1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Very good background and reference material. 2: They were pretty useful. 3: Helpful but not essential. It did spare some time that would have had to be spent in prefatory stuff the first day, so that helped. 4: Very useful. 5: I found them very useful. 6: The readings were very helpful and good background for the course. The excellent Etext Website is perfect for pre-class study. 8: Very useful, but it's experience that counts. 9: Very helpful, and not too onerous. 10: I was sorry to see that the Pfaffenberger reading was dropped from our reading list. I found it very helpful in obtaining a basic background knowledge of XML. I would recommend adding it back to the list. 11: Very helpful. 12: Quite. 13: Very helpful.

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: Extremely. 2: Yes, although see #7 for a suggested addition to the course materials. 3: Yes -- I'm hanging onto them for as long as I can. 4: Most of it will be useful back at work. 5: Yes, definitely. 6: Course syllabus was good and the printed handouts were excellent, but the really great aspect is having all these materials readily available on-line for future work back home. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, they were appropriate and helpful. 9: Yes. 10: Yes, although it will take about a week to digest all that I have learned and try to remember how to use/implement everything; actual programs and samples will be most helpful. 11-12: Yes. 13: I think most of the handouts in this course will have to be absorbed at another time, when the pace is not so intense, AND as there are projects to which they apply.

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

1: Challenging but manageable. 2: Yes. 3: Yes -- nice mix of techno talk and down-to-earth advice and explanation. 4: Right on the target! 5: Yes. 6: Stimulating, challenging and almost bordering on overwhelming. The course was jam-packed with information and content. 7: Very much. 8: Yes. 9: Perfect - challenging but not overwhelming. 10: Yes. 11: Yes -- I never felt it was too elementary or too advanced. 12: Yes. 13: I think much of the content flew over my head at first, but the tagging exercise brought much of the information together, and I now have a notebook for future reference.

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

1: Yes. 2: Yes, very useful. I had never seen a digital imaging setup like UVa has in Special Collections. 3: Yes -- I particularly enjoyed the visit to the digitizing room, to talk shop. 4-5: Yes. 6: Yes, the visits to Etext operating areas were very useful. 7: Very well. 8: Yes. Would like to spend a bit more time to do hands-on test. 9-12: Yes. 13: I did like the visit to the digital camera set-up. It is nice to see a different type of set-up.

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, it did. 3: Yes. 4: Very well. 5: Yes. 6: Yes, the brochure was adequate for outlining the course. Of course the course is much more comprehensive than the brochure can really describe. 7: Certainly yes. 8-9: Yes. 10: Most definitely. 11-12: Yes.

6) What did you like best about the course?

1: Hands-on project reinforced theories and practical skills. 2: Hands-on experience with TEI under DS's expert tutelage. 3: DS is a great personality and managed time and tone adeptly. 4: It encircled the whole field without bogging down in detail. Excellently planned and executed by DS. He always takes time to answer questions. 5: I like the way in which presentations of general principles and specific procedures were interwoven and integrated with hands-on experience, so that each contributed to and reinforced what one learned from the other. I also thought the Civil War letters that we worked on were fascinating! 6: DS, his generosity with his wide knowledge and experience, his well-organized teaching style, his attention to our questions and interests, his unflagging enthusiasm and energy, and his always implied high standards for the work. I would recommend it in an instant. We also had a great group of classmates who made the after-hours discussions equally enjoyable. 7: Scope of discussed/related issues; working atmosphere and possibility to hear/discuss opinions; high professional level and wide/diverse background of participants. 8: Wonderful mix of participants, from diverse professional and academic backgrounds. 9: DS's excellent teaching, the well-structured course material, variety in presentation -- DS's expertise made the course. 10: I came to the course with enough knowledge to be dangerous. Now that I have completed the course, I feel less dangerous. The "hands-on" applications were most helpful. 11: The instructor did a great job -- very patient, explained things very well. Great to get a disk of dtds, stylesheets, &c. to take home. 12: The big picture view. DS took us through the whole process from beginning to end, which gave you a new grasp of the whole process. 13: Practicum in tagging.

7) How could the course have been improved?

