Timothy Barrett and John Bidwell
44: History of European and American Papermaking [H-60]
7-11 July 2003

1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Immensely useful for class and beyond. Directly applicable readings giving overviews were core, while various other possible choices that were suggested could be covered depending on the student's interests and needs. 2: Very, very helpful. I read Dard Hunter (Papermaking in Pioneer America) cover to cover at twenty pages an hour and was so glad I did. 3: Essential. 4: Useful. 5: Readings on the list were very informative, and I am anxious to read those that I was unable to get to before taking the class. 6: Highly useful. I had trouble getting some of them -- libraries won't send some of this stuff ILL (Interlibrary Loan), and it's too expensive to buy; but I was able to get about 80% of the list and it was all excellent preparation. 7: Dard Hunter is excellent. 8: Very useful. 9: Very, but since Dard Hunter's work was at the core, it was easy to focus. 10: The readings were useful in gaining a general background on the topic. 11: Extraordinarily useful.

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: Definitely during class meetings and well planned for later. (A table of contents or brief index would be useful.) 2: Yes. 3: Yes, though the course packet could use some improvement. 4: Yes. 5: Very appropriate and extensive. 6: The course pack will be very useful in the future. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, in both cases. 9: Excellent references. 10: Yes, the bibliography will be especially useful. 11: Extraordinarily appropriate and useful.

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

1: Unquestionably -- variously, delightfully enlightening to a stretch for one with little appropriate background (especially in chemistry), but one could follow the core of it. 2-5: Yes. 6: Absolutely -- challenging but not daunting. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, as a survey course, it was quite useful. The juxtaposition of "how-to" with lecture was particularly helpful. 9: Excellent; would challenge most all participants at some level. 10: Yes, the instructors are extremely knowledgeable about the subject, and the intellectual level was high. 11: Very appropriate and very high.

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

1: Excellent field trip. 2: Yes. I love factory tours. 3: Very useful field trip to Bear Island Paper Company. 4: Yes. 5: The visit to Bear Island was excellent. It helped to round out the course; we were well treated and made to feel very welcome. 6: Yes. The Special Collections visit let us look at some of the papermaking manuals as well as more of the RBS collection that couldn't travel to the classroom. Our field trip to Bear Island was a highlight of the week. You can't really understand modern papermaking until you see it, and it's not easy to arrange that. 7: I enjoyed very much the trip to Bear Island. 8: Yes to both. Field trip to the paper mill was interesting in that one could see where technology has taken the trade. The session in Special Collections was interesting, for we were able to see some of the kinds of paper bibliography and literature. 9: Special Collections -- excellent facility (hope you save the paneling for the new building). 10: The tour of the paper mill was awesome. Special Collections time was well used. 11: Extremely well spent in Special Collections and at the Bear Island Paper Company.

5) What did you like best about the course?

1: Hands-on experience and expert teachers with a knack for presentation. 2: Enormously scholarly instructors. Just enjoyed it all. Also enjoyed the diversity amongst the students and what they brought to classroom. 3: Instructors' enthusiasm and depth of knowledge. The hands-on papermaking sessions greatly reinforced my understanding of the papermaking process. 4: Communication skills of the instructors and coverage of the field. 5: The fact that there were two instructors presenting different aspects, and from different viewpoints of the subject. 6: The instructors – their knowledge and enjoyment of teaching made the course. Another highlight was the chance to actually make paper. 7: Messrs JB and TB complemented each other perfectly: one historian and the other an actual papermaker. They were both also highly congenial. 8: The two-instructor approach (i.e., "how-to" / academic) to the subject. 9: Team taught by people who liked to work together; not too many slides. 10: Learning about papermills and the field trip to one. Making paper. The instructors were entertaining as well as knowledgeable. 11: The instructors, their breadth of knowledge, their focus and love of the subject matter. Their enthusiasm was imparted to all of us.

6) How could the course have been improved?

1: Would love more examination of paper examples and discussion of its characteristics together as a class. 2: Not sure it could be. 3: The course packet would benefit from some additions: 1) Captions for every illustration, diagram, table and chart. 2) Tables and graphs need explanatory notes, units of measure, labels and captions to be more easily understood. 4: For a collector, less time on process and economics and more on interpretation of artifacts (molds, paper). 5: Can't think of a thing. 6: Meeting in Alderman – close to the breaks and the facilities. 7: I would have liked more opportunity to examine actual paper samples from different centuries, countries and processes. 8: Better image rendering technology (lots of "out of focus" slides with futzing back and forth). 9: 1) With respect to syllabus, develop a sheet of a few online sources pertaining to the history of papermaking. 2) Make up a book showing the actual sizes of Anglo-American paper, i.e. a visual manual for pp 40-42 of the syllabus. 11: I would keep the same format.

7) >We are always concerned about the physical well-being both of the RBS 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: At least admonishment to handle with care. Also might share N. Pickwoad's preference for only ninety percent opening of books. 2: How could we learn if we can't handle? 3: It seems unreasonable that a class at this level would be prohibited from handling Special Collections material. 4: I have none. 5: Hands-on makes for a better learning experience. 6: No suggestions. 7: None. 8: N/A. 10: We did not handle the books. 11: Everyone in our class was very careful with and respectful of the materials.

8) If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?

1-3: Yes. 4: Yes, although Monday's was very specialized. 5: Absolutely. 6: Monday was good – since it was on our topic it added to the course. 7: Yes. The Monday lecture was professional (I didn't attend Sunday). 8: Sure. 9: Nice talk. 10: Yes, you get to know people. 11: Very much so.

9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?

1: Museum gets better all the time, and there's never enough time for it – requires discipline and focus. 2: Yes. 3: Yes. It is always a wonderful experience. So many new things! Thanks for the Thursday night extended Museum. 4: Yes. 5: Yes, but I wish I had been more alert; due to fatigue, I could not stay as long as I wished. 7: Very much so, and I always appreciate the staff's work in setting these up. 8: N/A. 10: It's instructive and very well organized. 11: Did not attend.

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

1: A bargain! Two great teachers for the price of one. One friend said he hadn't taken the paper course because he "isn't that interested in paper." I would say it's too fundamental a material to give into such excuses, and the fundamentals should be promoted as just that. 2: Can't think of a place where one can get so much for his / her / its money. 3: Yes. Do the pre-course readings. Get some rest before you come. 4: Yes, but see comment under #6. Two further suggestions: 1) Build a large file of all kinds of paper to examine, identified by age, plant, quality, size, &c. and 2) Identify particular attributes of each course that might appeal to different categories of students. 5: Excellent, yes, do it!!! 6: Absolutely got my money's worth and this time it was my money. Best course I've had and that's saying a lot. 7: Also, please continue the film nights – I have purchased copies of several films I was introduced to this way. 8: Most certainly; one of the better courses I've taken these past six years. Advice: take it if it's offered (TB was last here in 1997!) 9: Yes (one nice part was the diversity of the students – dealers, collectors, librarians, &c.). 10: Yes. 11: Absolutely. A must take course.

Number of respondents: 11


Percentages


Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution gave me leave Institution paid tuition Institution paid housing Institution paid travel
36% 18% 9% 9%
I took vacation time I paid tuition myself I paid for my own housing I paid my own travel
9% 82% 82% 82%
N/A: self-employed, retired, or had summers off N/A: self-employed, retired, or exchange N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home N/A: lived nearby
55% 0% 9% 9%

There were one general librarian with some rare book duties (9%), two general librarians with no rare book duties (18%), three antiquarian booksellers, one with a specialization in maps (27%), three book collectors (27%), one non-book academic support professional (9%), and one practicing lawyer (9%).

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