Matt Kirschenbaum and Naomi Nelson
L-95: Born-Digital Materials
10–14 June 2013
Detailed Course Evaluation
1) How useful were the pre-course readings? Did you do any additional preparations in advance of the course?
1: The collection of readings is probably one of the most valuable assets I could have going forward as an archivist interested in digital materials. 2: Useful but only vital in a few cases. No extra preparation. I will return to many of the articles later though—the overview is very helpful. 3: Very useful. 4: The readings were (and are) incredible resources. I would recommend almost all of them. 5: They were really useful, but I had a hard time finding enough time to get through all of them. 6: They were extremely valuable. I read whatever I could download. 8: The pre-course readings gave a clean sense of the topics that would be discussed. Some of the readings made more sense once more context had been provided. 9: Excellent selection—varied and (mostly) very interesting. 10: The pre-course readings were very helpful. 11: Pre-course readings were excellent. I spent some time briefly talking with colleagues about digital materials and processes before coming.
2) Were the course workbook and other materials distributed in class appropriate and useful (or will they be so in the future, after you return home)?
1: Extremely useful, the tools and examples will allow me to keep practicing what I learned. 2: Workbook—barely used after class started. Will consult later. Other materials—useful, but unlikely to consult in future. 3: Absolutely. 4: Yes. 5: Yes! I will definitely use them when I get home. 6: Yes. 7: Very much so—I have already begun to think about how to incorporate what I have read in my own work. 8: Yes. The course workbook contains the course readings which are essential bibliography for the course, and having the PowerPoint slides for reference will also be useful. 9: All material distributed digitally. It was extremely helpful to get so many tools (forensic tools and emulation tools) as well as course readings and lecture slides in one package. 10: Yes! Yes! Yes! I am so glad to have the readings, exercises, examples, programs, &c. to utilize at home. 11: All very useful. They are going to be a good starting point for me to explore the issues and themes of this class further.
3) Have you taken one or more RBS courses before? If so, how did this course compare with your previous coursework?
1: No. 2: No. 3: No. 4: This was my first course. 5: Yes—this course was much more collaborative, which I really liked. I feel like our class has really formed a great network and I would be comfortable reaching out to my classmates for help with digital initiatives. 6: No. 7: No prior courses. 8: N/A. 9: Yes, but it was ten years ago, and I do not recall enough detail to compare. 10: N/A. 11: This was my first time at RBS.
4) What aspects of the course content were of the greatest interest or relevance for your purposes?
1: I found myself drawn to the arrangement and description piece—though that is not what I expected. I suppose I have heard and read a great deal about the possibilities; having frank discussions about actual implementation was fascinating and tremendously useful. 2: Theory and application of born-digital archiving information on digital forensics/emulation. 3: Hands-on digital forensics exercises. 4: The tools and hands-on projects were especially helpful. I also learned so much from the case studies. 5: All of it was incredibly interesting and relevant to my work. 6: The intersection of digital and physical material was very much on my mind. How I, as an IT guy, could participate in this new process. 7: Theory and the opportunities to speak with others about their professional practice. 8: Learning the process of handling born-digital materials from accession to researcher was useful, especially the case studies. 9: Forensic techniques applied in an archival setting, the arrangement and description, and I found the discussion of digital materiality very fascinating. 10: Can I say all?! There was no one aspect that I felt was irrelevant and all content and instruction was informative. 11: The theory; case studies; exercises; and practical applications.
5) Did the instructor(s) successfully help you to acquire the information, knowledge, and skills that the course was intended to convey? Was the intellectual level of the course appropriate?
