Morris Cohen and David Warrington
33: Collecting the History of Anglo-American Law [C70]
7-11 June 2004
1) How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Very necessary and relevant. 2: I applied and was accepted late -- did not complete the readings, but all that I read in advance, as well as during RBS week, are excellent. 3: These were very good, good background. 4: Very useful, the readings laid down the frame for the week’s experience. 5: They were vital. For the required readings, suggest that people read them twice. 6: Good for the most part. A couple were a bit too advanced; they made more sense after some of our discussions in class. 7: The pre-course readings provided excellent background knowledge for the course. 8: Readings were well adapted to course coverage. 9: Relatively so. 10: Very informative, and I will continue to consult them in the future. 11: Excellent -- a good intro. 12: Essential. Very important background material.
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: I will use it often. 2: Yes. 3: Excellent. Extremely organized. 4: Yes. Yes. 5: Yes, they were excellent. Occasionally references were made to printed resources now outdated by websites, and updating the hand-outs to reflect this point would be useful. 6-9: Yes. 10: Very much so. 11: Yes. 12: Yes, I think they will be useful.
3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?
1-2: Yes. 3: Yes -- challenged me, but very good. 4-6: Yes. 7: Absolutely. 8-9: Yes. 10: Yes. Very stimulating and informative. 11: Yes. 12: Yes. Very stimulating and often quite challenging.
4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?
1: Visited Special Collections at Law--very well spent. 2: Yes. 3: Yes -- only one to UVA Law -- was excellent. 4: Yes. 5: Very. 6: Yes. We went to the Rare Book Room at the Law School to see books we were discussing in class and items particular to UVa -- very interesting. 7: Yes. 8: Our trip to the UVa Law Library was extraordinarily useful. 9: Yes. 10: Absolutely. 11: Yes -- very well organized and informative. 12: Yes. Interesting and fun.
5) What did you like best about the course?
1: I wish I had something more useful to say, but I thought the course was well organized, well taught, and well worth the time, money and effort. There was nothing I didn’t like except having to meet as a group to get to class in the a.m. 2: The quality of the instructors’ remarks and preparation, including especially the handouts. The intimate size of the meeting room, and its location convenient to PC/Internet access. 3: Experience and communication skills of the instructors. 4: Both the opportunity to examine and handle the materials and the discussions and descriptions of others’ collections and projects. 5: When we really focused on the books. 7: The instructors’ vast, in-depth knowledge and the exchanges between the other class members. 8: Definitely the quality of the instruction. Both the instructors were able to distill their considerable experience into a general introduction and to our own questions with precision and insight. 9: Both instructors worked well together, and as individuals who have spent decades working with the genre, were well supplied with expertise, &c. and able to share same with the students. 10: The highly experienced instruction, level of information obtained, and the good-natured people. 11: Information stream, also contacts with professionals with similar interests/networking. 12: Learning from our instructors’ experiences; getting useful answers to my questions; doing the bibliographic description exercise.
6) How could the course have been improved?
1: ? 2: I did not find the evening programs particularly useful or interesting. Regarding MC’s bibliographic handouts, e.g., “Overview of Legal Bibliography/List of Images” -- please leave more blank lines for note taking. 3: No ideas. 4: ? 5: I can’t imagine how. 8: Nothing comes to mind. The course was an effective introduction. 10: N/A. 11: Classroom not convenient; building locked in morning. 12: It is an excellent course. I can’t think of anything to improve 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: Hope that courses are taught in Small in the future for security. 2: None. 4: Pass the fragile materials in book cradles? 5: Everything was handled well. 10: Not a problem. 11: N/A. 12: Nothing.
8) If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?
1: Did not attend either -- wanted to go to Monday night, but couldn’t find a way to get into building (210 Clemons) after closure. 2: Sunday night -- yes. Monday night -- interesting, but not relevant. 3: Sunday nice short introduction and nice reception and dinner. Tour was not too good -- perhaps point out computer rooms, kitchen and lounge in Brown -- book is wrong. 4: Yes. 7: Yes, especially the Monday night lecture. 9: Yes. 10: Absolutely. 11-12: N/A
9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?
1: Did not attend Wednesday -- Thursday night [Bookseller night] was great (spent too much). 3: First night was over my head but am sure it was good for many -- Thursday [Bookseller night] was very interesting. 4: Most definitely -- yes! 7: Yes. 10-12: N/A.
10) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final thoughts?
1: Yes -- suggest course in historical canon law taught by someone from the Library of Congress or Berkeley. 2: Yes. You might add to the handbook that Brown College’s basement level includes a computer room with numerous PCs/Internet access/printing capability. You might also add that Alderman Café is a convenient source for decaffeinated coffee. 3: Yes -- excellent. 4: Yes. 5: Definitely. 6: My institution definitely did. I now have a knowledge base on which to build and a lot of good ideas about how to develop/use our collection. 7: The course was totally engaging and time well spent. 8: Yes. 9: Yes. Well worth the time/money investment. 10: Absolutely, and I would come again given the chance. I would highly recommend this class to anyone needing this type of information. 11: Very worthwhile -- would recommend to part-time or full-time professionals in this area. 12: Absolutely. An excellent class that will have a major impact on how I manage my collection! Thanks!
Number of respondents: 12
Percentages
Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution Institution Institution Institution
gave me leave paid tuition paid housing paid travel
92% 92% 75% 84%
I took vaca- I paid tui- I paid for my I paid my own
tion time tion myself own housing travel
0% 8% 8% 8%
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
8% 0% 17% 8%
There were nine general librarians with some rare book duties(76%), one rare book librarian (8%), one teacher/professor (8%), and one antiquarian bookseller (8%).