1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Useful. 2: A bit dated but still relevant ... and quite interesting. 3: I have not yet read them; applied late but did get list, just not enough time to read. 4: They were very useful, as I was not wide-read in the area. 5: Very useful -- even if I had NOT taken the course. Perhaps a bit too much emphasis on the book as object. Not enough on administration. 6: Very useful. Bibliography will serve as guide for all the issues I deal with. 8: Will be an on-going useful resource.

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: Okay. 2: Yes, useful. 3- 5: Yes. 6: YES. 7: Yes to both. 8: Yes.

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

1: Okay. 2: Yes, very much so. 3: Yes. 4: Yes, very, and thought- provoking. 5: Very stimulating. Good mix of extended lecture and discussion. 6: YES; would have liked a little more specific content beyond anecdotal conversation. Perhaps a case study would have been useful. 7-8: Yes.

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

1: Fair. 2-3: Yes. 4: Yes, the meeting with the UVa library director was very telling. 5: It was very worthwhile to speak to Karin Wittenborg. She provided a good opportunity to see how another director operates. 6: Yes. Very useful to hear about large and small library approaches to Special Collections from an administrative point of view. 7: Yes. We visited the University librarian at UVa, and it was very interesting -- good perspective added by the visit. 8: We visited the University librarian's office. Her perspective was interesting, with many echoes/parallels to our course syllabus. I wish we had also visited the Special Collections department. I also greatly enjoyed the University librarian from Washington & Lee.

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: Mostly. 2: Yes, very much so. 3-8: Yes.

6) What did you like best about the course?

1: Instructors had good sense of humor. 2: The informal discussion based on real world/real life situations. 3: The opportunity to sit for a week in a room with my colleagues and discuss the every-day issues we face. Invaluable. 4: The ideas and situations discussed and brain stormed. 5: The discussions -- no, I take that back. What I enjoyed the most was MT and SS -- great discussion generators, wonderfully at ease with each other and with us. 6: Meeting instructors and classmates and hearing about various SC dept activities, collections, and institutional issues. I like to know how others "do" it. 7: The opportunity to think -- or perhaps meditate on my current working situation in light of the working situation of colleagues. 8: The instructors and lively exchange among class members.

7) How could the course have been improved?

1: Needed to be more relevant to special collections librarianship, too much of it was very broad philosophical discussions of library management from the viewpoint of the library director without having direct relevance to special collections. 2: Comparative statistics culled from the various institutions represented. 3: Two weeks? Hard to say. 4: The instructors mentioned the Special Collections librarians and their directors had attended one session in the past. This would have been very useful, although I would not have been accepted into the course as a result. 6: I would suggest one case study and one break out session so that focus is one level up from specific institutions, or a slightly more theoretical approach. 7: This is very difficult to say. The only thing I wonder is if perhaps some case studies or "role playing" might be made effective??? This would take away time, though, from useful discussions. 8: More about specific issues such as deaccessioning, touchy personnel problems, broad relations.

8) 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?

1-5: N/A. 6: Heat not controlled as well as desired in classroom (Garrett). 7-8: N/A.

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

2: I was all atwitter and on the edge of my seat for all. Thanks for arranging. 3: Only made it to Bookseller Night -- but that was great fun. RBS appears to make a tremendous effort to insure the students have not only an enriching intellectual experience but a pleasant and well-fed time as well! 4: All the outside activities are welcome. It is good to have the choice, whether or not one participated. 6: All beneficial and enjoyable. Keep them up. 7: The evening lecturer and dinner provided welcome opportunities to learn and socialize. 8: Sun. night dinner -- I'm especially glad I took that in as a way of meeting participants. Also greatly enjoyed Nicolas Barker's lecture -- both content and setting.

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

1: Not really. 2: Yes, well worth it, Taylor made for my situation, right down my Streit. 3: Yes! 4: I do not feel any dissatisfaction and thank RBS and the instructors for approving and accepting my application. 5: Yes. 6: Yes. Try to separate oneself from home institution. 7: Although the course provided no "answers" per se, it did provide many ideas and kernels of thought that I will develop and exploit in the coming months/years. And again, it was valuable as an opportunity for prolonged thought in a way that is not possible on the job. 8: A very valuable week all around.

Number of respondents: 8

There were five rare book librarians (62.5%), one general librarian with some rare book duties (12.5%), one conservator, binder, or preservation librarian (12.5%), and one special collections administrator (12.5%).

RBS Home