Heather Wolfe

English Palaeography 1500-1750

26-30 July 2010

1) How useful were the pre-course readings? (Leave blank if you applied and were accepted late for the course, and thus did not get the list in time.)

1: Very useful. Although they were only suggested and not mandatory, all of the class did several of the readings/online tutorials. 2: Very useful. 3: Less helpful to me than others, since I work with examples of handwriting studied in the class nearly every day. 4: Very useful. I felt very prepared for the first day after having spent quite a bit of time before class going through the readings and online exercises. 5: Very useful and very important in mastering the material. 6: The pre-course readings were very helpful and prepared you for the course. 7: The pre-course readings and online tutorials were indispensible to the class. I was immensely grateful for the preparation. 8: They were very useful. I wish I had had more time to study them thoroughly, but I'll certainly return to them for future reference.

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: They were very useful (especially HW's book) and will continue to be helpful for a long time. 2: Yes—useful and appropriate—and will continue to be an excellent resource. 3: YES. I hope to adapt them into a training packet for interns and will definitely continue to consult them myself. 4: Yes, I plan to keep materials for reference. 5: Yes. 6: The materials and syllabus were appropriate for this one week course. 7: The syllabus and other materials distributed for the class were useful as well as incredibly helpful. I intend to use the workbook as a kind of mini-encyclopedia. 8: The syllabus reflected careful planning and will be of continuing value.

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: The intellectual level was great—and enforced the notion that a lot of patience is required in palaeography, studying c17 secretary hand was most helpful to me. 2: All of the course was interesting and relevant—even components I did not expect would be relevant. 3: All of the class was helpful and intellectually stimulating. 4: All of the content was most relevant, as I often will be working with manuscripts from this period. The course was challenging but at a very appropriate level. 5: Everything was interesting! Intellectual level was appropriate—challenging without being too difficult. 6: The entire scope of the course and the material covered were exactly what I hoped would be covered. 7: Although the course was not specifically in my time period I found it helpful to cover all aspects of early modern handwriting for my research in medieval manuscripts. The intellectual level seemed appropriate but I had the least background knowledge for the course so others may disagree. 8: The course was challenging—which was appropriate. For my purposes, learning to read the older English hands was excellent training, as was our introduction to numbers and dates.

4) What did you like best about the course?

1: The variety of material and teaching styles and the group cohesion. 2: HW's patient and thorough approach to our practice of transcribing and her willingness to answer questions. 3: I really enjoyed all of it—no one part best in particular. The Special Collections visit was a little superfluous especially since we didn't even meet with actual Special Collections staff. 4: The many original documents we viewed, representing a large variety of hands, were useful and interesting. HW's excellent and patient teaching style and the variety of activities helped keep the days moving quite quickly. 5: That it was so well-rounded. HW organized it into subject blocks that made for good variation and also made the course very comprehensive. 6: Working online when transcribing a manuscript and seeing the transcription projected on the screen for our review. 7: I liked the practice transcription exercises the most. It was a chance to work—not under pressure as in "in the round" and then to see the collation and compare them. I also liked seeing the manuscript on the screen. 8: I liked HW's patient yet professional manner. She is an excellent teacher.

5) Did the instructor(s) successfully help you to acquire the information and skills that the course was intended to convey?

1: 100%. 3: Yes. She was fantastic. 4: Yes, definitely. 5: Yes. 6: Absolutely. 7: Absolutely! The instructor was organized and thoughtful about giving information. She was also incredibly patient as we struggled to learn. 8: Yes—I feel my skills are vastly improved.

6) Did you learn what the course description/advertisements indicated you would learn?

1: Yes. HW made the course really flexible too. On day one she asked about our interests and helped tailor the material to us. 2-5: Yes. 6: Yes. When I completed this week-long seminar I had a good understanding of Tudor Secretary and Italic. I had enough competence with the material that I could continue on my own.

7) Did you learn what you wanted to learn in the course?

1: Yes. And it inspired me to keep practicing! 2-5: Yes. 7-8: Yes.

