appointments are required to use VRC Lab equipment and software. Appointments are offered based on eligibility and equipment and staff availability during VRC hours, Mondays—Fridays, between 9am and 4:45pm.
To request an appointment:
- Introduce Your Project
Email us at visualresources@uchicago.edu with the details of your request. Please share as much information as you can about your project, including a description of the items you need to digitize, such as their media, relative dimensions, and quantity. Please let us know if you have a project deadline or timing constraints. We may ask additional questions over email about your project needs and campus affiliation in order to evaluate your request.
- Evaluation
If your request falls under the VRC’s umbrella of support, we’ll proceed with making an appointment reservation. We will communicate with you about specific details for your appointment, including what to expect, how to save your files, etc. If your request falls outside of VRC support, we may refer you to other campus partners and resources.
During Your Appointment
When you arrive at the VRC (CWAC 257), please check in with Caitlin Cooner or Bridget Madden first. All Lab appointments require a quick consultation to assess your project materials to ensure they’re safe and appropriate for VRC Lab equipment.
VRC Lab Guidelines
- We ask that you please respect your reservation and conclude all work at the end of your appointment time so other users can begin their appointments. Users will need to make an appointment for each workspace and start and end their appointment at the scheduled time so others may use the equipment. The VRC Lab closes promptly at 4:45pm. If you no longer need your selected time, please cancel your appointment.
- No food or drink is allowed in the VRC. All food and drink must be in the Lounge (CWAC 166).
- Please remove any watches, rings, bracelets, and necklaces before entering the VRC Lab. Please store your bag under the table of your workstation.
- All files will need to be transferred to a personal drive or cloud storage. Please build transfer time into your appointment. The VRC cannot guarantee files stored on desktops, and we cannot access your user profile.
- The VRC cannot store project materials between appointments.