1: A little more clarity on tagging/coding -- perhaps a printed handout or directions to the Web page. 2: Perhaps ETC's scheme for processing and serving electronic texts could have been presented diagrammatically, so that perhaps we could have seen the overall architecture while thinking about the various pieces. Even if we won't implement it piece for piece, it might suggest the range of considerations involved in putting a complete system together. 3: I'd personally like to know a little more about the programming side of etext, but I understand that the course is too brief to cover all ground. 4: I honestly don't know. 5: I was going to say that I was frustrated not to have more time to work on tagging the text, but having more time would mean either being exposed to less information or doing a shorter text, and I don't really like either possibility; also, I thought the tagging and timing actually worked out about right, as it turned out. 6: One always feels there isn't enough time for actual practice with TEI tagging, but because we cover so much ground, that is unavoidable. I think the course is very well put together and unavoidably exhausting because of it -- just what it should be. 8: Not much. Hope I can depend on RBS in the future should I have opportunities to develop projects related to this course. 9: I can't imagine. 10: Add an advanced level (ie have two separate classes 1.) Introductory, 2.) Advanced. 11: Be longer or have an advanced course to get all the topics that couldn't be covered in one week. 12: Some more actual coding perchance.

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: N/A 2: Not really applicable to this class. 3: N/A 5: Not exactly applicable, but I was very glad to be able to examine the originals of the texts we worked on; digital images are all very well, but seeing the original really makes a difference. 8: Being an archivist, I have no problem. 10: N/A

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: Ran smoothly with no problems. 2: I found them enjoyable, but didn't make use of all of them as I should have. 3: Evening lectures I could have done without, and I missed Bookseller Night, but all the dining experiences have been outstanding. 5: I attended the lecture, Bookseller Night, Study Night, Video Night, and the Rotunda exhibition (as well as the exhibition of pop-up books in Special Collections), and really enjoyed all of them. The one that was near to me was Study Night, which I think is a wonderful idea (it was both enjoyable and educational just to sit and look at things!) 6: I really enjoyed the Study Night in BAP rooms. But I think the best aspect of non-class time activities was the lively discussions with fellow students -- a natural consequence of sharing the week together -- and the Range/Lawn accommodations. I think it was much harder for students in other accommodations. 8: It has been a great experience. If time and budget allows, I'd take other courses in near future. If I come again, from D.C., I'd find out about possibilities to car pool. 9: These activities didn't measure up to the quality of the course work, but were pleasant diversions. 10: Enjoyed every one I attended. 12: Sunday night dinner and evening lectures were ok. 13: I choose to relax after class, 8:30-5 is a full day already. You may want to mention UVa's gyms in your brochure; they're very nice and a great way to unwind after sitting all day.

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

1: Very useful and directly applicable course -- well worth time and money -- a good investment. 2: If you want practical experience applying the TEI to real texts, accompanied by discussion of the concepts (theory?) governing that application, this course would be very useful. My institution got their money's worth, in my view. 3: Be prepared to understand that it might not all click just yet -- but it will in time. Very much worth it. 4: Do it! 5: I would definitely advise other people to take this course; it was extremely well taught (the instructor is well organized, excellent at explaining things, and friendly and approachable), and the knowledge I've gained will be extremely useful. 6: The course was extremely valuable, but even more so for those already involved in some aspects of creating digital libraries. Since it is both comprehensive and relatively detailed, it is of great benefit for digital center managers who need to understand how everything fits together. 8: I highly recommend other persons to take this course. And if possible, take it once every two to three years due to constant change in technology. Certainly worth my money and time. 9: I'll recommend RBS to friends and co-workers and hope to return next summer. It's definitely worth the money. Thank you! 10: I feel as though I drank from the well of knowledge. I often found myself awake at night excitedly thinking about implementing these programs at my institution. DS is top notch in his field; I definitely got my money's worth and look forward to taking future courses. 11: Yes, I got my money's worth. I gained a lot of useful knowledge to take back to my institution. 12: Yes, I did [get] my money's worth.

Number of respondents: 13

There were two general librarians with no rare book duties (15.4%), two archivist/manuscript librarians (15.4%), one rare book librarian, one conservator/binder/preservation librarian, one librarian with systems and digital project repsonsibilities, one digital library project developer, one digital projects librarian for special collections, one person developing computer-based solutions to an archive, one collection/development librarian with some digital duties, one digitization librarian, and one systems programmer (7.7% each).

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