Consuelo Dutschke

M-10 Introduction to Paleography, 800-1500

7-11 June 2010

1. How useful were the pre-course readings? (Leave blank if you applied and were accepted late for the course, and thus did not get the list in time.)

1: Quite useful, as they provided a crash course in technical vocabulary necessary to the class lectures 2: The pre-reading was useful. 3: Useful—we did not need the books for class, though. Perhaps revise instructions so that students do not travel with extra books other than Capelli. 4: I found the pre-course materials a helpful "light" introduction to the material in class but they did not seem entirely necessary to what would be covered. 5: Extremely useful. 6: I am glad I took the time to read them, as I am not a medievalist and was grateful for the historical review. 7: Only one book I thought to be superfluous. 8: Very good. 9: Very useful for understanding terminology and history of paleography.

2. Were the course syllabus and other materials distributed in class appropriate and useful (or will they be so in the future, after you return home)?

1: Yes, most appropriate and useful. CD had some particularly relevant and hilarious examples. 2: Our course pack was well-put together. 3: Materials were useful but we did need better black-and-white images to work from. Most were too pixilated to use. 4: The course syllabus and other materials distributed in class were extremely useful and appropriate and useful and I will continue to use all of them in the future. 5: Yes, they were. I will use them for both review and teaching. 6: I look forward to keeping up/honing my newfound skills by returning to the images on the CD. 7: Double yes. 8: Yes. 9: Syllabus was useful. CD distributed in class will be useful at home.

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: Of greatest interest were the exercises of reading and deciphering manuscripts, as these were most helpful. 2: I liked the pace of the class and the practice sessions in which we took turns reading/translating aloud. 3: Overview and introduction to several hands/scripts were useful to me. 4: The aspects of the course that were of the greatest use were the study and practice of transcribing and identifying medieval scripts. 5: The careful reading of a wide spectrum of different scripts, providing me with the tools for dating and historical context. The intellectual level was excellent. 6: Although the intensive nature could be draining at times, there is no substitute for covering the materials in such depth and breadth. 7: Despite the main purpose—paleography—I was happy that CD also touched the topic of codicology and explained different types of books! 8: Learning to read the various scripts. Absolutely perfect! 9: Recognizing the various scripts and being able to read them. Intellectual level was appropriate.

4. What did you like best about the course?

1: The chances to personally study several manuscripts. 2: It was a low-key intellectual environment; the tone of the class was very appropriate—engaging, scholarly, but non-threatening. 3: The group of two exercises for reading were useful. We were able to get through more text and work at slower/faster pace as needed. 4: See above. Although it was terrifying to do so in class. 5: The instructor. 6: Drawing on the collective knowledge of a room full of people with diverse specialties and a shared interest. 7: Good atmosphere, variety of teaching subjects. 8: My classmates were sensational and so was our instructor, CD. CD also took time to have dinner with our group—that was helpful in feeling comfortable in class. 9: I especially liked the pace. It was challenging, but not overwhelming.

5. Did the instructor(s) successfully help you to acquire the information and skills that the course was intended to convey?

1: Yes. 2: Yes—CD is very knowledgeable and professional, this was a great intro course. 3: Yes ... now I need a lot more practice. 4: Yes. 5: YES. 6: Absolutely, and it would be a pleasure to work with CD again! 7: Very much so. 8: YES—very much so. 9: Absolutely. The instructor was excellent and engaged all the students to participate.

6. Did you learn what the course description/advertisements indicated you would learn?

1: Yes. 2: Yes. Though a 20 minute review day on the codicology our pre-reading described would have helped reinforce concepts. 3-9: Yes.

7. Did you learn what you wanted to learn in the course?

1-5: Yes. 6: Yes. And much more! 7-9: Yes.

8. How do you intend to use or apply the knowledge or skills learned in this course?

1: I intend to use the knowledge and skills gained as a professional curator/interpreter/cataloger of medieval manuscripts and in any research I might do on liturgical matters. 2: I think I'll be better able to complete basic research now—it'll take lots more practice to be fluent, obviously, but class was a very useful course in basic points! 3: I will practice with MSS at my institution. 4: By studying medieval manuscripts for a project at NYPL. 5: Class presentations; cataloging of manuscripts; digital initiatives. 6: Increase support within my academic department for the use of special collections in their scholarly work. 7: Using it for my further research, studies (Ph.D.). 8: Rare books librarianship—possibly. Hope to teach History of the Book. Return to an internship/practicum/volunteer work with l[ibrary?] MSS. 9: I will apply what I learned directly in my work.

