Theme: Business Archive Hackathons
Where: Online – via Zoom
When: 28th April 2026, 12.30 – 13.30
What can a hackathon—a format more commonly associated with technology and computer science—offer to business archives?
Join Dr Hannah-Louise Clark (University of Glasgow) as she shares insights from Global History Hackathons, an innovative project showing how collaborative, fast-paced hackathon methods can open up new ways of exploring global and business history through local archives and museum collections.
Dr Clark will also introduce the Global History Hackathon Playbook, a practical resource for archivists and custodians looking to experiment with new forms of engagement and discovery.
In 2026, BAC and BACS intend to use this methodology with business archive collections to explore its potential to foster academic and archivist collaborations. Claire Tunstall of Unilever Archives & Records Management will share plans for the first of these hackathons which will take place in Port Sunlight in July.
This initiative came out of our Academics/Archivists workshop at the York conference which Alix Green, University of Essex and Kiara King, The Ballast Trust organised. Hackathons were identified as one of the next steps to explore ways to encourage and facilitate collaboration between Archivists and Academics. This focus on collaborative working will build on the work BAC undertook in 2019 to prepare the guide Facilitating Academic-Archivist Collaborations in Business. The three next steps identified at the workshop were:
Putting together some template documentation e.g. on non-disclosure agreements and ethical frameworks for oral histories to help make the administration easier.
Experiment with archives 'hackathons' to boost engagement with business archives and find new stories and opportunities in collections (involving a range of audiences).
A match-making service on Linked-In so archives and academics can post project ideas and find each other. Experiment with archives 'hackathons' to boost engagement with business archives and find new stories and opportunities in collections (involving a range of audiences).
We're delighted to have Hannah Louise Clark share her experience of leading the Global History Hackers project and hear plans from Claire Tunstall for the first BAC/BACS hackathon. If other archives are interested in hosting a hackathon then please get in touch with either Kiara or Alix.
Any questions can be sent to [email protected]
