24: Implementing Encoded Archival Description [L-80]
8-12 March 2004
1) How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Quite useful. 2: They were very useful, timely and applicable. 3: Good background reading for the most part. Useful sites to have bookmarked for later as well. 4: Helped introduce me to a topic basically foreign from my knowledge – and voila! Most of the readings now make sense. 5: Useful. Easier to understand after the course, but I think I benefitted from looking at them beforehand. 6: Very useful. Probably not completely necessary to understand class. 7: They were very useful to give me a background for the class. 8: Readings were useful, especially to inform the students about the existence of helpful tools and documents. Readings were not referred to too much in class. 9: Very useful. 10: Good preparatory overview. 11: They were very useful; things that didn’t make sense fell into place as the course progressed; many of the pre-course readings are useful as reference documents. 12: Extremely useful to read before and during the course (when they were much clearer).
2) Were the course syllabus and other materials distributed in class useful (or will they be so in the future, after you return home)?
1-3: Yes. 4: Most definitely – useful web addresses and wonderful examples – Perhaps more markups should be included in the future. 5: Very much so. I only wish we could have taken the software (proprietary). I have put in an order to purchase it, but there will be a delay before it arrives. The last class I took used freeware, so we could take it with us and use it immediately. 6: Very useful. 7: The materials were very useful and will be a good reference guide in the future. 8-10: Yes. 11: The course book will be used to refer to since it contains useful examples (of actual finding aids marked up correctly). 12: Excellent, comprehensive, clear.
3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?
1: Yes. 2: Yes, and it was very technical. 3: Yes. 4: Most definitely – instructor quickly became aware of class knowledge and level of training and how to assist each student on their level. 5: Yes. 6: Yes – the level was as high or low as any question you might have, and you could ignore parts above or beneath your ken. 7: Yes, not too challenging, but not too slow – just right. 8-9: Yes. 10: Yes. Understanding the background, logic, and history of EAD development helps to place its current use in context. Thus, it is not just practical hands on, but an overview of EAD’s past, current practice, and the role of standard-setting organizations. 11: Perfect; I knew almost nothing at the beginning and am now comfortable I can do a pretty good job. 12: Yes. From simple when needed to challenging and forward-looking (to whet the appetite for more).
4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?
1: N/A. 2: N/A. 5: We stayed in the lab, which was very appropriate. 6: One “field trip” to attend a lecture at IATH, which was good. 7: Yes, I visited Special Collections and talked with the Head of Technical Services and the Manuscript Librarian. They were extremely helpful, and I learned a lot and came away with new ideas. 8: N/A. 11: N/A. 12: No field trips.
5) What did you like best about the course?
1: An overview of the development of EAD and the intention behind – The hands-on practice. 2: Immersion in the subject/topic. 3: The instructor’s pace (slow enough for us to follow, but not maddeningly so) and willingness to answer questions along the way. 4: The interaction of classmates with instructor. Instructor’s relaxed manner. 5: Hands on! Lots of it! 6: Instructor, and hands-on work. 7: The instructor was top notch. I liked the gradual approach to encoding – first the simple recipe – then the more complex EAD exercise with a MS cell. Then the application of what we learned for our own work. Also time for theory and discussion about concepts. 8: That the course allowed enough time to learn the basics and then apply the basics to a finding aid from our own institution. 9: DP is an excellent instructor. He did a great job of addressing each person’s questions, was thorough with his explanations, and is a nice guy. 10: The use of a real finding aid from my institution to encode, make mistakes on, correct, and take home. 11: The material was presented by the instructor in an exceedingly well-paced manner; it went slow enough so that everyone was able to understand and comprehend (or that the instructor could give personal attention to someone that didn’t understand), but not so slow that we got bored or fidgety. We were all using ACTUAL finding aids to mark up – real-world examples. There was enough humor to make everyone feel at ease. It was never overwhelming at any point. This was the first and only technical workshop I can remember taking that didn’t fry my brain. I liked working on my own institution’s real finding aid example. 12: The instructor: his knowledge of the materials, his classroom demeanor and sense of humor, his evident experience in handling students at different levels, and most importantly, his original contributions to this field (archival description). Also his willingness to help us with questions after we return home.
6) How could the course have been improved?
