1) How useful were the pre-course readings? 1: Very useful. 2: Absolutely necessary - articles got everyone to the same place so that the instructor could carry on with his lectures. 3: Hardly at all. 4: Very helpful - inspired me to read articles I'd intended to read in the past, but hadn't gotten around to. 5: Very good indeed. 6: Excellent. Both basic and pre-conditioning for the course. 7: Very useful, and will be useful as post-course readings, as well. 8: Very helpful readings - and the reading list will be useful after the course, as well. Some of the diagrams (basic information for non-binders) in the course handout would be helpful in advance, but not essential. 9: I found the readings essential as a departure point, a basis for reading and absorbing the main elements of the course. Some were not available. I found 20 of the 25 titles, most through interlibrary loan, others through purchase where I considered them important library additions. 10: Very useful. 11: I did all the essential reading, but I think the best preparation for this course would be practical binding experience. For example, the details of endband construction would have been a valuable piece of knowledge to have, and it's very difficult to obtain this from any book or article. 12: Extremely useful. They were difficult to locate, in some cases, and difficult to read fully, in some cases I'd say I got through 75% and it was adequate preparation. Having read this material, I was able to keep up with a large amount of generally new information. 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: Useful. 2: Yes. 3: Useful, but skimpy. I would have preferred more graphic material. 4: Yes. 5: Yes, most definitely. 6: Well organized and presented handouts, reflecting the superb course. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, and yes. 9: The course syllabus didn't appear until the second day of class. Then it turned out to have a defective pagination which made ready reference during the lecture rather awkward. NP's lightning sketches on the easel saved the day. Otherwise, it was a valuable aid. 10: Very good variety. 11: It would have been good to have more illustrations in the spiral-bound book. 12: The handout booklet was very useful in class as a quick and specific reference, and will be even more useful as an ongoing occasional reference. 3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate? 1-4: Yes. 5: Very high, as was right. 6: Absolutely. 7: Yes. 8: Just right - very demanding, but I expected that. 9: Yes, very. The content and pace stretched and enlarged this practitioner's scope of knowledge. 10: Yes. 11: Oh, yes. 12: Wonderful. Challenging, enjoyable. Exciting. 4)If your course had field trips, were they effective? 1: Yes. 2: Absolutely. 3: Not entirely. 4-5: Yes. 6: Excellent experience. 7: Yes. 8: Very useful; it was extra understanding of Special Collections to deliver additional volumes to our classroom the next day! Thanks go to their staff and to RBS staff. 9: The session in Special Collections was very helpful and impressive. But as a museum volunteer, I'm uncomfortable seeing these artifacts handled without gloves! 10: Yes. 11: The visit to Special Collections was useful in that it gave us a chance to see some very unusual (and some very beautiful and expensive) bindings. 12: We visited Special Collections one day, and it was very useful to see samples of so many things discussed in class. 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? 1-8: Yes. 9: The course filled all the elements listed in the ECD. But I was out of breath just watching the pace at which NP had to move and talk in order to touch all bases. 10-11: Yes. 12: Yep. 6) What did you like best about the course? 1: Slide lectures. 2: The instructor. 3: Enthusiasm of the instructor for his cause, to say nothing of his knowledge and the very appropriate slides. 4: The instructor's wealth of knowledge, his enthusiasm, and his willingness to share it. 5: Clear explanations, well sequenced and organized by the instructor, who clearly loves the subject. It is wonderful to be engaged with an intelligent mind. 6: The number of examples made for a familiarity that facilitated analysis of the bindings. 7: The ratio of content to time. It seemed to be the maximum amount of material for the time allowed. Never a dull moment. 8: The chance to hear NP's observations along with his own amazing slides and with actual examples - better than reading written studies (and there aren't that many studies in this area - yet!). 9: From the standpoint of a sole- proprietor book binder, I like and benefited most from the guidance I received for making that vital decision, How far should I go with repair/restoration? I think I will be making more boxes in the future than I have in the past! 10: The material! 11: I enjoyed seeing actual books as examples of various binding features, but the slides allowed tremendous opportunity to see so much more. 12: The knowledgeability of the instructor and his ability to communicate information. 7) How could the course have been improved? 1: More time to cover the material. 2: Perhaps a smaller amount of time covered, e.g., European Bookbinding, 1500-1700? 3: As above, more graphic material available to the student, equivalent to the slide material. 4: More time. 5: I'm not a bookbinder: models showing sewing and the like (outsized would be fine). 6: Don't change what isn't broke. 7: No improvement needed (unless it could be broken into two courses, each with a more narrow chronological limit. 