Deborah J. Leslie
32: Rare Book Cataloging
8-12 May 2000

1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Useful readings, especially the general introduction to format of rare books, the article on the background of DCRB as revision to BDRB, and the articles dealing with system considerations for rare book cataloging fields. But the course was conducted in such a way that one could get away without reading them. And it was welcome to have guidance of additional sources to examine, to be familiar with -- ie thesauri and Gaskell. 2: Teacher took a vote to get consensus on pre-course reading usefulness -- I agree with consensus arrived at. 3: Useful. 4: Very useful -- had sketchy knowledge of code. 5: The pre-course readings were pertinent and provided an excellent background. 6: Great. Found myself a number of times hearing something in a lecture and remembering having already read about it in the pre-course readings. Really helped me to prep for this course. 7: Very useful. 8: Very germane. 9: The pre-course readings were all useful. The one on administration was perhaps the least pertinent but still interes ting. 10: Very appropriate -- especially the Raine article on rare book records in online systems. 11: I thought all of the pre-course readings were relevant and helpful. 12: They are very helpful. I coul d understand the class work better due to the pre-course readings.

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, the workbook looks immensely helpful with Latin terms, relator terms, examples of local notes, and the like. Also the bibliography for rare book cataloger’s reference is great. Not sure if it includes helpful websites, but that would be appreciated, too. 2: Very appropriate and useful. 3: The workbook was useful in class and I expect to refer to it often in my work. 4: Very useful. 5: I know the workbook will become a valuable part of my rare book reference shelf. 6: Yes . . . will find the workbook (and references therein) most useful. 7-8: Yes. 9: The workbook is great and will be very useful in the future. 10: The workbook that DJL prepared is a gem and will be a cause of departmental jealousy when I return! 11: Yes, we had many important and useful information packets and handouts. 12: The exercises and answer sheets are very good. The instructor provides other useful tools such as signature tables, which is useful. It would be good if the workbook included definitions of important concepts or a glossary.

3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?

1: Yes. Though we students seemed to come from different experience levels in terms of our exposure to rare books, DJL did a fine job of sharing the knowledge with us at an appropriate level, and the readings and our mutual discussions and sharing of backgrounds helped to bring us all up to a common level. 2: Absolutely. 3: Yes. 4: Yes. The necessity to make distinctions in terminology and the nature of the work itself precludes a challenging intellectual level. Instructor’s own mind quick to understand questions. 5: I especially enjoyed the combination of theory and practice. The intellectual level was appropriate and leaves opportunity for further thought on various cataloging issues. 6- 9: Yes. 10: DJL did a wonderful job balancing the course content so that it met the needs of both highly experienced and novice rare book catalogers. 11: Yes, and the instructor was very knowledgeable. 12: It would be easier to understand complicated concepts if written instructions were shown through an overhead or included in the workbook.

4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?

1: Yes -- we saw good examples of varying editions, issues , reprints, resettings of type, that made these categories of materials more vivid. 2: Yes. 3: Yes, seeing actual examples was very useful. 4: Yes. The opportunity to see examples is a necessary part of the learning process. 5: The Special Collections visit was time well spent. It helped clarify topics and issues, editions, resettings &c. in a concrete way. 6: Yes . . . helped me to understand the differences between state, issue and edition. Also cool to get a preview of the “pop-up collection” before it was advertised or open to the public. 7: Definitely. Looking at the different Pope editions, issues, &c. was one of the highlights of the course. 8: Yes. 9: Very well spent -- really made clear issues v. state v. impressions &c. 10: The visit to Special Collections allowed us to truly appreciate the difference between edition, state, impression and issue. 11: Yes, the examples made the lecture more understandable for that day. 12: Yes.

5) Did the actual course content correspond to its RBS brochure description and Expanded Course Description (ECD)? Did the course in general meet your expectations?

1- 4: Yes. 5: The course content corresponded with descriptions in brochures and course descriptions. 6-7: Yes. 8: Yes, very much so. 9: Yes, we really l earned DCRB or least got to know it much better. 10: Yes. 11: Yes, very much so. 12: Yes.

6) What did you like best about the course?

1: The approachability and knowledge of the instructor, the practical hands-on approach with the BAP collection, interaction with other students (good class size), and the well-organized, supportive background of the BAP and RBS. 2: 1. Re-affirmation (from competent [!] cataloging peers) that I have a fairly good grip on the cataloging I do, in spite of negativism I encounter daily at my institution; 2. learning things I didn’t know; 3. learning how much more I have to learn. 3: The hands-on experience with the books, prints, and binding examples added to the high quality of DJL’s instruction. 4: Depth of knowledge shared by the instructor. 5: The instructor was knowledgeable and her teaching style made for a great learning experience. Her agreeable personality turned a relatively daunting topic into an enjoyable course. I’m more than glad I attended this class. 6: Very, very instructive. Lots of notes and information to take back concerning the correct method and procedures for cataloging rare books. Also a wealth of information about rare books in general. 7: The visit to Special Collections, and the broad selection of examples in the workbook and the take-home packet. 8: Useful combination of lecture, discussion, practicum, and A/V sources. No evening homework was especially nice, having previously taken Descriptive Bibliography! 9: Working with old books -- I particularly enjoyed collation. 10: The practical examples we did as a group and individually on the last day of class -- it made me appreciate how much I had learned in a short week. 11: The instructor, her patience and individual attention in the exercises. She was very well organized, so we got the most benefit from the time we had. 12: Exercise the real rare book.

7) How could the course have been improved?

