1) How useful were the pre-course readings? 1: Very good. 2: Very. 3: Extremely useful. 4: Essential background, excellent selections. 5: Extremely useful. A good basis on which to build. A suggestion is to add a note to some titles suggesting that they be bought for reference. 6: Extremely useful and about the right length, too. 7: OK, though pretty dry and not too well written. There's gotta be something more enticing and stimulating on the history of printing. 8: Very useful - a necessity! It was excellent! 9: Very useful - the lectures were a review and extension/contextualization of the pre-course readings. 10: Very helpful. However, the readings make more sense now that I have had the introductory course - especially the processes such as printing. 11: Good to read beforehand - I can now go back and read them with greater insight. 12: Very useful list of readings, from introductory materials to reference works. 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: Yes. 2: Very - both during the course and especially in the future. 3: Extremely useful. 4: Very helpful. I especially look forward to using the exit bibliography for further reading. 5: Yes. The exit reading list will last me until next summer. 6: Highly valuable and I will use them often when I return to work. 7: Yes. Clear, &c. They should be helpful. 8: Yes. 9: Yes! Yes! 10: Very useful. The exit reading list is especially appreciated. 11: Yes - the exit reading list is a tour de force and I would consider myself a well-read book historian if I could ever get through them all. 12: Yes, the exit reading list and the suggestions made both by MA and by other students will be helpful in the future. 3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate? 1: Yes. 2: Perfect. 3-4: Yes. 5: Yes. Just the right level. 6: Yes. While it was a survey course and so, of course, only hit the high spots, it was never superficial. 7: Yes - nicely pitched to a fairly wide range of backgrounds. MA connected with everyone in the course - from retired business people to PhDs. 8: Yes. 9: Absolutely. 10: Yes, I didn't feel overwhelmed, although I am just starting in the field. 11: Absolutely. I was challenged, but not completely overwhelmed. 12: Although this was an introductory course, the various and diverse topics were handled very well and with a respect for historical, chronological, and geographical distinctions. 4) If your course had field trips, were they effective? 1: Yes - extremely. 2: Yes, very. 3: Yes, and the change of location helped keep us going. 4: Show-and-tell in Special Collections was my favorite part of the course! 5: Special Collections was the best part. 6: Yes, it was perhaps the highlight of the course. 7: Generally, I greatly enjoyed seeing many of the books. I was sometimes less interested in some of the extended discussions of type faces and bindings (i.e., I was more attached to the substance of content). 8: Yes. 9: Absolutely. 10: Yes, they illustrated the lectures. 11: Special Collections visits made the slides and lectures come alive and jelled many of the themes in my mind more effectively than if we had seen only the slides. 12: The visits to Special Collections were one of the very best parts of this course. 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? 1-4: Yes. 5: Pretty much. I expected more contextual history of printing, though. 6: Very well. 7-11: Yes. 12: Yes, in most respects the course was fuller and more detailed than I expected form the course description. I am very pleased that I took this course. 6) What did you like best about the course? 1: The instructor and the people in the class. 2: MA's erudition and his love for his subject. 3: I loved all of it, but the best thing about it was the instructor. 4: See no.4, above. 5: The visits to Special Collections - actually seeing the history. 6: 1) The erudition and enthusiasm of the instructor. 2) the marvelous items we saw in Special Collections. 3) My fellow students. 4) The excellent illustrative material (slides, videos) and hands-on Museums. 7: 1) The opening lecture, providing an overview of the field of book history - really useful context. 2) Viewing some stunning books in Special Collections. 3) Clear organization. 8: Every subject was of equal importance to me. That is, very important. The course treated each subject equally, that is with great care and importance. The presentation was excellent: easy to follow, various means (i.e., audio visual), &c. The best seminar I have ever been part of. 9: The Special Collections visits and the slides illustrating the lectures. 10: The instructor was very knowledgeable and members of the class made intelligent comments and asked relevant questions. 11: The complete immersion in all aspects of book history. I will never be able to look at books the same way again. 12: Without a doubt, the teaching was the very best part of the course. MA is a gifted teacher, learned and entertaining. I did not think I was possible to learn so much in one week. I am delighted to have been in his course. 7) How could the course have been improved? 1: Make it longer - two weeks. 2: It's too short - two weeks would be better. 3: It should be two weeks long - we hardly touched the c18-19. 4: Make it two weeks long, for more content and to cover the mechanical book period. 5: Less aggressive air conditioning. Closer to the coffee breaks. More padded chairs. 6: The material is so rich, I almost wish it would be divided into two weeks. While that would mean convening for two years (I wouldn't be given two weeks of professional leave), it would be worth it. 7: We really needed more breaks. There is so much to cover, and cramming it in so much exhausts students. More attention to c20 fine printing issues. 