13: Electronic Texts & Images [L-70]
5-9 January 2004
1) How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Very useful. Although we covered their content in the class, the chance to look over the subject matter beforehand helped me absorb in-class material much quicker and easier, especially as much of this was new ground for me. 2-3: Very useful. 4: Excellent, although far more meaningful once the course started. But doing the reading ahead is very important--it helps the penny drop later on. 5: Very useful and pertinent. They are essential to people new to XML, TEI, EAD, etc. 6: Very useful, as the work in class was intense and assumed a knowledge of the materials. 7: Useful. 8: Difficult to peruse or read, but will be very useful as a resource now. 9: Exceptionally useful, especially the Etext Centers’ guide to document preparation. 10: Very useful. 11: I had little time as it turned out for these readings, but I know they would have been (and, in one case, actually were) helpful in advance. 12: Not very. More useful after taking 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: Absolutely. 2: Yes. 3: Yes, very. 4: Absolutely. 5: Yes! I am very pleased with the files we were given so that I can practice and apply what I learned. 6: Yes. 7: Yes. We left the class with a CD of our work, but most importantly, with tools to work with TEI at home. Very useful compendium! 8-12: Yes.
3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?
1: I would say so. Small parts were a little repetitious for me, because of experience in the area through work but not so for most others in the class. 2-3: Yes. 4: Very much so. 5: It was right on target for me. 6: Yes. 7: Yes--we encoded a letter which fit well with my particular project. 8-12: Yes.
4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?
1: Time away from the class was minimal, which I thought was appropriate for this course and content. 2: Yes--except we weren’t able to see the digital camera or Special Collections as neither were active during our class. 3: Yes. 4: Unfortunately, Special Collections was not available to us despite our instructor’s efforts. 5: Yes. I especially found the time at the Etext Center very useful. 6: Yes. 7: Yes. We were given a chance to see book scanning. 8-12: Yes.
5) What did you like best about the course?
1: Hands-on practice! The best way to really learn. Theory only works so far; the chance to really do it is what will enable me to take this home and immediately get on with using it. 2: The explanation of XML and its uses was the best I have ever heard. 3: Hands-on time. 4: DS does an excellent job of explaining material, providing meaningful examples, addressing individual questions, and, for the most part, keeping things at an approximately fascinating level. 5: The XML overview the first day; the encoding of a real project. DS is excellent at making complicated concepts easier to grasp. 6: The instructor’s background, knowledge of the subject, and excellent teaching skills. 7: Learning about a part of librarianship that is increasingly new and important, and learning with basic tools to continue at my job. 8: Hands-on practice coding/troubleshooting XML with a real project. 9: The vast expertise and superb teaching of the instructor. He is perhaps the best person in the world to teach this course. 10: DS is an excellent teacher! He makes difficult things appear easy. 11: The instructor’s enthusiasm for the subject matter, and patience with someone who knew little about it.
6) How could the course have been improved?
1: More hands-on and less general/background lecture. 2: More hands-on coding would have been useful. We know only the bare minimum of codes, and those are only for letters. I am concerned we didn’t cover other materials enough. Less time could have been spent demonstrating the results of a TEI project. 3: Possibly more time for hands-on experience. 4: A visit to Special Collections, while not a requirement, would have added to the class. 5: Can’t think of anything. Given the amount of time available, this class is balanced quite well. 6: More hands-on experience scanning images. 7: More time encoding something in addition to the letter format. Perhaps newspapers? More help encoding. Perhaps a grad student could have been available the day we spent encoding to answer questions. Not so sure time spent image scanning was worthwhile. 8: More time for actual XML tagging/processing. There was perhaps too much information in such a short period. I feel a bit shaky about actually utilizing the information, because I feel overloaded. 9: We perhaps rushed through exploring the style sheet on Friday, and invested too much time in QBIC and bizarre none-too-useful map display techniques. 10: By being longer. I would have liked it to go on for another week. (At least!) 11: Two weeks rather than one. 12: More hands on. The sample letters were wonderful, but when starting something, it is always nice to finish it.
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?
1: If they had been manuscripts (letters we worked on one day) I would have collected them all back in as soon as they were no longer being used, even if this was done piecemeal (people finished at different times) rather than collecting them all at the end of the day--just in case!
2: The equipment was new and in working order. 4: The instructor was careful about enforcing no drinks, no pens rule. The class was responsive. 5: None. The handling of Special Collections materials was executed with utmost care. 7: None. 8: Materials were handled beautifully, with lots of TLC [tender loving care]. 9: I was surprised that drinks were allowed in the classroom. The computer equipment might be damaged, and the computer letters were left alone on our desks for several hours. 10: None. 11: N/A. 12: None.
8) If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?
1: I only attended Sunday. I didn’t think (for me) it was strictly necessary. I can see that others would be interested in the background to the school though. 2: Didn’t attend. 4: N/A. 5: I attended the Sunday lecture. Yes, it was worth it and interesting to earn about the history of the school. 6: Yes, as a first-time attendee. 9: I did not get much out of Sunday night. 10: Yes. 11: N/A.
9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?
1: I did not attend. 2: Didn’t attend. 4: N/A. 5: Was not able to attend. 6: Yes. 9: Yes. The NOVA video was very good. 10: I did not attend. 11: N/A.
10) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final thoughts?
1: Yes, I did. I thought the course overall was excellent. I felt I could have pushed farther, but I don’t know if that was true for many others in the class. It entirely depends on your experience. But I do feel I can go back and immediately profit at work from what I have learned here--and more so than I had anticipated. So for me, I accomplished everything I wanted to. Advice? Not to worry that it will be too much work or over your head. Everything is well paced and thoroughly explained. 2: Yes! The overall coverage of XML offered in this course is well worth the price of admission. I think further study will be needed to plan for our TEI tagging project, but I now have the tools to begin that process. 3: Yes! 4: Definitely. My advice for others would be to try and be very well-informed in advance, so you can follow and ask questions that keep the class moving in the right direction. Obviously not everyone will be at the same level, but if the group generally knows this area a bit, the class can be quite advanced. I definitely hope to take the next class. 5: Yes. I found this course to be even more helpful than I anticipated. It was also a wonderful way to meet new colleagues and others who share similar passions in the rare book world. 6: Yes. 7: Definitely worth the money. Spend time before class looking at TEI sites and UVA’s etext links. 8: It was extremely valuable as a starting point to understand the digital library. After using my new skills, it could be very valuable to re-visit the latter part of the course, or to move on to a deeper understanding by taking another course in the subject. 9: N/A. 10: YES! 11: Yes--my fourth course here, and all have been extremely worthwhile.
Number of respondents: 12
Percentages
Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution Institution Institution Institution
gave me leave paid tuition paid housing paid travel
75% 84% 33% 42%
I took vaca- I paid tui- I paid for my I paid my own
tion time tion myself own housing travel
8% 8% 17% 33%
N/A: self- N/A: Self- N/A: stayed N/A: lived
employed, re- employed, with friends nearby
tired, or had retired, or or lived at
summers off exchange home
17% 8% 50% 25%
There were two archivist/manuscript librarians (18%), one rare book librarian (8%), one general librarian with some rare book duties (8%), two general librarians with no rare book duties (18%), one teacher/professor (8%), one recent MLS graduate (8%), one technical support computer specialist (8%), one systems librarian (8%), one manager of a digital library (8%), and one other student who did not describe his or her position (8%).