1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Excellent required and optional reading lists. Excellent further suggestions to take away. 2: The pre-course readings were essential to class participation. Without them a student would be lost because of the practical, hands-on nature of the course. 3: I was very happy to have been able to do the pre-course reading. Although it was time consuming, the course assumed basic knowledge in several areas which I was not familiar with, and the readings suggested were well chosen to fill in the gaps. 4: Mostly very good. Or rather, all were good, but a couple of the articles could have been made optional or moved to an exit bibliography. 5: Pre-course readings were extensive and time consuming, however they were also essential to the course. Readings provided a thorough introduction to what would be covered in the course and allowed class to start right on cataloging. 6: It was useful to gather all major cataloging rules; however, it is impossible to read and to remember them all. Other reading was interesting but not discussed in class. 7: Very useful, particularly the essays with examples. 8: Very useful. 9: Good. I assumed I was not to literally read LCSH! Maybe a little heavy -- I find it difficult to read pages of rules with nothing to correspond them to. 10: Very useful.

2) Were the course syllabus and other materials distributed in class useful (or will they be so in the future, after you return home)?

1: Again, excellent. Expect to keep and use forever. 2: Yes, HZ prepared an extremely detailed course book which was both useful during the course and will continue to be useful afterwards. 3: An extensive (and impressive!) "workbook" -- a compendium of examples, suggestions, further bibliographies -- was supplied by HZ, and I am sure it will be useful in the future. 4: Absolutely. 5: Materials and syllabus were appropriate and useful. I expect they will continue to be very useful after my return home. 6: I wish we had all a copy of GM, TGM and AACR2 supplied by RBS for the duration of the class. 7: Yes. 8: They will be useful once I have put in post tabs letting me know what charts are where. But yes, a great deal of helpful information was in the course reader. 9: Yes! I love the course book and will return to it often. 10: Appropriate.

3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?

1: Yes. 2: Yes, even though some class members were much more proficient in some cataloging techniques, the intellectual level was good for all. 3-6: Yes. 7: Yes -- even though the knowledge of the students was extremely varied (and also because of this -- we were able to share information). 8: Yes. 9: Yes. Perhaps a little better explanation about the types of media early on would have been helpful. 10: Yes.

4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?

1: Yes. A long day, but provided break in class time/environment, and opportunity for informal discussion of related issues. 2: Definitely. Both our visit to Special Collections and our day at P and P (LC) were valuable. It was interesting and beneficial to talk with professionals in both places. 3: Absolutely -- it gave us the opportunity to see how things are done in other institutions and to interact with colleagues there. The resources at RBS were extended, as well -- ie we were able to work with different kinds of visual materials not represented at UVa. 4: On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being highly well spent), I'd give it a 3.5. It was enjoyable, and good to see the LC operations, and some of their materials, but it was a very long day. The field trip to Alderman digital imaging operations was interesting, informative and very well spent. Edward Gaynor was great. 5: Despite long travel times, the field trip to Prints and Photographs was time well spent. The combination of introduction and tours of the facility and its services, with time working with experienced catalogers, was great and a very good use of the day. Thursday is also the best day in the week for such a trip. 6: It was very well spent, especially the time spent cataloging prints and posters and discussing the records with P and P staff. 7: Very valuable excursion to the Library of Congress. 8: Yes -- it was good to view an important benchmark institution such as LC, view their practices and have cataloging exercises with assistance from their catalogers. 9: Yes. The LC trip was great! Not only did we get to work with material not found in the BAP but we were able to see a complete visual cataloging operation. Quite useful. 10: Very well spent.

5) Did the actual course content correspond to its RBS brochure description and Expanded Course Description (ECD)? Did the course in general meet your expectations?

1: Yes. 2: Yes -- in fact , I think HZ did an excellent job of organizing the course and materials. I'm still amazed we covered the amount of information we did in one week. 3: Yes. 4: Generally, yes. 5: Yes. 6: Yes, however, I was expecting more discussions regarding digital projects, especially selection, cataloging guidelines (one record for all or separate). 7-8: Yes. 9: Yes. The CD may want to expand on the idea that this is a comparative course -- one will not become a great visual materials cataloger, but rather gain a broader understanding. 10: Yes.

6) What did you like best about the course?

1: Took the excellence of teaching for granted. Found interaction with fellow professionals quite valuable and broadening. 2: I enjoyed working with the collections -- being able to look closely at different types of pictorial material -- both for different photography techniques and for the historic subject matter. 3: The class was conducted in an easygoing, conversational style. It drew upon the knowledge of all the participants. there was a good balance of lecture vs. exercises. Handling original materials and seeing different print and photograph processes was also a plus. 4: The chance to try my hand at a number of different codes and thesauri. The variation of materials worked on. The numerous exercises. Working in pairs. General discussion of the results of our exercises, which gave us all a chance to learn from each other. HZ's gentleness. 5: The practical nature of the course, and the way it provided a solid introduction to the tools for cataloging visual materials and their application, followed by hands-on practice. 6: Cataloging exercises. 7: A whole week on this subject!! HZ's knowledge and encouraging attitude. 8: I liked that we did a great deal of cataloging, and also that we worked in pairs. I have a great deal of confidence in approaching cataloging, or at least I know now what is expected in a cataloging record. 9: Definitely the field trip. Also the opportunity to work with so many different types of media. It gave a good complement to the rules, &c. 10: The matter of presentation, ie easily comprehensible.

7) How could the course have been improved?

