43. History of American Music on Paper [H-55]
13-17 June 2005
1) How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Very useful. 2: Useful. A good basic, well really more than basic, knowledge of American music history made the course much more interesting and in some areas, comprehensible. 3: Accepted late for course, thus did not get the list in time. 4: The pre-course readings were relevant and useful, providing an overall history and background to the course’s subject material.
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. Handouts will be very valuable to me later as I share what I learned with my colleagues. 2: Yes. The handout on fonts and music printing needs to be reorganized to show the various music type fonts together on two pages. 3: Probably, if future work involves sheet music or c19 printed music cataloging. 4: Yes, as DK is a very thorough bibliographer; he has provided ample suggestions for outside readings, and everything covered in the course had the right scope and breadth.
3) What aspects of the course content were of the greatest interest or relevance for your purposes? Was the intellectual level of the course appropriate?
1: I now know how to tell the difference between various printing methods used for music and why each was needed and successful in its day. 2: I was interested in everything. A little more detail on how the various printing processes worked would have useful. These were not presented in an organized way. 3: Information which can be used for music cataloging. The intellectual level was appropriate. 4: All of the course content will be useful for a career in music librarianship. Not only did we cover music-printing history (in the US), but we studied music fonts methods of printing, and cultural relevance to the sheet music we studied.
4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?
1: Yes. Our field trips were interesting and fun. 2: Yes, although it would have been better if we could have handled these volumes ourselves, to examine the type and printing in better detail. 3: Yes it was, both times in Special Collections and RBS. The course would not have been complete without these field trips. Our regular classroom setting in Harrison-Small was wonderful, but the field trips offered welcome breaks from the classroom. 4: Yes, we visited the music library and a practice room to play through some of the sheet music.
5) What did you like best about the course?
1: I appreciated getting the opportunity to study with a highly respected professor in the field, as well as interact with colleagues. 2: It was great to have examples of all of the various forms of printing available to examine. Although in my job I see these things almost everyday, it was good to be able to look at them in a different way. 3: a) DK: a gentleman and a scholar. b) music type, Effinger’s MusicWriter, litho stones, &c.; hands-on sessions. c) Viewing/handling lots of wonderful music. 4: Looking through the sheet-music collections and examining lithography.
6) How could the course have been improved?
1: I would like to have had a discussion about the types of paper used for printing music (music scores tend to be handled much more than books in normal use). 2: As mentioned above, better explanations of the printing processes (litho, letterpress, &c.). 3: Enrollment was only four people; actually for me a pretty comfortable size, but a few more students might have added different viewpoints/interpretations to the course. Have available a computer with internet access for the rare question which DK cannot answer!
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?
3: None.
8) If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?
1: Dr. Monaghan’s lecture was interesting, but the room was much too warm. Turnng the lights off for the slide show created a sleepy atmosphere for the audience. Sunday night lecture was inaudible. TB needs to SPEAK UP! 2: As a first-time attendee the Sunday lecture was useful. I found the Monday evening lecture (“Reading and Writing in Colonial America”) fascinating. 3: Was unable to attend. 4: I felt the Sunday lecture was useful for its focus on RBS itself and as a general introduction to the organization. TB ought to be miked as he speaks softly. The Monday night lecture has promise, but wasn’t well executed.
9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?
3: Was unable to attend. 4: I felt it was somewhat interesting, and involved enough for the time allotted. However, it overall came across to me as something most useful for folks who have nothing to do.
10) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final or summary thoughts, or advice for other persons considering taking this course in a future year?
1: I will recommend this course to colleagues. And I would like to return to take another course in the future. 2: Yes, I believe so. 3: Yes. DA is a great teacher. He and this course were highly recommended to me before I took the class. 4: Absolutely, and I have become a true believer in the RBS organization.
Number of respondents: 4
Percentages
Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution Institution Institution Institution
gave me leave paid tuition paid housing paid travel
75% 75% 50% 50%
I took vaca- I paid tui- I paid for my I paid my own
tion time tion myself own housing travel
0% 0% 25% 25%
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
25% 25% 25% 25%
The participants included three music librarians (75%) and one full-time student (25%).