23-27 July 2007 in Charlottesville

1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: The readings were very good and made me wish I’d take the time to read them sooner! I now also have a lot more to read based on books used in class. 2: Essential. The readings greatly contributed to my understanding of BAS’s lectures, and the manuscripts we saw. 3: Essential. 4: The first list was very useful; didn’t get to the others. 5: Extremely! 6: Quite useful: many consisted of exhibition catalogues that were at times difficult to follow, but I don’t see a better alternative. 7: Excellent background information. It was at the appropriate level, and laid a good groundwork for our class. 8: Very useful. 9: Very useful for background information and terminology. 10: Excellent to the introduction and understanding of the course. All readings were very useful to me, as my understanding of the manuscript was very limited. After completion of the course, everything – lectures, assignments – and the reading came full circle to me. 11: Useful, but I wish I had more introductory material on scripts – those were challenging! The Medieval Book [Barbara A. Shailor] and The Evolution of the Book [Frederick G. Kilgour] were great.

2) Were the course syllabus and other materials distributed in class appropriate and useful (or will they be so in the future, after you return home)?

1: All the handouts were very helpful. 2: Yes. 3: Very valuable both for the week of class, and for a reference in the future. 4: Yes, very helpful. 5: Yes. 6: Yes. The CD with images will be exceptionally useful, as will be the list of websites. 7: Very useful. I’m sure I will use them and share them with my co-workers. 8: Yes, especially the inclusion of an image databank on CD. 9: Yes. 10: Yes, I plan to refer to them in my work! 11: Yes – very helpful; resources that I can return to again and again.

3) What aspects of the course content were of the greatest interest or relevance for your purposes? Was the intellectual level of the course appropriate?

1: Very hard to pick – all the information on manuscript scripts and production details of scripts. The binding and printing information was not so necessary to me, but fit in well in class, and clearly was new for other students. 2: Our institution has very little manuscript material, so I was interested in the course particularly for the book history aspect, and I feel that I got a very good overview of this period. 3: Great overview for a history of the book, but also gave me a new way of looking at the MSS in one collection. 4: I feel like I can now dig deeper, and better identify medieval manuscripts. Very appropriate intellectual level – interesting and challenging. 5: Yes. 6: The course was well designed for my general purpose interest in gaining an introduction to this period. 7: The level was great. BAS dealt well with our levels and needs, and pushed us as well. 8: I’m afraid I’m totally biased and lusted after all the artwork rather than the script work. Intellectually challenging, but in a welcoming way. 9: I enjoyed hearing about how the manuscripts were put together, and learning about the division of labor. I think the intellectual level was very appropriate. 10: The knowledge of the professor and her taking much time to show us material from the period we were studying were outstanding and extremely relevant; especially the final assignment. 11: Yes – appropriate intellectual level. I enjoyed the illustrations, evidence of process (e.g., prickings, rulings), and contextual information the best.

4) If your course left its classroom to visit Special Collections (SC) or to make other field trips away from your classroom, was the time devoted to this purpose well spent?

1: The trip to [Washington] DC was fabulous. SC trips were very good, as we were able to get even closer to the materials. 2: Yes – to see manuscripts at the Library of Congress and the Folger [Shakespeare Library] was very useful. RBS is the only place I know of where you have the opportunity to see so many wonderful things. 3: Yes – great trip to LC and the Folger: saw amazing things. 4: The field trips to LC and the Folger were fabulous! -- really made a great week even better, and illustrated what we’d been talking about. 5: Yes, we had a great specialized set of tours to LC and the Folger – great selection of material. 6: Yes. 7: Yes; good trips to the [UVa] SC library, and a fabulous trip to DC. 8: Yes! 9: Yes. 10: Yes, It was very well spent time for students actually to see more material besides the wonderful ones seen at RBS. 11: Definitely. The trip to the Rosenwald Collection at LC was a treasure.

5) What did you like best about the course?

1: BAS’s relaxed teaching style. She made the subject inviting, interesting, accessible – causing the students to go on with work in this area. She gave us confidence to keep trying. 2: BAS! – She is an excellent and enthusiastic instructor. We are fortunate to have an instructor with her level and depth of knowledge, and the ability to communicate it so well. Also – [see question 4] the opportunity to see so many wonderful examples. 3: BAS’s amazing knowledge and generosity of sharing. 4: BAS is a great teacher – I enjoyed learning from her. The individual projects were a nice way to apply what we learned. 5: The class reports were interesting, but did not take a huge amount of preparation. Well spent time and use of classroom instruction. 6: The instructor’s comments reflecting her considerable knowledge of this field, and her ability to analyze and identify a work on her feet. 7: BAS’s contagious enthusiasm, and the exquisite books we saw at LC. 8: BAS’s teaching style is high content but low stress, which is appealing to several ability levels. 9: The project – being able to work hands-on with a manuscript fragment to identify its text, date, and country of origin. 10: The interactions with the teacher as well as those with the other students were very much appreciated. The teacher was dedicated to the subject, and to making sure we all got a lot of knowledge from the experience. 11: Being able to touch and feel, hold things up to the light, and use all of my senses to discover more about an object.

6) How could the course have been improved?

1: As always – longer! I wish it could have been 7 to 10 days. 2: Can’t think of a thing. 7: Just a single thing: colored page separators in the workbook to find things quickly. 9: I would have liked a handout showing specific identifying features of certain scripts or countries. 10: N/A. 11: A bit more clarity on scripts – or maybe it was just me, but they really confounded me.

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: Materials were carefully handled, but I was impressed by the materials BAS provided from her own collection. 2: None – material seemed to be handled very appropriately. 4: I found the “Allen Baskets” [flat wicker trays] useful. 5: I thought we were all extremely careful. 9: We should have been using light wands instead of holding items constantly up to the light. 10: N/A. 11: The Allen trays are great.

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

1: The lecture on Monday [by Andrea Immel] was especially good. 4: I enjoyed AI’s lecture on scrapbook ephemera. 5: N/A. 8: Yes, except the odd movies. 9: N/A. 10: I wasn’t able to attend. 11: Yes.

9) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final or summary thoughts, or advice for other persons considering taking this course in a future year?

1: This course, as most of RBS courses, are the best use of personal development money. I hope to come again next year. 2: Absolutely. 3: A real treat. Intellectually stimulating and valuable information gained. 4: Yes! So great! This class is wonderful, and I’ll soon be back for another class. 5: Yes, I was not completely sure this class would be the most relevant for me with our collections in mind, but I found the class to be a wonderful introduction to the manuscript era: so glad I took this class! 6: Yes. 7: Yes, it’s actually not a bad price considering how well developed the class and program are. 9: Yes. 10: Yes!! 11: Yes, Yes, Yes! RBS is a treasure.

Number of respondents: 11

Percentages

Leave Tuition Housing Travel

Institution Institution Institution Institution

gave me leave paid tuition paid housing paid travel

90% 72% 63% 72%

I took vaca- I paid tui- I paid for my I paid my own

tion time tion myself own housing travel

9% 9% 18% 18%

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 scholarship home

0% 18% 18% 9%

There were 7 rare book librarians (63%); 2 conservators (18%); 1 teacher (9%); and 1 full-time student (9%).