Introduction to Music Librarianship
Module code: DS36310 (undergraduate 10 credits)
This advanced module to rare-books librarianship provides a more detailed introduction to this specialist field, looking in particular at the development of the printed book in continental Europe in the hand-press period (to approximately 1850) and examining the problems involved in creating descriptive bibliographies and catalogues of early printed materials.
This Short Course will enable students to consider the book as a physical object (typography, bindings, illustration, evidence of ownership) and to understand its place in the modern scholarly context.
After completing this short course you should be able to:
- discuss the development of the printed book and some of its major participants in continental Europe
- analyse the principal physical characteristics of page layout in a printed book of the hand-press period
- identify the principal methods of book binding and problems of their conservation
- explain the different methods of book illustration
- explain the purposes and techniques of descriptive bibliography
- write a bibliographical description of a printed book
- transcribe a simple handwritten text of the early modern period
- explain the use of provenance evidence in book history
- describe the different types of catalogues and bibliographies used in rare-books collections
- create appropriate MARC catalogue records for a collection of early printed books by re-using existing machine-readable records or creating new ones
- explain the place of the rare book in the contemporary academic and commercial context
Course Tutors
Sarah Gray BSc - Librarian of The King’s School CanterburySarah came to libraries and rare books via the publicity department of a large London publishing house, and later, part-time editing work for Winchester Cathedral Library and the Bibliographical Society. Research interests include Children in Cathedral Libraries; William Flackton, Canterbury Bookseller and Musician; James Abree, Canterbury’s first ‘modern’ printer; and parish libraries.
David Shaw BA PhD - Former Secretary of the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL)
David spent many years teaching and researching in historical bibliography and Renaissance French literature at the University of Kent at Canterbury, with research work on the history of printing in early-modern Europe, especially in fifteenth and sixteenth century France and England, and also on the history of the provincial book trade in eighteenth-century England. He developed computer-based catalogues for early-printed books and directed several rare-books catalogue projects, including the pre-1801 books at Canterbury Cathedral, several parish library collections in Kent, and the Cathedral Libraries Catalogue (a union catalogue of books printed before 1701 in Anglican Cathedrals in England and Wales).
Application Information
Eligibility
Students completing this Short Course should ideally have access to a rare books collection, however small. If this poses a problem, please consult Barry Bloomfield’s A Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. 2nd edition. London: Library Association, 1997, or contact the Short Course Tutors via the Department on (+44) 1970 622188.
This Short Course is taught by Distance Learning mode. Applicants must have access to a computer or equivalent with broadband internet access and have time to study the learning materials and take part in online activities and discussions.
Course Fees 1st October 2011 to 31st March 2012
Short Course fee £300 (10 credits)
Registration fee £100 (non-refundable)
Fees are payable in full at the time of registration, before starting the Short Course.
Apply now!
Complete the Short Course Application Form and forward to the Postgraduate Admissions Office.
The deadline for applying for this year’s Short Courses is Friday 16th September 2011.
Further information:
Contact the Department of Information Studies.