2: Visual Collections often use different methods of organizing their information -- we spent most of our time relating things to the MARC format -- I think we should have discussed how some of these fields could be translated to different data structures. 3: At times I wished some more concrete answers to questions could have been given to questions -- that more definitive answers to problems raised by certain situations encountered in cataloguing were available. I think this is part of the nature of the field at the present time. However, the instructor seemed willing to do additional research into certain unanswered questions and keep in touch with class members by email. 4: A slightly lower emphasis on the comparative approach. Because different codes and thesauri were jumbled together, I do not have the ability to clearly and accurately apply any of them. The remedy might be a more emphatic lecture on what I think we meant to be the primary tools: GM and TGM. 5: No suggestions for improvement on content. Ideally, students in class would have represented a wider variety of institutions and backgrounds. 6: The only improvement I can think of would be to write all records on the board instead of reading them. Also a suggestion not to include media identification: that's a different course. 7: We should each have brought a copy of AACR2 and all of APPM, not just certain chapters. Enough computer terminals to each (or in partners) have access to online thesauri and other cataloging tools. 8: It would have been nice to hand in some records that would be handed back with suggestions for the student. This would of course mean extra work for the teacher in making corrections, and possibly not be worth it since the course was so well prepared in other ways. But it might give me more confidence. 9: I felt that the only grip on AAT that I got was that I don't get it! The work with the descriptive end was good, but I learned about LCSH and TGM pretty well. 10: It met my expectations.

8) We are always concerned about the physical well-being both of the BAP's teaching collections and of materials owned by UVa's Special Collections. If relevant, what suggestions do you have for the improved classroom handling of such materials used in your course this week?

1: Same problem as at work: more space, table space, makes safe handling easier. But space provided was adequate; posed no danger to material. 2: Our handling techniques were fine. Maybe use more gloves. 3: We were informed at the beginning of the week that BAP's teaching materials were meant to be handled. This was good for teaching purposes and an enjoyable luxury. However, at some point some materials may become less useful if continually handled. 4: None -- materials were well cared for. 6: I would allow all students to wash their hands in the sink in the reception room after the morning breakfast and afternoon snack. 7: Everything seemed fine. 9: Some pictures were in folders more brittle than the photographs. 10: Materials were handled correctly.

9) Please comment on the quality/enjoyability of the various RBS activities in which you took part outside of class (eg Sunday afternoon tour, Sunday night dinner, evening lectures, Bookseller Night, Video Night, Study Night, tour of the Alderman digital/electronic centers, printing demonstrations, &c.).

1: Sunday night dinner was dee-lish. These activities make experience richer, but I was "too full" to take on some of them. 2: I am happy RBS organizes these activities and I found most enjoyable. 3: Enjoyed Sunday night dinner (a really important welcoming activity). Also enjoyed Bookseller Night and Rotunda exhibition. 4: Sunday night dinner, as always, an excellent start to the week. Brett Charbeneau lecture was entertaining and informative, and I really appreciated Carter Hailey setting up his collection at the following reception. Bookseller's Night worthwhile. I would like to see brewed decaffeinated coffee offered, and better cookie selection at pm breaks. 5: Thanks to U.S. Air, I arrived too late for Sunday activities, in which I had planned to participate. They sounded useful and well-planned. Hand-press printing demonstration and tour of the Etext center sound interesting, but I was not aware of their being offere d. I did appreciate having the option of attending evening events, and enjoyed Bookseller Night and the Rotunda exhibition. 6: Very nice. 7: Sunday tour was very good. Sunday dinner a fine opportunity to start meeting people but description in advance should have made clearer that it was salads and cookies without table seating for everyone ("Sunday night dinner" sounds very grand). Evening lectures were educational and entertaining in just the right mix. Demonstration of collator after Brett Charbeneau's talk was a treat. 8: I did not participate in many of these. Mainly it was excellent to have ample opportunity to mingle with and meet colleagues. 10: Enjoyed Sunday night dinner, evening lecture, Bookseller's Night and Video Night. Presented good opportunity to exchange views with participants of other classes.

10) Any final thoughts? Did you get your money's worth?

1: I would have paid for this course. Exactly suited to my professional needs. 2: I definitely got my money's worth. I particularly like HZ's teaching style -- she is a good listener and gently guides students in the right direction or makes helpful suggestions. 3: Advice for persons taking the course -- Do the pre-course reading thoroughly, and start early. It takes a while for things to sink in and "come together." Don't worry about being too demanding or if your background is not quite "right" for the class, as long as you get the reading done. HZ is a congenial teacher who uses a "gentle guidance" method of teaching. Enjoy and learn from your colleagues in the class. Also -- the pre-course reading materials were a bit tricky to gather together -- get them right away, even if you have to put of f the reading for a while. 4: I would not necessarily recommend this course for someone hoping to master visual material cataloging -- its presentation is a little too diffuse for that. But for those facing issues and decisions and wanting an introduction to the practice, it is well worth it. 5: I would highly recommend the course to others, and do feel I got my money's worth. 7: YES -- it's a great course. I would have liked to have had much more time to explore the issues we raised, and wish we could all get together again in a few months to discuss how we've been applying what we learned. 8: Yes [got my money's worth]. A good, solid preparatory grounding in the field. I did get a good sense of where leeway was permitted in records, and where there was more rigid practice that must be adhered to. 9: Definitely! As someone who needs to make policy and catalog, this was a good mix. It was also a good mix of people who know cataloging and people who know visual materials. 10: I can only recommend this course and am convinced that I got my money's worth.

Number of respondents: 10

There were four archivist/manuscript librarians (40%), two rare book librarians (20%), one general librarian with some rare book duties, one art curator, one visual resources librarian and one cataloger in a visual resources collection (10% each)

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