We had heard of a hackathon but never in the context of historical research. We wanted to participate so we could enrich our understanding of subject matter we found interesting, and the event was a good opportunity to explore Duke’s research resources. It was enjoyable because our group’s collaboration could really drive the direction of our research, which led us to a more comprehensive understanding of our topic. We would participate again, especially now that we have a greater understanding of Duke’s infrastructure to support inquiry and research.
– Jake Parker
Category: Media
Many thanks to Rob Palmisano and the Duke Chronicle for their coverage of our event in today’s Chronicle.
At Duke’s first-ever HistoryHackathon—which occurred during a 72-hour period last weekend—undergraduate student teams created collaborative research projects using the collections at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. A panel of experts will rank the top three projects by Nov. 1 and award cash prizes to the winners. The event was designed to expose undergraduates from all disciplines to the Rubenstein collections and allow them to work with graduate students, faculty and librarians, said Ryan Poe, a history Ph.D. candidate and one of the organizers of the event.
Read more of Rob’s coverage at The Chronicle‘s website
As a slight correction, the Rubenstein Library holds 10,000 manuscript collections (comprising over 17 million documents) and 350,000 rare books! Wow!
