NOTE: In general, this course follows the organization suggested by Roderick Cave's Rare Book Librarianship.

Ground rules: Please talk and interrupt (me; not each other). Don't let it rain all over you; open your mouths. This course has no grades. Speaking up cannot hurt you. The instructor and your classmates will welcome all questions. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

1. Introduction of instructor and students

2. What is a rare book?
   • absolute rarity

   • cost

   • "irreplaceability"

   • "iconic" value and "importance"

   • first editions

   • provenance
     • ownership

     • presentation copies

     • association copies

   • illustrators

   • manuscript annotations

   • bindings and binders

   • fore-edge paintings

   • format [e.g., miniatures]

   • etc. ("anything I say it is")

3. Collections
   • the nature and purpose of rare book and manuscript collections
     

     vs.[?]

   • the nature and purpose of "special collections"

   • various kinds of library settings and their determining significance

   • various kinds of collections
     • high-spot collections

     • unified (subject) collections

     • miscellaneous collections

     • general antiquarian collections

     • historical subject collections

     • modern collections

4. Getting started
   • definition of your holdings and their nature

   • initial organization

   • functions needed
     • acquisitions (selection; ordering; paying)

     • processing (books/MSS)

     • cataloging

     • reading room supervision/security

     • shelving and paging

     • reference and reader services

     • photocopying, photography, scanning

     • preservation/conservation

     • library liaison/faculty or reader liaison--publicity

     • exhibitions

     • publications

     • social events

     • fundraising and development

5. Describing books bibliographically
   • why?

   • how?

   • who?

6. Acquisitions
   • sources
     • pre-existing collections

     • your library

     • dealers (purchase)
       • reading catalogs

     • auctions (local; national) and agents

     • donors (gift)
       • the rule about gifts: TANSTAAFL

   • approaches to acquisitions
     • book-by-book or collection-by-collection?

   • acquisitions policies
     • sample policies

   • processing acquisitions
     • internal (intra-departmental)

     • external (extra-departmental; e.g., an institution's own technical services department)
       • make friends with a cataloger

       • make friends with a computer

       • make friends with a computer expert (systems officer)

       • computerized vs. card catalogs -- is it an option?

       • cooperative (consortial) databases vs. inhouse databases

7. Describing collections
   • cataloging

   • annotating (online files; manual files)

   • For publicity purposes

8. Housing collections
   • preservation/conservation
     • the basic rule: ask

     • the second basic rule: when in doubt, Mies van der Rohe is always right ("Less is more")

   • photocopying, photography, microfilming, preservation microfilming, scanning

9. Readers and their delights
   • meet them and greet them
     . . . and get their names, addresses, and social security numbers

   • what do they need? -- serving readers

   • controlling reading rooms (security again) -- watching readers

10. WEDNESDAY SESSION (CHECK FOR LOCATION AND EXACT TIME!)
    
    This period includes a discussion with UVa curatorial staff about what their days are like -- what they really do in "a" given day -- and the resources (time and help) they have to help them do these things. How do they perceive the function of their operation: in the larger library; the larger-still university; and still larger "world of scholarship"? What sorts of exhibitions do they put up? (If one or more is/are on view, we will visit it/them.) Why do they do them and how do they choose topics? Do they work on publications? Do their duties include donor/"friends"-group relations? Where do they find time or support for such work? How do the things they do relate to their conception of their departmental function? to the Library's conception of their departmental function? to the University's conception of their departmental function?

11. IF TIME AND WEATHER PERMIT, we will (1) see if additional local library-oriented exhibitions are available for us to see; and (2 -- see your Student's Vade Mecum for details "Tuesday: Bookseller Night") visit local booksellers on our own.

    NOTES: As you visit exhibitions, bear in mind: intended (and actual) audience (apart from you and your fellow students); success or failure in representing the institution(s) mounting the show and in fulfilling what you take to be the show's apparent purpose; physical techniques of display; security (environmental and other); design; the way(s) information is presented (signs, labels, publications, if any); funding (if evident); and any additional aspects that may come to mind.

    Your Vade Mecum provides names and addresses of booksellers in this neighborhood. Whenever you visit them (Tuesday, Wednesday, or any other time), bear in mind: first, that booksellers are both human and also frequently quite knowledgeable; second, that they welcome visits from librarians and are more than happy to work with librarians even if (on any given day) we may be buying nothing at all; third, that specialist and antiquarian booksellers carry huge varieties of books; fourth, that their prices are not always astronomical; and fifth, that you may find it possible, in visiting them, to buy something if you have that sort of responsibility for your institution or interest for yourself. If you do buy something -- whether for your institution or for yourself -- please bring it to class (unless you had it shipped) to discuss why you bought it. And be prepared to discuss your impression of the experience of visiting a bookseller.

12. Discussion of Tuesday/Wednesday visits with UVa curatorial staff and booksellers

13. Exhibitions: their mounting and their functions
    Web-mounted exhibitions

14. Reference
    • reference tools

    • subject expertise

    • bibliographical expertise
      • the importance of historical bibliography (Gaskell)

      • the importance of descriptive bibliography (Bowers, et al.)

      • the limitations of bibliography

15. Publicity
    • internal relations
      • colleagues

      • administration

    • external relations (readers / students / faculty / institutional administrators or trustees / the public / the media / the Web)

16. Publications
    • newsletters

    • catalogs

    • journals

    • Web publication

      • What do you NEED to do in any of these lines?

      • What CAN you do in any of these lines?

17. Funding
    • internal (remembering to say thank you [to Directors, et al.])

    • external -- individual donors / corporations / foundations / government agencies

18. Staffing
    • what do you need? (job descriptions)

    • what can you get? (amended job descriptions)

19. Continuing education for rare book, manuscript, and special collections librarians

20. Organizations and networking

21. Specific questions/issues/problems -- followed by course evaluation

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