1: Great to be led by some of the foremost practitioners in the field. 2: Yes—though I am relieved not to be doing this work full-time. Course is appropriately pitched although a little more info on basic concepts given in pre-readings might help people catch up and allow for less time in review of basics. 3: Yes. 4: The intellectual level of the course was perfect. 5: Yes! This was a great overview and it gave me the resources to learn more about digital archiving when I return home. 6: Yes. Yes. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, the instructors were excellent and the lectures were well-paced. 9: Yes. I was a bit worried I would confused or overwhelmed, as I have in some other courses on this topic, even though I consider myself quite technologically savvy, but it was perfect content and pace. 10: Yes! 11: The instructors did an excellent job of conveying complex and often confusing information. Intellectual level was perfect.
6) What did you like best about the course?
1: I enjoyed the discussions. A lot of combined experience and knowledge in this class, between the instructors and other students. 2: Best—variety of experiences—nicely mixed between lecture, case studies, and playtime. 3: Mix of lectures, case studies, and exercises. 4: Hearing about NN’s and MK’s experiences in the field was fantastic. 5: The collaborative structure and varied format (mix of lectures, hands-on, field trips, &c.). 6: The mix of the practical and the ideal. That we covered sky to ground. 8: I enjoyed the group activities and the opportunity to use applications like BitCurator. 9: The mix of the theory and practical and technical. Hands-on practice with technical tools. 10: The opportunity to use the software and programs and experiment with the exercises—really the hands-on experience greatly added to what I will take away from this course. 11: It is based off of real-world examples and touches what is realistically possible for moving forward in digital archiving.
7) How could the course have been improved?
1: I would have liked a somewhat deeper dive into the tools like BitCurator—at least as an option! 2: Slightly later start? Probably just me. 3: More time with BitCurator and other forensic tools. 4: Maybe having students read up on a particular case study in advance would be useful, in order to have an extensive, fully prepared discussion. I think that slightly more built-in discussion time would also be useful. 5: I would have liked more hands-on time at BitCurator. Also, I would definitely come back for Born-Digital Materials II if offered. 6: Perhaps more lab time between or after classes. I would have liked to examine the computers and media, but I simply never had time. 8: It would have been helpful to spend some more time discussing or experiencing the steps of arranging born-digital materials aside from the case studies. 9: More time to ensure my laptop was set up to use the software. I only had one day to load software before leaving for Virginia and I needed someone from my IT department to install one piece, so it was a tight squeeze to get it done. 10: It would be helpful to indicate the hardware capabilities needed for some of the programs ahead of time. 11: More time with hardware and software.
8) Did you learn what the course description/advertisement indicated you would learn? Additional comments optional. Y/N
1: Yes. 2: Although I’m not a full-time archivist so my experience may not be as helpful. 3–11: Yes.
9) Did you learn what you wanted in the course? Additional comments optional. Y/N
1: Yes. 2: Theory and implementation. Picture of process, start to finish. 3–11: Yes.
10) How do you intend to use or apply the knowledge or skills learned in this course?
1: I intend to convince my institution to support at least a survey of our digital materials already in the collection. 2: Critical articles, dissertation, scholarship, personal archiving, tool building. 3: In a future professional position. 4: I hope to be able to integrate my analog and digital skills in my collection management! 5: I intend to start capturing and archiving born-digital material at my institution. 6: 1. Build a homebrow digital forensics machine. 2. Start a discussion of archives born-digital content at my institution. 3. Intern in a digital archive. 8: I intend to be able to have conversations with our digital archivist about her process. 9: Helping my institution establish a digital records program—develop policies, workflows and procedures, select tools, &c. 10: Through implementation at my home institution. 11: In opening discussions with colleagues about dealing with born-digital materials; acquisitions approval; processing; arrangement description; and access. To help demystify digital for others.
11) If your course left its classroom, was the time devoted to this purpose well spent?
1: Greatly; I have wanted to visit the Scholars’ Lab for years. 2: Yes—Scholars’ Lab presentation could have been more tightly focused, though. 3: Yes. 4: Yes. It was essential. 5: Yes! Both the trip to SC and the trip to Scholars’ Lab were incredibly informative. 6: Yes. 8: Yes, but the trip to the Scholars’ Lab could have been better framed or organized to make its relationship to the rest of the course content clean. 9: Yes, definitely for the trip to the SC. I was less convinced about the relevance of the trip to the Scholars’ Lab. 10: Yes. 11: Absolutely—good examples of class lessons.
