David Pearson
C-90: Provenance: Tracing Owners & Collections
29 July–2 August 2013
Detailed Course Evaluation
1) How useful were the pre-course readings? Did you do any additional preparations in advance of the course?
1: Very. I looked at all and read through DP’s books. 2: Very. Yes, I did complete the pre-reading to give context to the course. 3: Very helpful and fully prepared me for the course. No additional preparation was required, in my opinion. 4: Very useful. DP’s Introduction to Provenance is key. The Brian North Lee text gave a very helpful introduction into bookplate identification. 5: The reading list was very good and prepared me for much of the course discussion. 6: Very useful, particularly DP’s Handbook of Provenance Research. If you only do minimum reading, that’s the one to do. 7: The readings were very relevant and enjoyable. They set the stage well for the week. 8: The pre-course readings were helpful, especially DP’s book Books as History. 9: The pre-course readings were an important preparation for the class. The selected texts provided a good basis of the class. I used some information in my collections to identify items before arriving. 10: The pre-course readings were very useful especially “Used Books” and The Provenance Handbook. It was difficult to find a copy of “Looking at Marks in Books” though. 11: The readings were very useful, especially DP’s books and I loved “Used Books” as well and found that very helpful. 12: Very useful. Read especially the main text for overview. 13: Pre-course readings were interesting and useful as a grounding for the topics, if not essential for the course as DP covered everything in detail and did not assume prior knowledge. 14: I am really glad I brought all of the pre-course readings mostly because now I have them as a future reference. I admit that I wasn’t able to read everything before coming to RBS, but it was helpful to skim over them and be familiar with the topics.
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: Yes and yes. 2: Yes—both, now and afterwards. 3: Handouts. Very useful 4: Yes, absolutely. The workbook will be a bible at my desk! 5: The workbook is excellent. It reproduces (almost verbatim) much of the main points of lecture. It will be useful to review. 6: Very useful. 7: DP’s workbook and hand cuts are excellent. I know I will refer to them in the future. 8: As with every RBS class I have taken, the workbook is handy for keeping notes as you go along. 9: The course workbook was excellent. I will keep it and the course reading in my office for referral. Exercises were really good. 10: The workbook was a wonderful summary of the topics and will be very useful when I am identifying provenance evidence in my own collection. 11: The course workbook and all of the handouts were extremely useful. I am very glad to have them to keep with me at work and to consult his extensive bibliography. DP’s exercises in class with handouts were very good. 12: Yes. All exercises were useful and the workbook with the extensive bibliography will certainly be useful. It was helpful to have some of the basic reference works in our classroom to explore. 13: The workbook contained everything we needed and I am sure I will make good use of it as a resource when I return home. 14: The workbook and exercises were great. They were easy to navigate and I know I will refer to it in the future.
3) Have you taken one or more RBS courses before? If so, how did this course compare with your previous coursework?
1: Yes. The quality of the content has been uniformly excellent and helpful—though after Descriptive Bibliography everything is easy! 2: No—first course. 3: Yes, many. Now one of the top five. 4: Yes. This course gave me some of the most immediately applicable skills I have gained at RBS. I feel like I have a really solid grasp on the material now. 5: More. The courses were all very different. 6: I have taken one other course. I feel I learned much more this time around and definitely this class had more hands-on bookwork. 7: This is my third RBS course. All these have been fantastic intellectual and professional development experiences. 8: This course is of the same high caliber as other RBS courses. 9: This is the sixth course I have taken at RBS. This class is amazing, my favorite. It was very practical, very useful and very enjoyable. 11: This was my first course. 12: Equivalent. 13: N/A. 14: I’ve only taken one other RBS course but this one seems to be the same format: a nice balance of lecture and practical work.
4) What aspects of the course content were of the greatest interest or relevance for your purposes?
1: The fact that it touched on so much gave me ideas for handling our materials and ideas for research projects. 2: The entire course was relevant and interesting. Paleography and heraldry was new and interesting. 3: Paleography and Heraldry. 4: Bookplate dating and identification, reading coats of arms and relevant literature. 5: The first two days on the use of books (inscriptions, annotations, and so on) was of most interest, but I learned much in the following sessions—maybe even more. 6: I think the strength of the course is cumulative—that it is in building confidence in all areas that made the most different for me. 7: The discussions on paleography and bookplates are likely the most relevant. The discussions and exercises on heraldry were quite fascinating. 8: Paleography stood out more for me than anything, but I was equally surprised at what secret bindings may reveal. (Did not expect that!) 9: The information on identifying armorial bookplates was surprisingly of great interest. The paleography exercises were extremely practical and helpful. 10: The lessons on paleography and heraldry will probably be the most relevant for me. 11: Heraldry was so interesting and I wasn’t really expecting that. Deciphering inscriptions and the paleography sections will probably be the most useful and relevant for me, along with identifying coats of arms. 12: Paleography and practice dating inscriptions and bookplates; seeing overall trends in provenance evidence. 13: The sections on heraldry and paleography were of both greatest interest and relevance as they are a large part of my work as a cataloguer and I have not studied the topics before. 14: Having an overview of all of the different kinds of provenance information is invaluable. I will probably use the skills I learned in deciphering paleography the most in my current job.
