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No. 35: How to Research a Rare Book 28 July - 1 August 1997 |
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1. How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Helpful and informative. 2: Fairly useful. 3: It was useful to have the syllabus (including the problem sets) ahead of time. 4: They were somewhat useful, but I found the information received in class much more useful. 5: Useful as a refresher on the many bibliographies we used. 6: Somewhat useful. I did not get a chance to read Hackman because it was missing from the local library (which I didn't realize until it was too late for ILL). 7: Useful. 8: Good. Gave an overview of the course coverage. 9: They were quite general, but provided a review of the subject. 10: Helpful. 11: Somewhat relevant. However, the readings did not address the use of electronic resources in regard to bibliographic research. Readings could probably be updated. 12: Very relevant; I also did reading of my own on the history of the book which was very helpful for understanding the whole context within which other courses are taught. 13: Pretty general, and since we were all librarians, many of us had read them or similar things before. |
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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, I will be using them at the library. The information is very timely. 2: Yes, the syllabus in particular will be of great use in the future. 3: The course syllabus was both appropriate and useful, and will continue to be. 4: Yes. I will find the bibliography extremely useful. 5: Yes, very. 6: Very useful. My guide of bibliographic sources will come in handy long after the course is done. 7: Useful, and it would have been useful to get online printouts of OCLC and RLIN at my own library if I had been cued in advance. I plan to annotate the bibliography with my library's holdings and in subject areas locate collections with bibliographies for referral for researchers if my collection does not own. It may help collection development after I annotate our holdings. 8: Yes. 9: An excellent bibliography for future reference and to use to help staff who have not taken the course. 10: I got the syllabus beforehand, and that was very useful. It gave me a chance to familiarize myself before RBS; now I'll be able to use it back in my own library.11: I would arrange the bibliographic materials listed on the syllabus in the following manner: 1) Call number (UVa) (bold). 2) Author, title, etc. I would also recommend that bibliographic materials be arranged or grouped into the type of material they index (i.e., pamphlets, monographs, etc.) and the time period they cover. I have found that the date of coverage within the bibliographic work is essential to completing the problem sets. 12: Yes, I will definitely refer to the syllabus again. 13: Very! |
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3. Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?
1: Yes I appreciated DK's discussions and suggestions. 2-4: Yes. 5: Just right. 6: Things were very practically oriented 7: Yes. 8: Challenged. 9: Everyone in the course was challenged, even those with experience, but no one was hopelessly out of his/her depth. 10: Yes. 11: Somewhat. I do think that more time is necessary to work with the materials in depth. 12: Yes, considering the vast majority in class were librarians, I think that starting right into searching and discussion of international bibliography was warranted. No need to cover very basic concepts which are available in the pre-course reading. 13: Yes. Some people had a harder time than others, but no one had an easy time of it. |
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4. If your course had field trips, were they effective?
1: Our RLIN demonstration was very useful. 4: Yes. 5: Half of each day was spent in the library doing the problem sets, which was certainly necessary and part of the course. 6: Yes, we had to do searching assignments using the references in Alderman Library. It was time well spent, familiarizing ourselves with the material discussed in class. 7: The class received training in Virgo and RLIN by a UVa librarian. It would have been useful to have received this early in the week, as it did provide descriptions linking resources. 8: Used the Reference Room for searching. Special Collections could have been a bit more relaxed with us in using the area. 9-10: N/A. 11: Yes. I was able to improve my skills as a reference librarian, use sources not available at the library where I work, etc. I also feel humbled, which is an appropriate reality check for those of us doing reference work. As we move into new areas of research, or libraries to work in, activities such as these make us aware of areas where we grow. This is so important to research and commitment to the profession. It gives us a chance to feel what the scholar or library user/patron feels as they go into new territories of research. I can only improve my own skills and abilities to develop new reference and research services after experiencing this course.12: RLIN demonstration was a very good idea! 13: N/A. |
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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, very much so. 2-5: Yes. 6: Yes, the content matched the description, although I think the title was misleading. We really didn't get into how to do research, nor does finding bibliographical citations correspond to my idea of research. I think a better title would be something like "A Survey of Bibliographical Resources" or something like that. 7: Yes. 8: Yes. Yes. Yes. 9: Yes. 10: The course content and RBS brochure did correspond. My expectations were high, and they were met. 11: Yes, but it was a great amount of material to cover. Maybe the course could be broken into segments to achieve depth (i.e., researching name books in the humanities/arts, sciences, etc). 12: Yes, I would say the content matched the brochure and reading the comments of previous students was also helpful. 13: Yes. |
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6. What did you like best about the course?
