1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: The journal articles sort of set the stage, but were not touched on much in class. Gaskell most worthwhile. 2: Readings are necessary to at least give students a grounding in the vocabulary and the concepts that are to be discussed. 3: These readings were helpful. The instructor referred to many of the terms in some of the readings. 4: They were not discussed at all in class, nor could I see how they could have contributed much. Good background reading for my job, in general, but I found them unnecessary for my class. 5: Very -- they were short but were a helpful way to get focused on the course content and start thinking in the right directions. 6: The reading on Descriptive Bibliography (Belanger) and the Gaskell readings were helpful; however, I did not draw greatly on the others for this class. 7: Very useful. 8: Extremely useful. 10: Very useful. 11: Very useful; wish I had read DCRB through all the way before I arrived.

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: Workbook and answer sheets will be very good resource. Especially appreciate the Latin phrases, signature charts. 2: Yes. The materials assigned and provided give us the tools for further study. 3: Very useful. Good resources that I'm sure I'll be referring to at home. 4: Yes, vital. 5: Yes to both -- esp. in the future. 6: The examples of DCRB cataloging are bound to be an excellent reference tool. 7: Yes. 8: They will be useful in the future as reference tools. 9: Yes. 10: The course materials were extremely helpful in class and will continue to help after I return to work. 11: Definitely; I think the workbook is a great cataloging tool/reference.

3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?

1: Very much so. 2: The instructor managed to include students of all skill levels without omitting anything and demystified complex material skillfully. 3: Yes. I was definitely challenged due to my only recent move to Special Collections and lack of experience. But I was not so overwhelmed that I wasn't able to understand most of what was presented. 4-6: Yes. 7: Yes -- she accommodated all levels of experience. 8-11: Yes.

4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?

1: Yes -- esp. enjoyed the handpress demonstration. Seeing the examples of edition, impression, state made it much clearer to us what a problem it is re: cataloging. 2: The field trips were precisely relevant to the concepts being taught. 3: Yes -- very useful to see more examples of rare books and the printer in action. The films were also very helpful. 4: Yes, all field trips were useful and enjoyable. 5: Yes, very well. 6: The letterpress demonstration was excellent -- could be a good addition to the Sunday night gathering before RBS. The Special Collections visit illustrated states and issues very well. 7: Yes, very helpful. 8-9: Yes. 10: All of the field trips were appropriate and beneficial. 11: Yes, our printing demonstration and look at materials in the rare book collection were helpful.

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?

2-3: Yes. 4: I forget the description. 5-10: Yes. 11: Yes, definitely a concentration on pre-1801 materials.

6) What did you like best about the course?

2: I enjoyed the exposure to a wide variety of rare books. Hands-on practice is extremely helpful. 3: The hands-on experiences of cataloging; videos. 4: Hands-on experience. 5: The instructor's very obvious enthusiasm for her work, which was a constant pleasure to observe. Also, the course was very well organized. 6: The hands-on exercises, applying what we'd studied, were very helpful. 7: Learning theoretical concepts and then applying them. 8: Being able to sit in a room and speak MARC! Having a well-versed practitioner lead us through the basics of rare book cataloging. 9: The explanations were good and clear. The workbook is useful. A glossary of terms included in the workbook will be very handy. 10: The hands-on practical exercises. 11: The practicum at the end.

7) How could the course have been improved?

1: Instructor is still fine tuning order of presentation. First day quite intimidating amount of material. The explanation and videos and demonstrations of handpress, engravings, papermaking could have started that day. Not enough time for class discussion of issues re: local problems. 2: This is a great deal of material. The only way I could improve the course might be a longer course. This is extremely well presented given that one week is the available time. 4: More hands-on earlier. Internet access available so we could go online and see MARC documentation and search catalogs for examples. (Cataloger's Desktop?) 5: I don't really see how it could be. 6: No group exercises! Three people clustered around a book trying to collate it doesn't work! 7: No suggestion. 8: I hate to say this since it's oversubscribed, but if it were smaller we might have been able to cover more. More practicums would also have been helpful. 11: Couldn't be really.

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?

2: I thought everything needed was provided. 4: These materials were very helpful, handling was satisfactory. 7: No suggestions. 8: None. 10: None. 11: Perhaps more desk top space for hands-on exercises.

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, evening lectures, Bookseller Night, Video Night, Study Night, tour of the Alderman digital/electronic centers, printing demonstrations, &c.).

1: Sunday afternoon tour-guide should have been more knowledgeable about locations. Tuesday evening Booksellers -- it's a long way to walk and not all were open. Videos were fun. Rotunda exhibition -- excellent exhibit; more appreciated when explained. SA was very tired by end of day. 2: Bookseller Night and the lecture were most enjoyable. I regret that I missed video night. 3: I found the Study Night, Video Night and printing demonstration particularly instructive and enjoyable. 4: Video Night: excellent movie, if a bit draggy in spots. Great fun. Dooley lecture: I'm not sure exactly what she said that was memorable.... Printing demonstration: Fantastic. Rotunda: Awesome. 5: I liked the Rotunda exhibit, but it seemed a bit unfair to leave the names of the binding designers (when known, as I'm sure a lot of them are) off the description cards. Terry's speech was the best yet. 6: The outside class RBS activities were very enjoyable. I especially liked the printing demonstration and the Video Night. 7: I think a class lunch on the first or second day would have been helpful for us to get to know one another more easily. 8: The tour was a bit rough -- but I understand it was her first and she really had no guidance or prep time. Everything I took part in was interesting and well-planned. 9: The dinner and coffee breaks are a very good way to get to know faculty and students. 10: Video Night was great as was the handpress printing demo. 11: Evening lecture nice, spent too much money on Tuesday (but enjoyed it!)

10) Any final thoughts? Did you get your money's worth?

1: Emphasis is on handpress era -- c19 items could be covered more in a way that would help us determine what to do with them! Learned I have a great deal to learn still. 2: I would have benefitted from more previous exposure to rare book cataloging. Having begun at ground zero, however, the learning curve has been immense. 3: I didn't expect to come away from this course proficient, due to my lack of experience cataloging rare books. I feel as though I have a great start, though, and lots of information to work collaboratively with another cataloger at my institution. 4: Yes [got my money's worth]. 5: Yes, indeed [got my money's worth]. 6: Definitely got my money's worth. 7: Yes. It was very well organized. Support staff were excellent. 8: I got my (institution's!) money's worth -- without question. When can I come back to take a refresher? Definitely geared toward 1600-1801 period. Hardly any mention of c20 material. 9: I think it was well worth it. 10: Definitely got my money's worth! I would definitely recommend the course with this instructor. 11: Cataloging is the necessary basic skill in our profession. Everyone should take it.

Number of respondents: 11

There were five general librarians with some rare book duties (46%), three rare book librarians (27%), one library assistant, one library technical assistant and one special collections cataloger (9% each).

RBS Home