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: Yes, and yes. 2: Yes. 3: Yes, I believe so. And, yes, in my opinion. 4: Yes, absolutely. A very nice blend of lecture and hands-on-teaching. 5: The instructor was very good. He was clear and clever and came equipped with very good slides. 6: Yes, and yes. The level and speed were appropriate to the students here. 7: DP balanced his lectures with practical exercises which helped us ground the information. The intellectual level of the course was fine. 8: The intellectual level and content was just right. The instructor was very patient and communicative. 9: The intellectual level was high and the instructor was very helpful. I have learned far more than expected in one week and feel I have been able to gain mastery in areas I could not have on my own. 10: DP was a really great teacher. The course had a nice balance between discussion and lecture and was always enjoyable. 11: Yes. The course covered what I expected it to. It was very thorough, challenging and inspiring. I learned a great deal. 12: Yes and yes. 13: I feel that I have acquired much new information and improved my skills and the level of the course seemed to suit myself and the rest of the class well. 14: Yes. DP is the best! He has a way of keeping things on an intellectually stimulating level without being overwhelming.
6) What did you like best about the course?
1: Hard to say. The lectures were great and tied well to the exercises. 2: The subjects covered; the opportunity to put theory into practice at the end and the tutor. 3: The instructor—very accessible and engaging style. 4: I really appreciated that DP’s lecture notes were prerecorded in the work book—I was able to focus more on the slides and class conversation as a result. 5: It was all very good. I enjoyed the study of heraldry much more than I would have anticipated. Very informative and enjoyable “chalk and talks.” 6: DP is great—so I would say he’s the best part. 7: The practical exercises were terrific and gave me ideas for how to use aspects of provenance in my work. 8: The instructor was first rate. 9: I truly enjoyed the lectures. The workbook was excellent and the classmates were great! 10: The class did a great job of breaking down broad topics like paleography into manageable and fascinating lessons. 11: I loved the DP’s lectures, and I enjoyed the exercises we did in class. 12: Looking at books together and identifying evidence, paleography exercises. 13: Learning the arcane arts of heraldic description. 14: I was never bored.
7) How could the course have been improved?
1: Can’t imagine. 2: N/A. 3: Last exercise—expand to include identification of prior owners. 4: It would have been fun to invite students to bring provenance problems from their own collections to class—to be discussed or even presented by the instructor. 5: The only session that felt “thin” was the discussion of cataloging. Perhaps another topic could be substituted or the session reimagined. 7: Not sure. 8: No suggestions. 9: I don’t see anything I would change. Great! 10: There were a few times when we did exercises in class that might have saved us time if they had been assigned as homework. 11: Perhaps, for me, spending even longer on paleography. Also, talking more about standards for recording provenance evidence would be nice, but difficult I see because institutions all do this differently. 12: I would suggest considering assigning one or two of the class exercises as homework to allow more class time for looking at books. Perhaps an additional and optional paleography assignment would be welcome. Suggest the online paleography tutorial as an optional exercise before coming to RBS for those interested. I wish we had more time with the books and could see more. A little more time to explore the great reference books in our classroom. 13: The course was excellent and not much improvement is needed. 14: I think sometimes it was a little hard to crowd 15 people around the table when we were in the classroom and it was time to look at books. I preferred passing the books.
8) Did you learn what the course description/advertisement indicated you would learn? Additional comments optional. Y/N
1: Yes. 2: Yes. It was more interesting and varied then the course description did justice to. 3: Yes. 4: Yes, and more! 5–11: Yes. 12: Yes. I have a good starting point for continuing my education in this subject, and a solid foundation. 13–14: Yes.
9) Did you learn what you wanted in the course? Additional comments optional. Y/N
1: Yes. 2: Yes. And more. 3–5: Yes. Would it be possible to do a little more paleography or introduce secretary hand in a more programmatic way (with some pen exercises)? 6–14: Yes.
10) How do you intend to use or apply the knowledge or skills learned in this course?
1: As we catalog new purchases and re-catalog old ones. I will have a database building along side to track ownership (as well as fleshing out provenance descriptions). 2: Put into practice at work. The knowledge and skills learnt when interpreting. Using and purchasing rare books. 3: My business occasionally requires provenance research. I will use the information and skills gained to perform said research, hopefully now in a “better” fashion. 4: Rare book cataloging and reference. 5: I’m not sure yet. 6: Mainly I took the course for “background” knowledge in writing about old and rare books, but it may prove of use in my own personal collection as well. 7: I’d like to develop provenance-related exercises suitable for undergraduates to use in archival labs now offered via my special collections department. 8: To better catalogue the collections in my care. 9: I will be able to survey our collections with this information and gain a better understanding of our collections and donors. 10: I intend to use this information to trace some of the owners of the books in my own collection. 11: As a rare books cataloger, I need to identify provenance evidence at work all the time, but find it challenging, so this course directly helped me improve skills I’ll use everyday. 12: I intend to record provenance evidence more consistently and more accurately in catalog records, and assist patrons who want to know about the history of a particular object. 13: I will use everything in daily work as a rare book cataloger. 14: I will use this in my current job, and in my own pursuits in family history.
