Greer Allen

45: Printing Design and Publication [T-70]

7-11 July 2003


1)   How useful were the pre-course readings?


1: Well worthwhile -- not a great deal of reading, but it set the tone and gave me an accurate sense of what to expect in the course. 2: Very useful -- they conveyed briefly and succinctly the main themes of the course. 3: Extremely useful in establishing a working vocabulary and framework for the course.


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: Yes. The notes handed out in class will be very useful to refer back to. 2: Very appropriate and useful. I’ve noted the books I plan to purchase and have many more on the syllabus for reference in the future. 3: Very much so. I especially enjoyed the maxims, which will help me remember key concepts for a long time.


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


1-2: Yes. 3: Yes. Although the course focus was on libraries and other such institutions and their documents, GA showed us how aspects of design cross all borders -- determined by audience and expectations.


5)   What did you like best about the course?


1: I feel I got a good sense of the expectations for the publication in question and found GA’s manner of presentation very effective and engaging. 2: The way GA was able to explain his ideas through examples of his work and that of others, his enthusiasm for the material, and the clarity with which he conveyed his ideas. 3: I appreciated that GA was able to show us how to learn from our own mistakes -- usually by showing us his mistakes. Having this kind of insight was much more useful than would be a course taught on the premise of “always do this, be sure to do that.”


6)   How could the course have been improved?


2: A field trip to a printer would have been nice. 3: GA is very lively and enthusiastic when engaged in a discussion. The best learning opportunities arose when he “Jesus Bugged” away from the lecture and brought out materials to show us and illustrate his points. More of this, perhaps, and less of the traditional lecture.


7)   We are always concerned about the physical well-being both of the RBS 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?


2: N/A. 3: Everything was fine -- we didn’t look at a lot of high value things.


8)   If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?


1: The Monday night lecture showed rigorous scholarship, but frankly I lost the thread of it and felt that it labored too much on details that didn’t seem to matter in the long run. 2: Yes -- though I’ve heard TB’s “State of RBS” lecture several times over the years I heard new and exciting things this year. Bidwell’s lecture on the Fourdrinier paper machine was informative. 3: N/A.


9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?


2: Though the RBS Museums have always been interesting and very useful, I feel that they have greatly improved in scope and number displayed in the three years since I was last here. 3: N/A.


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


1: Absolutely! 2: Even if you are not directly involved in book design and production professionally or even on a regular basis, GA’s class is vital and important for helping you develop a sensibility about the way books are, and should be, designed. 3: Yup!


Number of respondents: 3


Percentages

Leave

Tuition

Housing

Travel

Institution

gave me leave

Institution

paid tuition

Institution

paid housing

Institution

paid travel

67%

67%

33%

0%

I took vacation time

I paid tuition myself

I paid for my own housing

I paid my own travel

0%

33%

33%

67%

N/A: self-employed, retired, or had summers off

N/A: self-employed, retired, or exchange

N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home

N/A: lived nearby

33%

0%

33%

33%


There were one antiquarian bookseller (33%), one book-collector (33%), and one self-employed graphic designer (33%).


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