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No. 25: Introduction to Rare Book Librarianship 21-25 July 1997 |
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1. How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Pre-course readings were useful. And, thankfully, we were not subjected to a lengthy discussion of them for the sake of those who did not choose to do the reading. Let's raise the river, not lower the bridge! 2: They gave me a very good understanding of issues that rare book librarians face and made me rethink a lot of my beliefs. 3: Course readings were difficult to secure and of little value. 4: Very useful they gave me some idea of what was going on. 5: Some were very useful in understanding the instructor's frame of reference and the issues which he intended to cover in the course. Less useful were the readings from the popular press and those on the hasty assumption/anxiety that computers were going to replace books altogether. 6: Very useful touched on most if not all of the issues raised in class. 7: I felt they were helpful. 8: They provided some good background. 9: Very useful. 10: Some of the material was very basic, and I found that the most useful. I did not do much of the readings that were more than basic. 11: They were very useful, since I am coming into this field with no background. 12: Very useful. I was able to obtain most quite easily and was glad I'd read them ahead. Others were provided in class. |
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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: Syllabus appropriate; contains material which I did not get to read this week, but will read when I return home. 2: Yes. I plan to read some of the additional materials mentioned in the syllabus and share all readings with additional staff members.3: Yes. 4: Yes. I especially appreciated the reading list. If I haven't read it yet, I'm going to. 5: The exhibition catalogs and other promotional materials will be useful as examples and as proof to administrators and non-rare book librarians that these are common practices in the field. 6: Yes I'll be referring to them in the future. A valuable resource. 7-8: Yes. 9: Helpful I will use the syllabus at home. 10: Yes to both syllabus and materials being useful. The notes I took will be very relevant to my job. 11: Very useful and relevant, and I expect that they will be helpful when I return to my library. 12: Yes particularly in future, I'd say. |
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3. Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?
1: Yes. 2: Yes. It was a course that really made you think, yet did not make you feel apprehensive to ask for something to be explained in greater detail. 3: Mostly there were too many anecdotes that took class time away from the syllabus. 4-6: Yes. 7: It was an excellent overview of the topic (which was all that could be done in five days). 9: Yes although it seemed to me that the vast majority of people had enough experience that we could have skimmed some basics in order to devote more time to some more complex issues. Or maybe this means RBS also needs a more advanced course. 10: Very much so!! 11: Yes. 12: Yes, for my purposes. |
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4. If your course had field trips, were they effective?
1: Very well spent. I would not have been averse to more time in Special Collections. Could an evening presentation and tour be entertained? 2: Our visit to Special Collections was fantastic!! Ed Gaynor really made the visit interesting and exciting. 3: Yes most definitely! 4: Yes. 5: Yes! Our visit to the UVa Special Collections proved to generate many discussion points. Not incidentally, it was also a nice break from sitting in class and highly enjoyable. 6: We had a superb field experience in UVa's Special Collections with an extraordinarily knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide. 7: The visit to UVa's Special Collections was very helpful in showing how such a department functions. 8: Tour of Special Collections was excellent. Guide answered questions. Very good. 9: Yes. 10: It was just wonderful. Ed Gaynor was a marvelous host and guide. 11: Extremely well spent. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit to Special Collections and gained a wonderful overview of how the collection functions and general information which will be helpful in future. 12: Very well spent time enjoyable tour with well-informed staff. |
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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, yes, and yes. 2: Yes, it did. I feel very fortunate to have been able to come and I believe my employers (as well as myself) will benefit from what I learned. 3-5: Yes. 6: Yes. I expected an introduction and if anything the course gave more than expected. 7: I was pleased with the content. 8: Yes. 9: Yes a good overview, as promised. 10: To all of the above, yes. 11: Absolutely covered all areas. It gave me an overview of the area and I learned that there are no definitive answers each institution/library is different and creates its own definitions, etc. 12: Yes. |
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6. What did you like best about the course?
1: Knowledge and experience of instructor; willingness to generously share that information. DT is a wonderfully scholarly, witty instructor, and excellent presenter, and a superb story-teller! 2: The interaction with others and the ability to pose questions to the class and get input on particular situations. Also, I enjoyed and got a lot out of the input of someone other than a librarian in this case a book collector. I recommend doing this again. 3: The reality level as to what librarians face in the real world. 4: I liked being able to discuss problems with people who were in the same (or worse) position as I. 5: The camaraderie and flow of ideas, the instructor's humor and intelligence and vast knowledge and obvious enthusiasm for his job and the field. 6: Informal atmosphere close collegial relationships which develop. 7: I felt that the instructor had a good perspective on the various issues which arose. 8: DT's method of teaching (after you get used to it) was very beneficial. He asks very pertinent questions. 9: Good overview. Amusing presentation style. 10: The instructor made the course for me. He's the best teacher I've ever had. 11: The format, instructor, and the other participants in the course. 12: a) Our classmates. b) Breadth and depth of instructor's experience: fully conversant with all aspects of rare book librarianship; very good humored; willing to listen. |
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7. How could the course have been improved?