11) If your course left its classroom, was the time devoted to this purpose well spent?
1: Yes. 2: Yes Special Collections Library. 3: Yes—visits to Small Library. 4: N/A. 5: Yes, both trips to Special Collections were enjoyable. The books selected for us were treats. 6: Yes—particularly to the Small Special Collection Library for a look at rare books. 7: N/A. 8: The two meetings at the Small Library were pertinent and practical. 9: Yes. Special Collections. 10: N/A. 11: Yes, we visited Special Collections at the University of Virginia. 12: Yes! 13: We spent some time in Special Collections, closely watched by staff, but a good opportunity to get our hands on some more books. 14: N/A.
12) If you attended the evening events (e.g., RBS Lecture, Video Night, RBS Forum, Booksellers’ Night) were they worth attending?
1: Yes. 2: RBS Lecture on Monday was not well delivered but Wednesday’s lecture was excellent. 3: Lectures—yes. Video Night and Booksellers’ Night—N/A. 4: Yes, definitely, but several of the bookshops closed earlier than expected. 5: N/A. 6: Yes. Wednesday’s RBS Lecture was by far the best. 7: The RBS Forum was excellent. The Monday RBS Lecture, not so much. 8: N/A. 9: RBS Lecture, Video Night and Booksellers’ night were all good. 10: Booksellers’ Night and the RBS Forum were particularly good but most of the events were fun. 11: I enjoyed the RBS Lectures and Booksellers’ Night a lot. I’m glad RBS offers these activities. 12: All—very worthwhile. 13: I attended the two RBS Lectures, the second of which was outstanding. Booksellers’ Night was fun as we made it a proper night out. I did not attend Video Night. 14: I adore Booksellers’ Night.
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?
1: None. 2: Pencils and sharpeners should be available. 3–4: None. 7: I’d suggest having hand sanitizer or wipes in the reading rooms to make it very quick and easy to keep our hands clean during extended hands on sessions. This works well in my work place. 8: I would suggest MFS placing hand washing stations at every classroom door. 9: None. 10: All materials seemed to be handled carefully by the students and the instructor. 11: I had not particular concerns about the handling of materials. 12: None. 13: Sloped supports would have made it easier to see inscriptions. Also, the supports used were very slippery and need readjusting. 14: Perhaps spending a minute to go over basics of handling rare books at the beginning of the week.
14) Did you (or your institution) get your money’s worth? Would you recommend this course to others?
1: Yes, and yes! 2: Yes—definitely. 3: Yes, and yes. 4: Yes, and yes! 5–8: Yes, and yes. 9: Absolutely. 10: Yes, I would definitely recommend it to anyone with any interest in governance research. 11: I definitely feel that it was well worth attending this course. I would highly recommend both the course and RBS to others. 12: Absolutely. It was a pleasure and learning a great amount in a short time was actually very fun! 13: Definitely and I would recommend that anyone with an interest in books attend the course. 14: Yes. Definitely.
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.)
1: Bring lots of leads for your pencil. 2: The course is a fantastic mix of theory and practice, covering themes from paleography to heraldry in an informative, inspiring and fun way. It opened my eyes to the life of books in a way I had never been exposed to before. The tutor was approachable, expert and supportive. Highly recommended. 3: For future participants: bring a four-leaf clover or lucky rabbit’s food. New course: DP to teach English Bookbinding styles. 8: None. 9: A terrific course. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in provenance. 10: 11: I loved this course and learned a great deal! 12: If paleography is a great interest, try to get a little practice in before you come. 13: I loved the RBS experience. I am thrilled that a place like this exists and hope to come again. 14: If you are looking to learn something that you can immediately apply to your career, take this course!
Aggregate Statistics
Number of respondents: 14
Leave
Institution gave me leave: 10 (71%)
I took vacation time: 1 (17%)
N/A: self-employed, retired, or had summers off: 3 (22%)
Tuition
Institution paid tuition: 8 (57%)
I paid tuition myself: 2 (14%)
N/A: self-employed, retired, or scholarship: 4 (29%)
Housing
Institution paid housing: 8 (57%)
I paid for my own housing: 5 (36%)
N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home: 1 (7%)
Travel
Institution paid travel: 8 (57%)
I paid my own travel: 5 (36%)
N/A: lived nearby: 1 (7%)
Which one category most closely defines what you do for a living, or why you are at RBS? (Please check only one category)
Antiquarian bookseller: 1 (7%)
Cataloguer, Rare Books: 1 (7%)
Student, M.L.I.S.: 1 (7%)
Student, other: 1 (7%)
Librarian with some rare book duties: 3 (21%)
Rare book librarian: 4 (30%)
University, assistant professor: 1 (7%)
Work in a museum or cultural institution: 1 (7%)
Other: 1 (7%)
How did you hear about this course?
RBS website: 7 (50%)
RBS printed schedule: 2 (14%)
Work colleague: 3 (22%)
Word of mouth: 2 (14%)