1) How useful were the pre-course readings? 1: What I did get hold of was helpful. 2: I would like to have a prioritized list based on two things - most valuable/applicable to the course and most available. The time between receiving the acceptance letter and the start of the course is short. 3: Excellent. 4: Very useful. 6: Those that I was able to get were very helpful and relevant (not all were available via ILL). 7: Very useful. They gave me an expanded bibliography that I will be able to use in my collecting. 8: Very useful. 9: Very useful and provided a general background in an area I really knew nothing about. 10: Very useful. I wonder if they could be prioritized in any way from most to least important. 11: Very useful. 12: Pre-course readings were quite useful. I was able to get all the ones our library lacked through inter-library loan. Now that I've taken the course, I want to go back and look at the illustrations again. 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: They were useful; the bibliography, especially, will be used for future reference. 2: Very applicable. The timeline is very valuable. I will use and revise it based on my notes and on the knowledge gained. Copies of wood engravings of stores, &c., were charming and I will pursue original printings. 3: Yes, excellent. 4: Appropriate and useful. I will refer to them often in identifying bindings. Most helpful. 5: Very useful. The outline SA did for the Library of Congress will be very helpful for future reference. 6: Appropriate and useful. 7: Course syllabus was appropriate. Handouts will be very useful. 8: They helped to follow the progression; not relevant for future use. 9: Yes. 10: Very useful and interesting. Very organized. I will consult some of them in the future. 11: All were appropriate and useful; they will have reference value for a while but will eventually be displaced by book references. 12: Yes, appropriate and useful. 3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate? 1: Very appropriate. 2: Very appropriate level - all needs seem to have been met - conservator, archivist, collector, bookseller. 3: Yes, wonderful. 4: Yes. 5: Yes, indeed. 6: Yes, indeed. 7-9: Yes. 10: Yes, I found the instructor's knowledge of the history of society as she related it to the history of book cover design highly informative. 11: Yes. 12: Yes, the intellectual level seemed appropriate. SA approached the material in several different ways to reinforce the material covered. 4) If your course had field trips, were they effective? 1: Yes - it was great going to the Rotunda and having the hands-on experience. I could have spent more time there. 2: The field trips to the Rotunda collection and UVa Special Collections were perfectly suited and were a wonderful hands-on (-off) experience. 3: Yes. 4: Time well spent. 5: Yes. SA had pulled items prior to our arrival in Special Collections to show particular bindings. 6: Yes. 7: We visited the Rotunda three times and could actually handle the books. The class visited Special Collections once and it was a real treat to see some of the very rare volumes not usually seen. 8: Absolutely. Particularly valued the opportunity to browse the shelves of the Rotunda and handle/examine books there. Very important if classroom examples are necessarily "hands off." 9: Absolutely - provided some rare opportunities to view material in the context of the course. 10: Yes, the visit to Special Collections was a special treat and the afternoon sessions in the Rotunda where students were allowed to peruse and choose examples from the collections really important to having a hands-on experience. 11: Very well spent. 12: Yes, the time in Special Collections was well spent. 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, as expected. 2: Course was adequately condensed. 3-5: Yes. 6: Yes, and more. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, although somewhere I missed the American emphasis. Also, you might consider shortening the period covered to 1900 since the 1900-10 period received less attention. 9-11: Yes. 12: Yes, the course content corresponded to the RBS brochure description. 6) What did you like best about the course? 1: Everything. The instructor's expertise, organization, and charm made the course very enjoyable. 2: SA's generosity, sharing of knowledge, graciousness, manners, enthusiasm for subject and students. Cal Otto's enthusiastic, generous emphasis and support. Perfect examples. Theme of presentations. Timing. Scope. 3: The instructor. SA is a treasure. Her dedication and passion are contagious and her knowledge really unique. 4: It was focused and helpful for the work I do. The exchange of information among the students - and between students and instructor - was interesting, relevant, and useful. 5: Slide presentations were excellent. The trips to the Rotunda were very useful. They allowed us to handle the books and then to explain to classmates the type of binding and stamping that was done. 6: Well organized; a wealth of information presented by the expert in the field. Also: we were fortunate to have had two (with CO, three) book collectors present who provided interesting examples. 7: Superb teacher who really knows her material. The mix of lecture, slide, and showing actual examples worked really well. It was also nice having CO as a TA, not only for his knowledge but also for the examples he shared from his own collection. 