8: The course was great - one just wanted more - more time for examples and for discussion. I don't see how more could be crammed in and I think the priorities were right, but if one could have more time, I suppose I would like a bit more about c15 bindings on manuscripts - to provide continuity. (I need to take Chris Clarkson's course now!) In an absolutely ideal world: a selection of NP's slides with his observations available for review (digitized?); crib sheets on national traits (with caveats) - such a pity that NP is only one person. 9: After so many repetitions, I feel that the course is fine tuned to optimum, but it is always going to be a stretch for people who are tentative about basics. I think the reading list could be pruned - some of the decorative content exceeds the parameters of the ECD. Be sure to keep Dudin. 10: It probably couldn't be improved, without adding more time. One day more, to slow down and look at the slides and material more closely? 11: I can't think how to improve the course, I can only think how my preparation could have been improved. I wish I had had both practical binding experience and a course that would have given me a more basic overview of binding techniques. With these two facets of preparation, I would have been able, I think, to really benefit from the rich detail that this course offers. 12: 1) Add an hour or two on the last day for more discussion of philosophical/conceptual/theoretical issues, trends, &c. - need more time for this type of synthesis (i.e., make the 4 pm Friday party start at 5 or 6 pm). 2) Arrange for a graduate student to spend an evening with the class demonstrating various techniques that the slides show examples of. I think this would help everyone to have clear mental models of basic techniques. 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? 1: The instructor handled all the materials. 2: None. 4: We were asked at the beginning of the course not to handle the binding examples as they were shown. One of the class persisted in touching everything. I felt that was very unfair to the rest of us. I feel the individual in question should have been reminded not to handle or we should all have been invited to examine things more clearly. 5: None. NP was always very careful with everything. 6: Our instructor handled/presented material in an excellent fashion. 7: Remind students directly not to handle material that is not to be handled. 8: Considering the fragility of the materials, we were able to see a lot without handling. The visit to Special Collections could have been improved by more or better lighting. 9: Some folks still insist on touching! 10: None. 11: None comes to mind. 12: Clarify the handling policy - one or two students were somewhat insistent on handling materials while the rest of us refrained (reluctantly). 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. 2: The Sunday afternoon tour was terrific in helping me get my bearings on the campus [Grounds]. Bookseller Night was great. I appreciated the RBS van getting us back and forth. 5: Evening lectures were better than I'd expected. Bookseller Night was enjoyable. 6: Used them up. 7: Lectures were always to the point and interesting, without dragging. 8: I didn't get to everything, but enjoyed what I did. As usual, it was a friendly crowd - easy to meet people and chat. 9: The videos were very interesting; the evening lectures a bit stiff (the chairs hard in the world's most beautiful room). Skipped Booksellers Night and study night. Sunday dinner was great until I dumped my coffee on my wife's sleeve! (Not good.) 10: Very enjoyable. 12: All enjoyable and enriching. Great stuff. 10)Any final thoughts? Did you get your money's worth? 1: Yes, I got my money's worth. NP revolutionized the way I shall look at books in the future. He teaches you to see and then to make generalizations upon the evidence, if possible. 2: Yes! 3: I'd rather not say. 4: I definitely got my money's worth. 5: Yes, indeed! 6: More than got my money's worth. 7: Yes, I definitely got my money's worth. I'll never look at books in the collection in the same way again. 8: You need plenty of rest before the course. If it were possible at some point to offer focused studies of particular periods, that would be great as a follow-up to this survey. 9: Yes, I thought the course was a bargain in every way. I was particularly delighted with the UVa campus [Grounds]. 10: Yes, I got my money's worth. NP is a national/international treasure, and the work that he's do is so important. I really appreciate the fact that he takes the time to come over to give these courses. A real treat! 11: Don't omit the pre-course readings. Become very familiar with binding terminology. 12: Definitely got my money's worth. This is a bargain. Long may it wave. I hope to come back. Number of respondents: 12 PERCENTAGES Leave Tuition Housing Travel Institution gave me leave 42% Institution paid tuition 42% Institution paid housing 32% Institution paid travel 25% I took vacation time 8% I paid tuition myself 58% I paid for my own housing 60% I paid for my own travel 75% N/A: Self-employed, retired, or had time off 50% N/A: Self-employed, retired, or exchange 0% N/A: Stayed with friends or lived at home 8% N/A: Lived nearby 0% There were twelve students: three (25%) conservator/binder/preservation librarians, three (25%) rare book librarians, two (17%) rare book librarians with some rare book duties, and one each (8%) each a conservator/instructor, a retired self-employed bookbinder, a teacher/professor, and attending RBS as a book collector.

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