DSC Lab workstations offer an expanded range of software covering a variety of digital methods and tasks. See below for more information on available software.

To use the workstations, you must first request access. Responses should be within a few minutes or less.

Note that the machines use a shared account and password. Make sure you do not leave sensitive data on these machines and be sure to log out of any online services (email, etc.) before you log off of the computer.

The individual tables are reservable for class sessions, workshops, and project team meetings. Contact us at digitalscholarship@ucsc.edu to inquire about reserving the entire lab.  The lab, equipment, and space reservations are available to UCSC affiliates.

In addition to physical access to our lab beginning July 1st, we will continue to make one Windows PC available for remote access. The software tabs below describe the software available on this machine unless indicated otherwise below. Some software we are not able to offer remotely due to licensing restrictions.

Learn more about remote lab access.

The DSC has two Fujitsu Scansnap SV600 Overhead Scanners available for quick, overhead scanning needs. You will need to bring your own computer for scanning.

To Scan with Overhead Scanners

• Download the scanner drivers ➚ prior to use.
• You will need the ScanSnap Installer and the ScanSnap Manager software
• You may choose also to download ABBYY FineReader for ScanSnap™ 5.0

Note: The ScanSnap will NOT scan directly into Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Pro. All scans will, however, default as PDFs.

The DSC has one Epson Expression 11000XL Photo Scanner available for standard photo scanning. The scanner can read large size documents and books, as well as slides or other hard-to-scan items. There is an iMac connected to the scanner.

We also have a hardware guide to get you started.

For help with slide scanning, please email digitalscholarship@ucsc.edu to set up a consultation and arrange access to the slide carrier.

Self-Service

The Digital Commons provides access to software and hardware, but we cannot provide expert support for all functionality. The user is responsible for all work conducted on these workstations.

Saving Work

• These are public computers. Data saved on the machines can be viewed by others. Please care for your data responsibly by saving it to an external hard drive or cloud storage and, whenever possible, deleting it from the lab machine after each use.
• Files saved to the “DS Commons” folder are accessible from any DSC computer.
• All data is deleted at the end of each quarter.

Need Help?

We can provide limited help during our Student Support Hours. Our Tutorials + Resources section provide introductions to some of the software we have used to support classes on campus.

Usage Statistics

The DSC Lab workstations log usage statistics. We do not retain a record of websites visited or searched. Usage statistics include information on which programs are being used and for how long. These statistics help us determine what software to maintain, workshops to offer, and how best to support the digital goals of our users.

For more information on UCSC campus policies regarding computer usage, please see the Accepted Use Policy ➚ and the Traffic Monitoring and Privacy ➚ statement.