1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Helpful introduction. 2: There was not a lot of pre-course reading for this class, and while I could have handled the course without it, it did help me to understand a few of the terms used. 3: Helpful. 4: Very helpful. Gave me a good idea of what to expect in class. 5: Only very slightly useful. 6: Excellent, if daunting. 7: I shopped around in the suggested material. The Balay was a fine general introduction. 8: Very useful. 9: The readings were unavailable to me. 10: Very useful -- having no knowledge to begin with these readings provided some of the "buzz" words. 11: 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: The list of resources will be an extremely useful tool in the future. 2: DK's course syllabus will doubtless prove invaluable to further research. I consider it something to keep at my fingertips for a long time. I also intend to be in contact with DK in the future to ask for help and for other possible sources.3: Yes. I will have an excellent bibliography of sources that I plan to check (look for) in the library I work in. 4: Definitely -- I plan on keeping the syllabus with me as a reference for any acquisition and exhibit work I may do in the future. Excellent resource. 5: Yes, they were appropriate and very useful. 6: Very useful, I will keep it by my desk. I only wish I could get a clean copy (or an electronic copy) to mark up for my own library. 7: Yes. The main course handout (bibliography) will definitely be useful. 8: Absolutely -- they will be heavily used once I return. 9: Yes. 10: Yes. -- Also very helpful at home I hope. 11: Yes -- and they will be quite useful as a reference tool.

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

1: Yes. 2: I feel that this course was difficult yet accessible. It was possible to come in with very little knowledge and not be left behind, or with much knowledge and still be challenged. After the first day or so, those who had a more rigorous library background really had very little advantage over those who did not. 3: Yes. DK's amazing knowledge of bibliographic sources and the history of them was stimulating and humbling to everyone in the class. 4-5: Yes. 6: Excellent. 7:-9: Yes. 10: I believe so. 11: Yes.

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

1: We spent a fair amount of time in the reference room and stacks of Alderman using resources. This time was very well spent familiarizing us with the materials. 2: We were given free run of the reference room and the stacks during much of the class, and it was up to us how well that time was spent. 3: The demonstration of RLIN was helpful as another sources for bibliographic searches. Could have more about metadata next year. 4: Yes, although I didn't learn anything special about RLIN that I couldn't have figured out on my own, I appreciated the introduction to the library's reference resources. 6: We searched, and that component of the course was a vital element of the week. 8: Excellent RLIN demo. 9: N/A. 10: Yes -- practice sets were very helpful in learning what the sources are. 11: Yes.

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, with regard to developing skills and familiarity with resources. The course was organized, timed and presented well, making the most of our time. The only area introduced in the description that we did not focus on was the meta -level issue of why the bib. reference is so valuable and how it serves its users. This theme was latent throughout but the possibility of further discussion still intrigues. 2: Yes. This was exactly what I had expected from this course. 3: Somewhat. Maybe there should be more emphasis on the reference aspect/emphasis in the course. 4: I'd have to read it again to answer intelligently. Was expecting a little on provenance, how to track bk plates/stamps, and the like. 5-8: Yes. 9: The course content was what I expected. 10-11: Yes.

6) What did you like best about the course?

1: The opportunity to learn about the resources in a focused, thoughful, well-organized manner. I very much appreciated the opportunity to learn from DK, who not only knows the material but is also a skilled and comitted teacher. 2: DK is extremely knowledgeable for his subject matter. Also, I really liked the hands-on approach. We learned how the different indexes were organized by using them. 3: Being able to take a course given by DK who's knowledge and enthusiasm for bibliographic searching, book arts and libraries is great. 4: DK's explanation of each of the sources -- providing us with somewhat of a shorthand to what each covers. 5: The extensive list of sources and daily opportunities to search for citations given by the instructor. The discussions following were very helpful. 6: Learning new sources; figuring out search tactics; discovering new bibliographies that will be useful; get a more 'global' ( aka continental) vision of rare book bibliography; learning (again) that often books serve better than computers for many questions in the field. 7: The course will be most helpful in situations and subjects where I would not have normally felt comfortable. Having never searched through Polish or Italian bibliographies before and having now done so provides some level of confidence and knowledge that transcends geography and language. Confidence is the biggest factor and strategy which we also got a little of. 8: DK's easygoing yet highly informative style -- loads of information delivered in an amusing and illuminating manner. 9: The instructor. 10: Relaxed atmosphere but everyone's desire to learn more. As well as the teacher's knowledge on the subject and his ability to relay that information. 11: The combination lecture and problem set -- I found it very valuable that we could practice what we were learning as we went along.