8: It was convenient that the progression of c19 publishers' bindings could be organized around decades - it helped me latch on to and retain concepts. 9: The gentle but persuasive and knowledgeable manner in which SA taught. The intermixing of conservators, book dealers, and rare book librarians in the class. Frequent, well-planned breaks. 10: The material/time period covered and most especially the instructor. SA's experience, her years of in-depth research, and her warm and thorough teaching style made it a good class. I also feel that the mix of students, librarians, collectors, conservators was good. The collectors who brought material from their own collections for the class to study cannot be thanked enough. 11: Almost unlimited time for discussion, questions, &c. 12: SA. She is a master teacher. She encourages you to learn. 7) How could the course have been improved? 1: More handouts, for example, lists of binders, publishers, designers, &c. 2: By the time I received the tray, I had often started to forget what had been said about it. I do understand the labor involved in adding handwritten notes. 3: No way. She was perfect. A great balance between talk, slides, samples, interaction with classmates, &c. 4: No way. Very good course. 5: I would not change anything. 6: No need. 7: Items passed around were always sent to the instructor's right. Therefore, those on the left always seem to see an item when the instructor was talking about another topic. I would suggest passing to the right in the morning and to the left in the afternoon. 8: Although possibly not practicable, it would be very helpful to be able to handle the books used in discussion. 9: Enjoyed seeing all of it. 11: Hard to improve it, but the "loose" structure should be maintained. 12: Can't think of any. 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, printing demonstrations, &c. 1: Sunday dinner was great - it gave me an opportunity to meet classmates before classes started. 2: Lectures were great. Availability of Carter 3-D Library. Films. 3: Highly pleasant and appropriate. 4: Activities were varied and informative - sometimes exhausting, but always enjoyable. 5: I have always enjoyed the lectures and Bookseller Night. 6: Lectures were all interesting and stimulating. Bookseller Night was a blast. The Rotunda collection is great! 7: I attended all of the above, as well as the exhibit in Special Collections. 8: a) Dinner is always positive because it allows us to meet and greet and encourages us to settle in before class begins. b) Bookseller Night is a nice alternative. c) Lectures are usually thought-provoking and allow us to think beyond the focused topic of a course. 9: Yes. 10: Lectures were good, although dry. Bookseller Night was a good feature. The Electronic Text Center was interesting. 11: Lectures were both enjoyable and informative and/or stimulating. Exhibits were interesting and related to broad aspects of book studies. 12: I especially liked the Sunday night dinner. 9) Any final thoughts? Did you get your money's worth? 1: Great week. I hope to be back. 2: I am extremely grateful for all the work, research, curiosity, persistence SA has lent to the subject so that I benefitted so greatly in one week. After half a day lights went off, one after the other. All emphasis has changed for me. I hope I am a conduit to others so that the appreciation and discovery will spread. I thank everyone involved. It is so great to be educated by the educated. 3: Continue the great work. This program is really quite remarkable and deserves long life. Again, bravo to TB for his energy and dedication. 4: Yes. 5: It is definitely worth the money. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who deals with c19 cloth bindings. 6: The course was especially enjoyable and informative because we had a good mix of people - several conservators, several book collectors, book store owners, librarians (catalogers). Everyone brought a different perspective to the course. 7: Yes! And we had a superb group interested in the subject. Also, a pleasure to meet others from other courses to exchange ideas. 8: a) As usual - yes, I got my money's worth and more. b) Find a quick summary/survey of US history ca.1830-1900. It would be really helpful to recall the social/political/economic contexts for these bindings. 9: Yes. 10: Take this course and others - very good. Bring your own books that you are interested in or pictures of them! 11: I definitely got my money's worth. To take or not should depend on one's interest in the subject; with a strong interest, take the course. 12: Yes, I got my money's worth. Number of respondents: 12 PERCENTAGES Leave Tuition Housing Travel Institution gave me leave 37% Institution paid tuition 50% Institution paid housing 25% Institution paid travel 25% I took vacation time 5% I paid tuition myself 42% I paid for my own housing 75% I paid for my own travel 75% N/A: Self-employed, retired, or had time off 58% N/A: Self-employed, retired, or exchange 8% N/A: Stayed with friends or lived at home 0% N/A: Lived nearby 0% There were twelve students: five (42%) were conservator/binder/preservation librarians, three (25%) were rare book librarians, two (17%) were attending RBS as book collectors, one (8%) was an antiquarian bookseller, and one (8%) was a general librarian with some rare book duties.

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