import improvements to workflows from https://github.com/UCD-SERG/quarto-book-template

[d-morrison]

also improvements to copilot-instructions.md

[github-actions]

This GitHub issue proposes importing workflow improvements from the quarto-book-template repository by UCD-SERG into the current project. The suggested changes likely aim to enhance or streamline existing workflows, making them more efficient or organized. Detailed specifics of the improvements are not provided, so further discussion or review of the source repository may be necessary to identify and implement relevant updates.