1: A little more time, a little more space. 4: Classroom summary of the workbook contents would make it more useful in the practicum. What DJL referred to as “fluff” would have been valuable -- but she was correct in letting go considering time constraints. 5: My only complaints are about the physical space. I think the approach taken by the instructor in meeting with limitations of space was creative. 6: With the detailed, informative lectures (with theory and information), opportunity to watch videos detailing some of the material lectured about, opportunity to see examples, and opportunity to even do hands-on work, the class was structured great, and provided many different kinds of learning opportunities. 9: Instead of spending a lot of class time on definitions, a handout of terms that we could read at home (perhaps given to us Monday and discuss questions on Tuesday). Otherwise a wonderful class. 10: Clone the instructor so you could offer enough sessions to meet the demand. 11: I can’t imagine a way to improve this course. The mix of lecture, movies, written exercises, field trip &c. was very effective. 12: By providing more extensive workbooks.

8) We are always concerned about the physical well-being both of the BAP’s 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: A little more table space. 2: I believe that strings of weights already encased in cloth can be purchased from any good decorator/drapery/curtain store -- they are used to weight drapes and curtains [re: book snakes --ed.]. 4: No relevant suggestions -- no irrelevant ones, either. Instructor gave a lesson and participants seemed to know how to handle. 5: I think instructions about the proper handling of materials should be given right at the beginning of the course. 6: None - always appeared that extreme care was taken with all the materials introduced. 8: Handling of materials was appropriate. 9: Perhaps discussing proper handling as one of the first items on Monday. 10: None. DJL did a good introduction to guidelines to rare book use. 12: It needs more security to keep the collection. It’s a very good idea to explain the way of handling rare materials to students before using them.

9) Please comment on the quality/enjoyability of the various RBS activities in which you took part outside of class (eg Sunday night dinner, evening lectures, Bookseller Night, Study Night, Video Night, tour of the Alderman digital/electronic centers, &c.).

1: Very fine, enjoyable activities outside class. All the extra touches -- the photos, the Vade Mecum and the mailing several weeks ago, the poster for the lecture, the break times and the refreshments, the support staff -- as well as the evening activities made us feel most welcome and at home and made the intense learning experience possible. Some exhaustion by Thursday night made it difficult to get the most out of the videos and they were peripheral to our class topic, but still a worthwhile optional offering. 2: I participated in Sunday night, Monday night and Thursday nights -- very enjoyable. 3: I enjoyed the chance to meet fellow students and the instructors at Sunday night’s dinner, and to hear about the history of the BAP. 4: Appreciate immensely the planning, care, thought put into the activities. I enjoyed them all. The reception after the lectures I could have done without, as I cared more for dinner at that point, but I enjoyed it. 5: I especially enjoyed the study night. The 3-D Carter is brilliant. Lectures were interesting as were the videos. 6: Although one feels s/he gets his/her money’s worth from RBS with all the evening “goings-on” (in addition to the classes), it might be worth leaving one evening during the week to “sit back and reflect” on what one has learned. 7: Sunday night is a good icebreaker. I enjoyed Mark Lasner’s lecture. Study night, access to 3-D Carter, Pickwoad’s models, &c., is a great opportunity. I only watched the Archimedes video, which I thought was well-done. 8: All enjoyable and worthwhile. 9: Sunday night dinner was very nice -- I really enjoyed TB’s lecture. Mark Lasner was entertaining. Could have had Wednesday evening Study Night every night -- lots of fun! 10: The activities were all wonderful but more limited in scope than activities during the regular sessions. 11: I especially liked TB’s lecture after the Sunday night dinner and Bookseller Night. 12: I enjoyed very much video night, but it starts too late.

10) Any final thoughts? Did you get your money’s worth?

1: Yes, I felt that I/my library did get my/its money’s worth. And if I return back to my library, I can apply what I learned right away so that I will not lose what I learned. 2: Teacher obviously worked hard to prepare for the class, and it showed -- she is also well qualified -- her curriculum changes were well thought out and advantageous -- class lunch together was a very nice touch -- absolutely got money’s worth -- to me, the bonus is the opportunity to network in the rare book field. 3: This course fully met my expectations and I would recommend it highly. DJL is an excellent instructor -- very knowledgeable and also respectful of questions from novices. Everyone at the BAP was helpful and contributed to making RBS week a pleasant and stimulating experience. 4: Absolutely got my money’s worth. 5: I feel that I’ve learned a lot in a relatively short time. I feel more confident about cataloging rare books and look forward to applying my skills. 6: Yes! [got my money’s worth] A great introduction to rare book cataloging for a novice in the practice. All the info about rare books was great too! 7: Yes [got my money’s worth]. I’d recommend it.8: Yes, definitely [got my money’s worth]. 9: If you need to learn DCRB take this class. DJL is a great, patient teacher. 10: This course will cause you to fall in love with rare book cataloging and give you the confidence to embark on diminishing your backlog! 11: The subject of this course can be somewhat intimidating but the instructor is a good teacher and a “novice” can learn to catalog a rare book in five days. You have a confident feeling at the end of this course. 12: Yes [got my money’s worth]. It’s very worthwhile. It’s a very practical course and the instructor provides extensive work experience.

Number of respondents: 12

Percentages

Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution gave me leave Institution paid tuition Institution paid housing Institution paid travel
100% 92% 84% 84%
I took vacation time I paid tuition myself I paid for my own housing I paid for my own travel
0% 8% 8% 16%
N/A: self-employed,retired, or had summers off N/A: self-employed,retired, or had summers off N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home N/A: lived nearby
0% 0% 8% 0%

There were seven general librarians with some rare book duties (58%), four rare book librarians (33%), and one map librarian/cataloger with some rare book cataloging duties imminent.

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