Academic Research Chatbot
A Zapier-built chatbot that answers history students' questions from a primary source — with proper Chicago-style citations.
The problem
History students working with dense academic sources spend more time hunting for citations than understanding the material. Quoting and attributing primary sources correctly is its own learning curve.
The solution
I built a chatbot grounded in Chapter 2 of Bernard Rostker's Providing for the Casualties of War: The American Experience Through World War II. Students can ask any question about medical treatment for WWII soldiers and receive an answer alongside a properly formatted Chicago Manual of Style citation — ready to drop into a paper.
Benefits
- Answers come with citation-ready references
- Lowers the barrier for students engaging with academic primary sources
- Demonstrates how RAG-style chatbots can support coursework without replacing critical thinking
Challenges & what I'd improve
Constraining the chatbot to a single source while keeping responses conversational required careful prompt design. The biggest tradeoff is scope — students must understand the bot only knows one chapter.