8) How do you intend to use or apply the knowledge or skills learned in this course?

1: Transcribing documents for my dissertation and using some of the information in my own teaching. 2: In establishing the text for a critical edition, particularly in reading the occasional secretary letter and in identifying hands. 3: I will use these paleography skills almost every single day in my current workplace. 4: I plan to continue referencing manuscripts; this course will allow me to read a larger variety of hands and to read much more quickly as I do archival research. 5: Further studies in my Master's program. Possible work in special collections at a future date. 6: I intend to complete a transcription of handwritten marginal notes for an article that I will submit for publication. 7: I intend to use it in looking at manuscripts in libraries for research. 8: I will apply these skills when reading manuscripts while preparing a critical edition of late seventeenth/early eighteenth poet Anne Finch.

9) How could the course have been improved? If you have a suggestion for a new course (and—equally important—a person who could teach it), please contact the RBS Program Director.

1: Great first run—I'd love to see how it is tweaked in the future. 2: No suggestions. 3: Frustrating to be stuck with transcription partners for an entire day—especially on days where there were more online transcription exercises. Rotating partners after lunch would have been good. 6: The course was so well presented with such patience that I can't think of any recommendations. 7: Nothing. As far as I'm concerned it was perfect. 8: I have no suggestions for improvement.

10) 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: Yes (one session in SC). Perhaps having students choose a few documents from there would also be good. 2: Yes. 3: Not really. Since we were a group, it was hard for everyone to see the MSS. closely enough, and though it was nice to see additional examples, it would have been better to actually be in Special Collections with their staff, instead of in a meeting room with RBS staff. 4: Yes—I enjoyed seeing the UVA documents. 5: Yes, it was excellent. 6: The time was very well spent and supplemented the materials in the classroom. 7: Yes. Although I wish we had been able to do more of this. 8: We enjoyed a very informative visit to Special Collections, reviewing over 20 period manuscripts.

11) 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: No eating on the tables in which we are handling documents during lunch breaks or at least better clean up. 2: No suggestions. 3: No. 5: N/A. 8: Our classroom doubled as a staff lunchroom, so special care might be taken to leave the table clean.

12) If you attended the optional evening events (e.g. RBS Lecture, Video Night, RBS Forum, Booksellers' Night) were they worth attending?

1: Only attended one because I had made arrangements to visit people during that time. 3: Yes. Lecture and forum well worth attending. 4: The lecture and forum were both quite interesting. 5: Yes, they were all good. 7: I really didn't attend. 8: I attended the RBS Lecture. I found it interesting but would have preferred a lecture by a specialist farther along in his/her career who could have addressed a subject in greater depth.

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

1: 100% 2: Yes. I hope RBS will continue to offer this course every year—and invite HW to teach it. This course provides crucial tools for a range of research areas. 3: Yes, definitely worth the tuition/travel price. HW is a wonderful teacher and I will be recommending this class to lots of people when I get home. 4: Yes—I would definitely recommend this course to others! Also, I was highly impressed with the organization and helpfulness of RBS staff. Advice: in the late July session, the air-conditioned dorms (as opposed to the Lawn) were a good choice due to a very hot week. 5: Yes. 6: More than my money's worth. 7: Yes, absolutely. I paid in full and it was well worth the money. 8: Yes! RBS provides valuable, needed and yet increasingly "rare" training. Thanks!

Number of respondents:8

PERCENTAGES

Leave

Institution gave me leave

25%

I took vacation time

25%

N/A: self-employed, retired or had the summers off

50%

Tuition

Institution paid tuition

50%

I paid tuition myself

37%

Scholarship

13%

Housing

Institution paid housing

37%

I paid for my own housing

63%

N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home

Travel

Institution paid travel

25%

I paid my own travel

75%

N/A: lived nearby

There was one archivist (12.5%), one library director (12.5%), two full-time Ph.D. students (25%), two professors of British literature (25%), one part-time M.A. student (12.5%), and one freelance translator (12.5%).