12) If you attended the evening events (e.g., RBS Lecture, Video Night, RBS Forum, Booksellers’ Night) were they worth attending?
1: Yes, interesting, though I may not attend all of them in the future. 3: Yes. 4: Yes. 5: Yes! I attended all and found them all worthwhile. The printing demo and hands-on work with JK and KR were my favorite. 6: My God, yes. 7: The opening talk and welcome and RBS lecture were quite nice. 8: Yes, and they were worth attending. 9: I did not attend. 10: Yes! I would suggest attending the lectures—it is a great way to hear about others’ work. And! If you go to Booksellers’ Night, be sure to go to the Whisky Jar! 11: Yes—very informative, great discussions, good opportunity to learn about things other than my class.
13) 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?
2: All was well. 4: N/A. 5: None. 6: If you are going to use old computers again, please have an IT professional examine them and, if necessary, recondition them. The Apple 8900’s CMOS Battery is dying—an expensive fix. Also, close out the power supplies. 10: More handling please! J 11: Just make sure proper protocols are followed.
14) Did you (or your institution) get your money’s worth? Would you recommend this course to others?
1: I would highly recommend this course to anyone considering digital materials in their collection. 2: Scholarship. Yes, if others are picking up the bill. 3: Absolutely. 4: Yes, definitely. 5: Yes, and yes! 6: Yes, and yes. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, I would recommend this course especially to archivists. 9: Yes. I would recommend. 10: Oh, yes. I would highly recommend this course, and RBS, to my colleagues and plan on doing so when I get home. 11: YES! YES again!
15) Any final or summary thoughts, or advice for other persons considering taking this course in a future year? (If you have further praise/concerns, please speak with Amanda Nelsen or Michael Suarez.)
4: Do not be intimidated. NN’s and MK’s expertise and excellent teaching skills make learning about born-digital materials a fruitful and fun experience. 5: make sure your computer can run BitCurator successfully before you get here! 6: Take the time to learn a bit more about basic computing concepts before you come. A little goes a long way. 7: Do see about working with your IT staff well in advance to get programs and tools uploaded and working. 10: I think the born-digital course could be expanded upon in these areas: social media, obsolete, born-digital, and arrangement and description. 11: This course is great for helping show you what is possible and reminding you that we all have to start somewhere. Digital is serious, but not as hard as one may think.
Aggregate Statistics
Number of respondents: 11
Leave
Institution gave me leave: 6 (55%)
I took vacation time: 4 (36%)
N/A: self-employed, retired, or had summers off: 1 (9%)
Tuition
Institution paid tuition: 6 (55%)
I paid tuition myself: 3 (27%)
N/A: self-employed, retired, or scholarship: 2 (18%)
Housing
Institution paid housing: 8 (73%)
I paid for my own housing: 2 (18%)
N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home: 1 (9%)
Travel
Institution paid travel: 8 (73%)
I paid my own travel: 2 (18%)
N/A: lived nearby: 1 (9%)
Which one category most closely defines what you do for a living, or why you are at RBS? (Please check only one category)
Archivist: 4 (37%)
Library assistant/clerk: 1 (9%)
Student, Ph.D. (humanities): 1 (9%)
Librarian/archivist of digital materials: 1 (9%)
Librarian with no rare book duties: 1 (9%)
Rare book librarian: 1 (9%)
Teacher, university full or associate professor: 1 (9%)
Reference Archivist: 1 (9%)
How did you hear about this course?
RBS website: 4 (37%)
Work colleague: 2 (18%)
Word of mouth: 4 (37%)
RBS faculty or staff recommendation: 1 (8%)