The Steacie Library Dungeon Hackfest: Hackers in the Library Coding, Collaborating and Creating

Abstract

The Steacie Science and Engineering Library at York University hosted its first annual Steacie Library Dungeon Hackfest in February 2013. The purpose of a hackfest is to spend a day (or longer) using computer programming skills to collaborate on a particular software project and, hopefully, bring the project to reality. The project may be an app, widget, or website. It is evident that hackfests, as a form of engaged learning, help to reinforce the relevance of the library since it has implications for information literacy, open access, faculty liaison, and the changing perception of library as place. Twenty-five participants that included students, faculty, and staff hacked on Open York Data: York University’s openly accessible records and data such as course codes, lab stats of computers available in various libraries, subject headings, and research interests of faculty. The Hackfest produced several innovative ideas including a “Class Optimizer” program to help students generate a course schedule, and a mobile android app “YU Labs” that informs students of the computers available in a specific library. Library instruction was informally imparted during the Hackfest. There were discussions about open source, developing a research idea, and recommended tools to help students complete their projects. This article encapsulates the inspiration behind the Hackfest, discusses the library as the host, the resources used, the theme, achievements, and assessment. To summarize, the library Hackfest provided a space for literacy, life-long learning, and support of the open source pedagogy.