43. How to Research a Rare Book

D. W. Krummel (Evaluation of the RBS 1993 version of this course; note changes in the RBS 1995 course description)

Aimed at reference librarians, catalogers, and others who rou- tinely research rare books. Strategies for the efficient identification and interpretation of the bibliographies that are most useful for work with rare and early printed books. Sources pri- marily in English and in the major other Roman-alphabet languages; but some attention paid to non-Western sources as well.

• 1. How useful were the pre-course readings?
  
  2: Very. 4: Didn't do them. 5: Very useful, and not too much to do. 6: They were quite pertinent, although not necessarily essential. 9: Relatively useful. If he could throw in something a little less dry (in addition) it would be nice. The bibliography is excellent and will be useful in the future. (In fact a clean copy of this bibliography would be great since we scribbled all over the one sent to us before the course.)
  
  
• 2. Was your faculty member well-prepared to teach THIS course?
  
  1: Yes. His knowledge and experience are incredible! 2: Top-notch. DK's background, wit, preparation, and enthusiasm made this an enjoyable and profitable week. 3: Absolutely. 4: Very well-prepared. 5: Very. 6: Yes, I was very impressed with his performance. 8: Yes. 9: Extremely well-prepared. Also, the material was very well organized plus DK has a great sense of humor.
  
  
• 3. Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?
  
  1-2: Yes. 3. Excellent. Especially appreciated wonderful anecdotes. 4-5: Yes. 6: Yes, I was very impressed with his performance. 7: It was all that I expected it to be. 8-9: Yes.
  
  
• 4. Did the actual course content correspond to its RBS brochure description and Expanded Course Description? Did the course in general meet your expectations? 1-2: Yes. 3. Yes, corresponded well to the course description. 4: Yes. Yes. 5: Yes. DK stuck to the syllabus and was very well-prepared. 6: Yes, the description was very accurate, and I fully expected all that I encountered. 8-9: Yes.
  
  
• 5. What did you like best about the course?
  
  1: Variety of materials covered; well-organized, good schedule: allowed for lots of hands-on time working on problem sets. No feeling of competition among members of the class: very low-key atmosphere. 2: Doing the problem sets. The only way to get to know the various reference tools is through hands-on searching. 3. DK's thorough, encyclopedic knowledge of the subject and its historical perspective. 4: The way it was structured -- we had the morning to work on problem sets, followed by lunch, followed by a lecture, and ending the day with time to work on the problem sets. 5: Hands-on searching and non-confrontational review of answers. 6: The fact that I was introduced to so many different reference sources which I had not previously known of. 7: Blend of range and focus -- we covered an astonishing variety of sources yet became well-acquainted with the most important ones. The instructor was very generous with his time and advice -- his willingness to as- sist us on independent projects was very much appreciated. 8: The sources and assignments. 9: Availability of DK during problem sets. His awareness of each student's particular interests and uses for the course.
  
  
• 6. How could the course have been improved?
  
  1: Call numbers in bibliographies were not always right; some confusion about what was available or not available; hard to use materials from Rare Books in the Rare Book Room. 3: Perhaps working on one or two representative search problems before students begin searches so that various strategies might be discussed and familiarity with bibliographic source(s) might be achieved. 4: Can't think of anything. 6: I don't think it could have been. The only problem with the course was the fact that some of the reference sources were not easily found, caused by RBS's recent move from Columbia. 7: Not at all. To DK: Thank you! 9: Perhaps a few simpler problems just to get one oriented in a particular bibliography (in addition to the difficult problems). A little more information pertaining to the organization of bibliographies and the philosophy of search strategy. However, I do think the time was used effectively.
  
  
• 7. Any final thoughts?
  
  1: Bring warm clothes for inside Alderman. Advice to UVa staff: try not to have your job interfere with RBS attendance. 4: This is a well worth while course to take -- its approach is hands-on and the examples given applied to a variety of backgrounds, librarians, scholars, &c. In addition, DK has a wealth of information and is wonderful to listen to for a week. 5: Poke through some of the bibliographies on the list before you get to RBS. 6: Bring coat hangers and an umbrella! 9: It would be helpful (if at all possible) to offer opportunities for people to help out, either before, after, or during RBS, for partial tuition. I feel that these courses are important for my professional career, yet I don't know when I'll be able to attend again because of monetary considerations.

Number of respondents: 9

Percentages

Leave         Tuition        Housing        Travel

Institution   Institution    Institution    Institution
gave me leave paid tuition   paid housing   paid travel

78%           64%            12%            22%


I took vaca-  I paid tui-    I paid for my  I paid my own
tion time     tion myself    own housing    travel

0%            25%            44%            44%


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

22%           11%            44%            34%

Three students (34%) were general librarians with some rare book duties, two (22%) were rare book librarians, two (22%) were full- time students, and two (22%) were teachers/professors.