1: Wish it could have been longer! 2: Wish it were longer. 3: Fewer personal stories and more examples as to what happens in other institutions. 4: More time. 5: If we could have included more examples from people in the class, as appropriate to topics brought up in the course, it would've been helpful for all of us, I think. Since most of us work in smaller institutions (and I suspect most students who take this course do), the experiences and anxieties we have may be more closely aligned to each others' than to Penn's or NYPL's. That is not to say that there aren't a great many commonalities among all special collections or that the Penn or NYPL examples aren't interesting and instructive. Nevertheless, a little more time devoted to situations faced in our own environments would have been appreciated. 6: More hands-on, if possible though not hands on. 7: Perhaps more time on some of the procedures (especially with conservation) could have made the course more practical, but for a general introduction, the amount of discussion was satisfactory. 8: Not spending so much time defining "rare book." 9: Perhaps introduce a more issues-oriented section dealing with really current and upcoming issues. The article on "Special Collections in the 21st Century" was quite dated. More cutting edge information would be useful, but maybe that's for a more advanced course. 10: Couldn't have. 12: Classroom space was inadequate. |
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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: Sunday afternoon tour: too hot, kept standing in the glaring sun until I thought I would drop from heat stroke. Sunday night dinner and videos: a good opportunity to meet others at RBS, although the wait for the evening videos seemed too long. 2: Everything was well organized and thought out. Sunday night dinner could have used a little more room to spread out but I think we all dealt with it. 3: All were fine. 4: I enjoyed everything I attended. These activities helped fill in things about which we talked in class. 5: The booksellers tour was well organized and a good idea. The evening lectures were probably much more enjoyable to people who have been in the trade/field a longer time. 6: TB needs to prune lists of names out of his talk others were enjoyable, but not of great substance. 7: I enjoyed the videos, though I wish there could have been an organized presentation on the TEI program or other electronic centers here at UVa. 8: Greer Allen's lecture was very informative and extremely well done. 9: Sunday night videos were relevant and enjoyable. Booksellers night was useful and well organized. 10: Booksellers night was great!! The tour was valuable. The dinner was useful for meeting new people and being immersed into the culture of RBS. The videos on Sunday were not interesting to me personally, especially the first one. The last one should really be redone. 11: The walking tour, dinner, lectures, Bookseller Night, etc., were enjoyable and provided additional opportunities to meet and network with RBS participants. 12: a) Afternoon tour was very helpful in orienting me to the Grounds. b) Sunday night dinner OK; not enough chairs. c) Videos good content; too late starting/ending. d) Lectures marginally interesting. e) Bookseller Night good to have it earlier in the week; helps orient one to their locations, so one can go back, and back, and back! f) Rotunda exhibit not enough time to view it thoroughly. Captions were quite detailed. |
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9. Any final thoughts? Did you get your money's worth?
1: Yes, and then some. 2: Take the opportunity to experience RBS you will not regret it. 3: Yes, I got my money's worth. 4: I enjoyed every minute and hope I can come back next year. 5: Despite my comments in #7, above, I do think this was fine and money well spent and that DT is still an appropriate instructor for the course and the time has not come for new blood (since he asked). It could be revised, improved certainly, but I believe that DT's time to stop teaching this course will come when he has lost the energy and enthusiasm to do it (which he clearly has not). He asked us to critique his teaching, as he has been doing this a long time, so I will add that although he verbally encourages questions, there is a sense that one shouldn't ask, both because of lack of time and opportunity to break in to interrupt. And when someone does ask a question, he has a tendency to sometimes answer it tangentially. Moreover, his long and complex answers tend to lose the student's original point and in that response transform the framework of the question, making the student feel chastened and somewhat foolish for asking. I know he doesn't do this intentionally, nor is he aware of it. 6: I feel rather like the Virgin Mary after the angel visited. I have gathered these things to my hears and am pondering them. Yes. 7: I felt it was overall helpful. 8: Yes. 9: Yes the course was worth it. 10: No further thoughts. Yes, I definitely feel my institution got its money's worth. 11: Yes! I would highly recommend it. 12: Could students be asked to bring along fact sheets, photos of their institutions, etc., to offer during the time taken for introductions (or to pass around/leave on tables) to help paint a picture for the instructor and fellow students? I'm glad I've learned the word reader. I hated user, client, patron!! |
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Number of respondents: 12 |
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There were twelve students: three were archivist/manuscript librarians (25%), two were general librarians with some rare book duties (17%), two were rare book/archivist/manuscript librarians (17%), and one each was an administrative assistant, collector, library administrator, rare book librarian, and student (8% each). |