1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: John Carter's Taste and Technique of Book Collecting is the best. More like it would be good. 2: More readings helpful. Especially liked Marks in Books. Will take a second look at some of the material having taken the course. 3: Readings were broad with a lot of good information -- a couple of them were unavailable on interlibrary loan in my state, and I needed to travel to read them. 4: Very useful as background reading and sources to know about for the future. 5: Very useful. 6: Difficulty finding some of the materials. Didn't get to look over all of them before course started. 7: They were relevant to the course, but very narrowly focused on one aspect of the class (provenance). 8: Quite useful. Gave a good background to what we talked about in class.

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. 2: Useful in doing class exercises. Again -- will use the reading list at work. 3: For the most part yes -- some more information on American books and publishing might be useful addition. 4: The syllabus was accurate, and the course materials will be a great resource in the future. 5: Very useful. 6: Yes -- NB annotated when asked -- very helpful. 7: Bibliography excellent though focused mostly on early books. Lacking were references to American and c19 and c20 texts, publishing.... 8: The bibliography will be helpful. The syllabus was a very brief bit of topics.

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

1: Yes. 2: Explanations were clear and presented in context. Everyone participated. 3-4: Yes. 5: Above and beyond -- heavy emphasis on the classics. 6: Very. 7: Yes, absolutely. 8: Yes, challenging but not threatening.

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

1: Special Collections at UVa are impressive and time well spent. 2: Yes. Chance to look at a greater variety of books. 3-4: Yes. 5: Very much so. 6: Yes. 7: Visited Special Collections twice to view specific items and see more examples. 8: We had two visits to Special Collections -- two full sessions. I think the material could have been covered in one.

5) What did you like best about the course?

1: Use of books for individual class projects a very good approach. 2: Working with books and getting fine guidance on their handling -- or bindings, printing, provenance, &c. Good combination of lecture and working on exercises. 3: The teacher -- NB -- seems to know everything in the various book disciplines -- in some respects, his anecdotes are among the most valuable parts of the course. 4: The time spent examining and learning about individual books; all the avenues this endeavor took us down. 5: NB, his vast knowledge of old books, and how to evaluate what you have in hand. Very useful for a practicing Special Collections librarian. Also, the "workshop" aspect of the course. 6: Becoming familiar with reference sources specific to the topics covered in the course. 7: NB: very well read, thoughtful, knowledgeable, filled with interesting and relevant anecdotes. Experiences in the field extensive. 8: The chance to learn from NB. Also the chance to learn something about collecting and evaluating older materials.

6) How could the course have been improved?

1: Research on project books could be organized so that the whole class researches provenance, publication details, prices, binding, &c. at the same time. Periods of the day should be set aside for research on books. 2: Could have period of time designated for library work. 3: An example of a schematic diagram to go about researching a book geared to an outline of specific items to be considered might be worthwhile. 4: It would have been very helpful to have one (or even two) periods free to do research -- there wasn't enough time to use and/or become familiar with the sources to which we were directed. 5: Perhaps some allotted daytime hours for researching our assignments in library, as our evenings were pretty much occupied with RBS activities. 6: Possibly a little more structure instead of trying to cover so many things at one time. 7: Title and content did not really match. I would have expected more discussion on current issues, related curatorial material decision making, and more reflective of the content which might be faced by most attendees. Felt that the class focused too much on medieval manuscripts and early printed books. Also would have liked greater discussion of the impact of preservation and conservation...(more on c19 and c20 century practices). 8: Would have liked a free session to be devoted to research for our assigned class projects. By evening you are too tired to do much, and lunch is too short to do anything except eat and check email.

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: Logistical organization of RBS teaching materials is impressive. 3: None. 5: None. Instructor was diligent in instructing us. 6: I think everything was handled appropriately. 7: No complaints. 8: For Special Collections materials, a larger table so that the class could move around and really see the items would be great. RBS stuff in the classroom -- no suggestions.

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

1-2: Yes. 3: Overall, yes -- TB's talk useful and entertaining -- the Monday talk's clearly dependent upon who the speaker is (this particular week's speaker -- July 30 was pedantic, I thought.) 4-5: Yes. 6: Sunday -- always interesting to hear what TB has new to say regarding RBS. Monday -- topic didn't have much to do with course. 7: Sunday -- good overview of RBS, aims and objectives, history and future. Monday -- OK. 8: Yes -- always good to hear what's new with RBS and to attend a general lecture by someone I would not otherwise be able to hear speak.

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

1: Yes. 2: Yes and great fun. 3: I only spent 30 minutes there -- could have profited from "narration" and demonstration by staff. 5: Yes. 6: N/A this year. 7: Yes, enjoyed viewing the historical binding models and other books in the collection.

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

2: Got money's worth. Hope to attend again. 3: As a collector, this was a wonderful experience. It certainly met my expectations. I learned a lot, both from NB, but also from fellow attendees, about libraries and librarianship. 4-5: Yes. 6: Yes. Yes -- if you absolutely must have a lecture Monday evening the time should be changed to 5:15 or 7:00 or later. 6:00 is the absolute worst time to hold something like that. 7: Yes, but see question six. Course was quite worthwhile and a great opportunity to absorb NB. 8: Yes. For future students -- definitely make the effort to do all the preliminary reading.

Number of respondents: 08

There were three archivists or manuscript librarians (62.5%), two rare book librarians (25%), one full-time student (12.5%), one conservator, binder, or preservation librarian (12.5%), and one book-collector (12.5%).

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