9. How could the course have been improved? If you have a suggestion for a new course (and—equally important—a person who could teach it), please contact the RBS Program Director.

1: No points I could think of. 2: Getting to handle primary source material with our hands during Special Collections visits. 3: It's always difficult to keep students on task and cut "pet interest" conversation off. Instructor did an admirable job but we sometimes were sidetracked with rather long student comments on their own areas of interest. 4: It was pretty much as expected. It might have been described in RBS catalog as "Latin" paleography or require a high level knowledge of Latin. 5: Just one small thing: some of the photocopies were not very clear. I think that students should be allowed to handle the manuscripts during the visits to Special Collections. 6: More actual hands-on materials. 7: For paleography I thought that the size of the class was a little too big (nine students). I would make six the maximum. After all it is like learning a language and every extra person slows the course down. 8: Only to have several stations (one per each student) for books, MSS and rotate each student in five minutes so everyone always has something to look at. Teacher would quickly summarize each one before to alert us to what we must identify. 9: Some of the printouts weren't as clear as they could have been. Otherwise, no recommendations for improvement.

10. If your course left its classroom to visit Special Collections (SC) or to make other field trips away from your classroom, was the time devoted to this purpose well spent?

1: Absolutely. 2: Yes, but the RBS policy that we can't touch things is silly—[people?] spend their time and money to come here because we revere these things. We need tactile experience and RBS shows us a lack of respect with such caution. I would suggest fewer Special Collections time because of their hands-off rules. [NB: Anywhere between two and three hundred RBS students visit UVA SC every year where they routinely view the same materials in their classes. Based on the resulting wear to rare materials in UVA SC, RBS and UVA were advised by experts to discontinue group handling. Please note that RBS students may individually handle items in the SC Reading Room−mgt.] 3: See below. 4: Yes. 5: Yes, indeed. 6: Yes—of the three periods, two were devoted to close scrutiny of two to three items, while the other allowed up-close study of many assorted fragments. 7: We could have been once or twice less in the SC and instead in the classroom. 8: Yes. 9: Yes, very well spent. We got the opportunity to observe materials we were learning about in class.

11. 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: The materials were handled with sufficient care. 2: See above. 3: I understand the rules, but they do hinder the learning experience. I would suggest fewer SC time periods because of this. Classroom time could be better used. 5: See answer to number nine. 6: Manuscript specialists need to be able to handle the materials—gently, of course, but not behind glass or Mylar. It's not the same. 7: Don't worry too much about your collection. Nearly everybody here is used to handle rare objects! 8: None but would be nice to have more materials in SC we could actually touch. 9: We weren't allowed to handle Special Collections materials, which was a detriment. We were allowed to handle RBS materials, under the care of the instructor.

12. If you attended the optional evening events (e.g. RBS Lecture, Video Night, RBS Forum, Booksellers' Night) were they worth attending?

1: I attended the video on the Lindisfarne Gospels—well worth it! 3: Lecture (Linotype/ Monotype) was very interesting and worth attending. 5: Yes, they were. 6: I enjoyed what I attended. 7-9: Yes.

13. Did you get your (or your institutions) money's worth? Any final or summary thoughts, or advice for other persons considering taking this course in a future year?

1: Absolutely. Advice to future students—sit back and enjoy! 2: Yes—great experience. 3: Yes. 5: Yes, I did. 6: Yes! Go to RBS! Early and often! 7: It was worth it, though difficult to afford for a student/intern. 8: Yes. You MUST have Latin to take this course. 9: It was definitely worth the money. Advice for persons considering taking the course: take it.

Number of respondents: 9

PERCENTAGES

Leave

Institution gave me leave

44 %

I took vacation time

22 %

N/A: self-employed, retired or had the summers off

33 %

Tuition

Institution paid tuition

44 %

I paid tuition myself

44 %

N/A: Self-employed, retired or scholarship

12 %

Housing

Institution paid housing

22 %

I paid for my own housing

56 %

N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home

22 %

Travel

Institution paid travel

33 %

I paid my own travel

45 %

N/A: lived nearby

22 %

There were three rare book librarians (33 %), one general librarian with no rare book duties (11 %), three students (33 %), one graduate intern (11 %) and one freelance translator (11 %)