8: I have no suggestions. 9: I most enjoyed the informal discussions springing from the lecture material - I think a more structured (i.e., instructor guided) interaction with the exhibits would have been helpful. 10: I would have liked more time to work on the assignment. Maybe the class exercise could begin on the first or second day to allow more time for research. Splitting the course into a couple weeks would allow better coverage of the information. 11: A few less videos and more instructor time with the daily Museums. The objects (bindings, type, &c.) were neat to look at, but I would have learned more with MA's help. More hands-on work with type specimens and no type founding video! Also, give students the bibliographic book search project on Monday or Tuesday - I would have liked to spend more time with it. 12: Suggestions: 1) demonstrations of more of the bookmaking processes, perhaps brief visits to the other classes; 2) consider making this a two-week course. 8) We are always concerned about the physical well-being both of the BAP's 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? 3: Y'all do a good job. 4: None. 5-6: No suggestions. 7: Seemed to be no problem. 9: MA was very careful to instruct the class on proper handling of materials and not letting us handle the more fragile or awkward Special Collections items. 10: A brief (less than five minutes) session on handling, e.g., Don't pick up books by the head. Support the book with both hands, &c. Also, the class should not have food and material on the same table. 11: More time with them (see no.7, above). 9) 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, &c. 1: Liked them all. 2: I enjoyed the fellowship of my cohort. 3: Yeee haaahh! I'm going to sleep all through this weekend - it's what I deserve for not missing a minute of this week. 4: The Sunday tour was very helpful; dinner and the videos were great. The Wednesday lecture was very disappointing. 5: Sunday afternoon tours should be mandatory. Sunday night was a great ice breaker. Evening lectures were good, but might be better after dinner. I had fun pulling the press - my best souvenir. 6: Dinner and Bookseller Night were fine, the lectures only so-so. 7: Enjoyed the printing demonstrations. The evening lectures were generally not exciting for me. I missed Bookseller Night because of a conflicting appointment. The social dimensions rather wear me out - Rare Book School runs specially designed for extroverts. 8: Good mix of activities, well designed for learning and meeting staff and students. 9: The printing demonstration was great - you don't get the feel for how work flows through a print show without at least trying one part of the process. I also enjoyed the guest lecturers quite a bit. 10: The Sunday night dinner was great as a way to meet people. The lectures and receptions were also fun. 11: The printing demonstration was great - it brought home to me the difficulty of producing just a single book. It is hard to plunge in cold to Sunday night dinners - some introductory process where newbies like myself could be introduced to people. 12: The Sunday afternoon tour and the dinner and videos that night were enjoyable and very helpful. Evening lectures that are meant only for librarians should clearly be indicated as such. I would propose that the evening lectures be of general interest to anyone dedicated to rare books. The Rotunda exhibition was of interest; Bookseller Night was very enjoyable - I am sorry that we did not get more time. I would like to have been offered the tours of the digital/electronic centers. 10) Any final thoughts? Did you get your money's worth? 1: YES! 2: Great course, great instructor. Delightful (but too short) week. 3: Do it - no fear. Cheap at the price. 4: Yes, absolutely. 5: I got my/my employer's money's worth. This was excellent. Good contacts, good content. I'll be back. 6: This has been a rich and exciting intellectual adventure and I will highly recommend it to colleagues. MA is a born teacher, with a gift for making this material extraordinarily exciting. I will never look at a book in the same way again. Many thanks! 7: Yes, I got my money's worth. A good, solid, brisk introduction to printing history. 8: Get your application in early. I definitely got my money's worth. 9: Yes! 10: The course was well worth the money. 11: I fully support TB's idea of splitting this course into two parts, maybe 1450-1700 and 1700-present - it's wonderful information, but too much to absorb in five days. We only got up to about 1750 comprehensively, with little bits after that. 12: This course certainly gave value for money. Number of respondents: 12 PERCENTAGES Leave Tuition Housing Travel Institution gave me leave 59% Institution paid tuition 75% Institution paid housing 65% Institution paid travel 67% I took vacation time 8% I paid tuition myself 25% I paid for my own housing 35% I paid for my own travel 33% N/A: Self-employed, retired, or had time off 33% N/A: Self-employed, retired, or exchange 0% N/A: Stayed with friends or lived at home 0% N/A: Lived nearby 0% There were twelve students: three (26%) were archivist/manuscript librarians, two (17%) were general librarians with some rare book duties, two (17%) were rare book librarians, and one each (8% each) was an antiquarian bookseller, an author/student, a retiree, a systems librarian, and a teacher/professor.

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