At the Rubenstein, our librarians and archivists collaborate with faculty and instructors across the disciplines to integrate primary sources into student learning. We are excited to welcome Duke undergraduate and graduate classes into our classrooms, and look forward to having students get hands-on experience with rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and other unique resources in our collections.
Learn more about our approach to classes at the Rubenstein Library and what we ask of students in all of our sessions.
Request a Class at the Rubenstein
To start planning a Rubenstein Library instruction session, please submit an instruction request. You’ll be asked to provide the following information in your request:
- Course title and number
- Instructor contact information
- Number of students in the class
- Goals and expectations for the session
- Possible dates and times for your class visit, in order of preference
- We’ll also follow-up to ask for a copy of your syllabus and/or assignment to help us plan your class’s session.
After we’ve received your request, we’ll pair you with a librarian or archivist who will confirm your session and work with you to tailor the instruction session’s focus to your course’s subject matter and learning objectives.
Other information to know:
- We require four weeks’ notice to schedule sessions.
- Staff and space are in high demand, especially in the first half of the semester. The sooner you submit your request, the more likely we will be able to host your class
- We cannot host more than 2 total visits per course in a single semester. Please submit a separate request for each visit.
- Due to limits on classroom space, we may need to split classes with more than 30 students into two groups.
- Faculty and instructors should plan on being present during their class session at the Rubenstein. Students get more out of the session when the faculty member can help connect the materials to the course.
- We prioritize requests for Duke classes but are sometimes able to accommodate classes from other colleges, universities, and organizations. Learn more about options for K-12 classes.
Other Options
If a library instruction session doesn’t work for your class, we have alternative options for engaging students with primary sources in our collections.
Digital Teaching Resources
Librarians and archivists at the Rubenstein have created more than 20 modules based on digitized primary sources from our collections on a range of topics. Each includes a lesson plan and can be adapted for in-person, remote, or asynchronous classroom settings. We also have suggestions for additional assignments and activities to support primary source literacy.
Exhibits
Bring your students to visit one of our current exhibitions in-person or have them explore an online exhibit. Use our “Looking at Exhibits” activity to help students critically evaluate both individual items and the exhibit as a whole to build primary source literacy.