7) How could the course have been improved?

1: The only real limitation was too many people using a source at one time. 2: DK is disorganized at times. He very often assumes that materials are not in the stacks when they are. Also, we had too little time to do our work and then took Friday afternoon off. I could have put that time to use. 4: By dividing the citation search exercises into groups -- each group would receive five or six items to research, and so could spend more in-depth time on each question and each source. As it was, I didn't always spend enough time with each bibliography to get to know it well. 5: Maybe a discussion of how entries are arranged in some of the major sources would have been useful. 7: Handouts of the actual citations would be helpful. Perhaps also a brief discussion of how more sources are arranged, but I realize this is part of the challenge. 8: It's difficult to have 11 or 12 people trying to use the same sets of reference books, but I don't see any other way to do it. This group worked very well together, so it wasn't too problematic. 9: 1. Copies showing examples from select bibliographies could be distributed in class to discuss appropriate search techniques. 2.Better organization of bibliographies in reference room -- i.e., students should have the volumes all available in the reference room. 11: Sometimes it was difficult during problem sets to get hold of materials you wished to consult. Working together helped solve this problem -- but more copies or different problem sets/dividing up the class would help.

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?

2: We did not handle any fragile materials. However, greater care can be given to see that special collections and BAP books are more closely watched when put away. 4: None. 5: Some of the materials were in storage. It would have been nice if we could have examined them. 8-9: N/A 10: I liked the splitting of time in class dicussion and actual work in the stacks. Recommend this apporach more. 11: Handling was fine, but there seemed to be some problem with the obtaining of the materials -- too much class time was taken up with comments about where the books were vs. where they were supposed to be.

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: Greer Allen's lecture was wonderful! Also very glad to have had the guided tour of Cal Otto's exhibition in the Rotunda. 2: I enjoyed the movie "Alphabet". 4: Didn't take part in many. Enjoyed the lectures, studynight and video night. May have attended Bookseller night had transportation been provided (and it wasn't raining!) 5: The ones I attended were, on the whole, enjoyable. 6: Greer Allen's lecture was really wonderful! 7: Rotunda exhibition enjoyable and well put together. Bookseller night a literal washout due to the inclement weather. Sunday night dinner always good. 8: Sunday night dinner was great, as was Greer Allen's lecture. The Rotunda exhibition was fascinating. 9: Rotunda exhibition was well organized -- Mr. Otto and his collection are a valuable addition to RBS. 10: Enjoyed Greer Allen very much. Bookseller night was a bust for me: 1. Rain. 2. No transportation. 11: Enjoyed the variety of the activities available. Film night and study night are great ideas.

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

1: I encourage anyone who works with bibliographical citations to take this class at some point, even if you feel you have a knowledge of the basics. It is an excellent overview and builds the foundation for the development of skills essential to everybody who works with rare books. I very much got my money's worth. 2: I enjoyed this course both because the information was pertinent and well presented. 4: Come to class with a few citations of your own to search for. 5: I would recommend this course to anyone working with rare books (esp. rare book catalogers and reference librarians). It is also of valuable to antiquarians and collectors. Excellent! 6: Ask for two copies of the syllabus (pretend you lost one . .) And keep one copy clean, for later. I feel as if I have learned about 10 years worth of rare books reference sources. 7: I got my money's worth. This course is basically just looking through important bibliographies from around the world. There was a basic demonstration of RLIN, but this is a print source course. If anything, the course shows that so much is missing from online and electronic sources, that one must to back to print. 8: Yes, absolutely. This course would be useful for anyone interested in researching rare boks -- catalogers, booksellers, collectors, reference librarians, and lovers of books in general would all find the course worthwhile. DK is a wonderful teacher. 9: The teaching ass't, while helpful and serious-minded, should also learn to be less chatty and obtrusive in class. 10: I came here knowing virtually nothing about those sources. I leave knowing the major sources and many other sources. I feel it is now up to me to return home and actually use these sources and thus come to understand better how they work. I feel the course was well worth the money and I enjoyed DK tremendously as a teacher. 11: Our staff assistant did not always seem to have course materials (esp. books) prepared on time. Also was a bad match for the class and very disruptive -- level of professionalism and social skills were not compatible with RBS caliber and expectations.

Number of respondents: 11

There were six rare book librarians (55%), two archivist/manuscript librarians (18%), one general librarian with some rare book duties, one antiquarian bookseller and one full-time student (9% each).

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