1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: I found the readings very helpful. They gave me a general sense of the matter that we dealt with. 2: Rather useful. Good background to the content of the course. 3: Very useful. 4: They were very useful.

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: AD’s text was very useful. His organization of the manuscripts by type, and not by strict chronology, was a fine idea. 2: Yes, especially for this course. The bulk of the slide material was reproduced in the course handouts. 3: Yes. 4: Yes, they were appropriate and useful. I plan to use them in the future.

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

1: Yes. The professor met us on the level that we were at, and guided us from there. 2: Yes. AD provide more technical answers if necessary. 3: Yes. 4: More than appropriate.

4) 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. The course was just what I had hoped for. 2-3: Yes. 4: Yes, it did.

5) What did you like best about the course?

1: Teacher, method, content, and the students were all excellent. I have the highest regard for AD’s expertise and his teaching methods. 2: The attention to detail in slide materials as well as in the reviews of students’ work after class exercises. AD’s familiarity with the mtaerial as well as his immediate rapport with all of the students. 4: All of the explanations given by AD were extremely clear, and they enabled me to follow, in a step-by-step introduction, to the field of Latin paleography. He was very patient, and he encouraged me. He brought life to a whole world that enabled me to understand the importance and the variety of the documents we read.

6) How could the course have been improved?

1: It would be interesting to have a quill and ink on hand to see actually what happens when certain letters are made. I am not suggesting a calligraphy class, but only how differently cut nibs result in different forms. 2: Include information from the list of slides (date, city, &c.) on each page of the slide handout where it applies so that one need not refer back and forth. 3: An excellent survey, although expanded coverage of C12-13 would have been useful, as well as more discussion of Chancery script and charter styles. 4: I wish we had had a field trip -- I feel that it would have been useful. A field trip to one of the great repositories of manuscripts, such as the Library of Congress, may be worth considering.

7) 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: None. 3: Move the computers out of the study/classrooms when the rooms have been willed to the University, eg Garrett Room, Taylor Room.

8) 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 and videos, evening lectures, Bookseller Night, tour of the Alderman digital/electronic centers, &c.

1: I enjoyed the lectures very much. 2: The lectures and the Rotunda exhibit is always appreciated. 4: I took part in most of the activities listed above, and them them interesting and/or enjoyable. I particularly liked the lecture given by Roger Wieck of the Pierpont Morgan Library.

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

1: I will highly recommend RBS to all I meet. Yes, I got my money’s worth. 2: Prepare to learn more than you expected or thought possible. Yes [got my money’s worth]. 4: I certainly got an excellent introduction to a difficult subject, and I would recommend this class to any librarian able to read printed Latin texts.

Number of respondents: 4

There were two general librarians with some rare book duties (50%), and two teachers/professors (50%).