1: Being with other librarians who are interested in the same topics that I am. Having the opportunity to take a class (if only for five days) from a highly respected and knowledgeable person as DK. 2: The opportunity to interact with other students on the problem sets. It was also an opportunity to be introduced to, or re-familiarize myself with, a lot of major and/or obscure bibliographic sources. 3: I enjoyed (and found extremely useful) the problem sets which we searched each day. 4: DK is extremely knowledgeable and very good at conveying his knowledge. The general atmosphere of the class was friendly and cooperative. 5: DK, his gentle but knowledgeable manner was just right for guiding us through a lot of material. 6: The extensive and very useful list of bibliographies and DK's advice on the most useful of these. 7: The enlarged experiences with and knowledge of specialized bibliographies. 8: DK an incredible person who has a great way of delivering his material. The structure of searching in class time and discussion. 9: The exposure to new material and the chance to interact with other who gave different perspectives. 10: 1) The knowledge of the instructor. 2) Searching the problems. 3) Examining the different bibliographies. 4) The instructor's sense of humor. 11: Problem sets. 12: DK has a great sense of humor and a lot of personal experience with many great libraries, the people who have left us bibliographies, and he knows the history very well. 13: The instructor! And the content of the highest quality. |
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7. How could the course have been improved?
1: I guess it works as well as possible with books in various locations. It would have helped to have had direct access to Special Collections's reference books. 2: Sometimes frustrating to be competing with eleven other individuals for the same resources, but this probably can't be helped. 3: Of course, it would have been nice to have more time to search the problem sets. (But this is not a complaint about the course, which I thought was great!) 5: If it could be arranged so that we didn't waste quite so much time searching out the sources in the library, we could get more of the problems answered. 6: I would have been interested in provenance searches. Also, I'd be interested in doing research beyond finding the citation in a bibliography. Perhaps this would require a different course altogether. 8: Making sure the books are still here in Alderman there are many missing books. Layout of the syllabus separate the questions from the bibliography. 9: If, by magic, we could have seen all the books and found all the answers, but on the other hand, it was a realistic experience! 10: 1) The number of problems could be reduced. 2) The bibliographies and the searching problems should be printed separately. 3) There were problems, and some could not be solved. DK and CB did a wonderful job of trying to solve all the difficulties. 11: Pull books ahead of time from rare book room and Stacks, Ivy, etc. Check call numbers. 12: More comfortable chairs, better access to the Special Collections sources we needed. 13: Fever homework questions we tended to panic a bit, which didn't help us think clearly. |
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8. 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 and videos, evening lectures, Bookseller Night, tour of the Alderman digital/electronic centers, printing demonstrations, &c.
1: Very pleasant. 2: OK in fact, there may have been too much to take in! 3: The various RBS activities were interesting and enjoyable. 4: I enjoyed all of the activities very much. They gave me an opportunity to meet people taking other courses, as well as being generally interesting. I especially enjoyed Booksellers Night. The lectures and videos were also fun and informative. 5: All were great they make for a comprehensive RBS experience. 6: It would be nice to have dinner in a dining hall or some other less cramped environment. Everything else was just fine. 7: All of the above, and lunches and dinners with classmates. 8: The tour was good for an overview of the Grounds. Sunday night dinner fine. Videos were too late (tired). Evening lectures please move them back make them later. 9: The variety added to the total experience. 10: The evening lectures were always enjoyable because of the good speakers. RBS as a whole is very enjoyable and UVa is lovely. This is my vacation. 11: Evening lectures were OK. I liked Bookseller Night. I liked the tour of the digital/electronic centers and exhibits. 12: Sunday afternoon tour was helpful. Videos on Sunday night were good. These could be offered on other nights. Digital Center tour was fascinating. 13: Dinner excellent. Videos some were repeats for frequent RBS attendees. Lectures excellent. Bookseller Night good idea, but not enough time. RLIN demonstration by the Alderman reference librarian was very helpful. |
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9. Any final thoughts? Did you get your money's worth?
1: Thanks very much for making these courses available. It is very important for us, since so little is offered elsewhere. 2: RBS is always good value for money. Special thanks to the RBS staff and especially all the library staff at UVa for being such good sports. 3: This course is well worth taking for anyone interested in learning more about bibliographies (and search strategies) for old/rare books. 4: I definitely got my money's worth. I feel like I learned a lot in this course. I'd advise future students to wear comfortable shoes, because they'll be running around the library a lot. 5: An intense but enjoyable experience, well worth the money. Be prepared to walk, climb stairs, and stand a lot. 6: I would recommend it. It's not my money, so it's hard to say. This course was not directly related to my work, but I imagine that I will be helpful at some point in the future. 8: Yes, yes, yes. You will work! But well worth it. Now I only wish that our library could have some of these resources. Sondra and Kathryn are wonderful. Thank you and Caroline Breashears and Natalie Regensburg for getting our books. 9: Overall, this was a very worthwhile experience. The course was excellent, RBS was organized well, everyone was friendly, helpful, and interesting. Expensive, but worth every penny! DK is a treasure. 10: RBS is worthwhile. I definitely got my money's worth. 11: Generally, a good week and I learned a lot. Thanks! 12: Have fun. |
| Number of respondents: 13 |
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| There were thirteen students: seven were general librarians with some rare book duties (54%), five were rare book librarians (38%), and one worked in a museum in work not directly related to the library (7%). |