2: Perhaps less hands-on alone and more of a composite overall, having been formalized into the five days. It helps to have the big picture to use with the understanding of using XML and ASCII software. 4: Real blackboard – or large white board higher on the wall so back row could see. 5: I only had one disappointment. I really will not have the luxury to play around with learning the software, etc once I get back to work. On the contrary, I am under significant pressure to produce (and justify their expense, etc)! I was sent to class to get the tools to come back and just do it, rightly or wrongly. Understanding that the subject is extremely complex, I’m still nervous that I don’t have some basic components down, like the inclusion of hyperlinks in the EAD document. I’m not confident I will be able to figure this out on my own. I know it’s unreasonable to expect a “quick fix,” but I do think it needs to be kept in mind that the majority of us will be trying to fit this in around twenty million other things with the boss’s expectation that we can now demonstrate expertise! This isn’t a criticism, because I don’t know what else could be done. Just an observation. 6: Course was excellent. Only suggestion is that accommodation be made to allow students to work on their finding aids with all the necessary software, etc in the evenings after class if needed. 7: It’s really perfect. The only suggestion I would have is the use of an overhead projector or PowerPoint instead of the chalkboard, which I had trouble seeing, especially when the lights were dim. 8: The course was great! DP’s time was stretched thin by the numbers of students and the tremendous personal attention he gave each one. Not sure how this could be improved, however. 11: The room on the last day was a bit too warm. It was fine on the other days. 12: Hard to imagine.
8) If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?
1: It’s good to visit the Rotunda. 2: The Monday night lecture was worthwhile. The Sunday lecture could’ve been shorter, since the most vital info was in the handbook (Vade Mecum). 3: Yes. 4: Yes, Sunday in particular – enjoyed hearing the story behind RBS – Monday’s lecture was worth attending just for the building [Rotunda]. 5: Didn’t attend – heard they were worthwhile from others. 6: Yes. 7: The first lecture was very interesting, but the second (on sanserifs) was too specialized for me. I don’t know that much about printing type. 8: Yes. 10: Yes. It ws also nice having the lectures in the dome of the Rotunda and at the Jefferson Society. 11: The Sunday night [lecture] was good for all of us to get an idea of what was going on and the history of RBS and for us to mutually meet. The Virginia lecture was outstanding. The typeface lecture was not so good, plus bad acoustics in the room. 12: Yes.
9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?
1: I don’t have the background to understand the talk. 2: N/A. 5: Didn’t attend – heard they were worthwhile from others. 6: Didn’t attend. 7: Yes, I looked at every display except the movies. I especially like the handout, so I can read about the exhibit later. 8: N/A. 10: Yes. I wish I had arrived just when it started as there is a lot to see, read, and question. 11: N/A. 12: Yes.
10) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final thoughts?
1: Better have some basic understanding of XML and EAD before taking this course. I have learnt a lot and got my questions answered. 2: Yes. The program benefits from careful attention to every aspect of one’s stay, including social time, classroom time, and external events. Very well planned. 3: Yes. 4: Most definitely. 5: Yes, I absolutely did. Advice: If you are taking EAD Part 1, count on needing to take EAD Part 2, because you need the full picture to be able to use most effectively. 6: Yes. 7: Absolutely. It’s a bargain. The instructor is the best part of the course. I learned more than I expected to learn and never felt intimidated. He has a very humane approach and paces the information well. 8: Yes. This course does take a person with little or no knowledge of EAD or XML, and turn them into someone capable of working with EAD at their own institution. 9: Definitely worth the time and money spent. Encoding two of my own institution’s finding aids – in addition to the example the whole class used – was a great way to understand how to put EAD to work for us. I admit I was a bit of an EAD skeptic when I arrived at RBS, but I’m convinced now that the long-term benefit is well worth the extra effort up front. My thanks to DP and RBS for the opportunity to learn more about EAD. 10: Yes. It takes this much time to get enough hands-on practice, ask questions (even in a small class), discuss EAD standard issues, and learn from one another’s questions. Students were from around the country and the world, each from institutions large and small, providing their own vast archival experience to the class. 11: Yes, I want to come back for the follow-up course, even though it would be on my dime. 12: Yes. The day is very well structured: coffee breaks and ninety-minute lunch essential. Week well structured, too – enjoyed all evening activities (except missed second lecture). Hope to come again!
Number of respondents: 12
Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution Institution Institution Institution
gave me leave paid tuition paid housing paid travel
100% 75% 58% 83%
I took vaca- I paid tui- I paid for my I paid my own
tion time tion myself own housing travel
0% 25% 25% 17%
N/A: self- N/A: Self- N/A: stayed N/A: lived
employed, re- employed, with friends nearby
tired, or had retired, or or lived at
summers off exchange home
0% 0% 17% 0%
There were five archivist/manuscript librarians (43%), three general librarians with some rare book duties (25%), one digital librarian (8%), one head cataloger (8%), one general librarian with no rare book duties (8%), and one digital projects coordinator (8%).