| Module Identifier |
DS36310 |
| Module Title |
ADVANCED RARE BOOKS LIBRARIANSHIP |
| Academic Year |
2007/2008 |
| Co-ordinator |
Dr Anoush Simon |
| Semester |
Available all semesters |
| Other staff |
Ms Tanya C Rogers |
| Pre-Requisite |
Access to a working rare books collection., DS36210 |
| Course delivery |
Other | |
| Assessment |
| Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
|---|
| Semester Assessment | Essay 2,500 words - weighted 60% | |
| Semester Assessment | A quasi-facsimile transcription inc. catalogue entry and commentary (1500 word equivalent) - weighted 40% | |
|
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
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Discuss the development of the printed book and some of its major participants in continental Europe.
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Analyse the principal physical characteristics of page layout in a printed book of the hand-press period.
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Identify the principal methods of book binding and problems of their conservation
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Explain the different methods of book illustration
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Outline the purposes and techniques of descriptive bibliography
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Write a bibliographical description of a printed book
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Transcribe a simple handwritten text of the early modern period
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Outline the use of provenance evidence in book history
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Describe the different types of catalogues and bibliographies used in rare-books collections
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Create appropriate MARC catalogue records for a collection of early printed books by re-using existing machine-readable records to creating new ones
-
Examine the place of the rare book in the contemporary academic and commercial context
Brief description
This is the second of two modules on rare-books librarianship. It provides a more detailed examination of aspects of the 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 involved in creating descriptive bibliographies and catalogues of early printed materials.
This module will enable students to consider the book as a physical object (typography, bindings, illustration, evidence of ownership) and to understandits place in the modern scholarly context.
Content
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Unit One: History of the book; The Continental Book
The geography of early printing; Elements of page layout in early printed books; Scholar printers of the Renaissance; Christopher Plantin, prince of printers, 1520(?)-1589; The rise of the publisher
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Unit Two: The look of the book; binding and illustration
Book binding; Management of a bindings collection; Book illustration; Some aids to identification of technique
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Unit Three: Descriptive bibliography
What do we mean by "bibliography"? Bibliographies and catalogues; Edition, issue and state; Transcription; The collation formula; Ideal copy; Typographical analysis; Page measurements; Analysis of contents; Census of copies; Copy-specific information; Annotation and notes; Setting out a description
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Unit Four: Traces of Ownership
The study of handwriting; Provenance information
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Unit Five: Catalogues and cataloguing
Types of rare-books catalogue; MARC cataloguing; Copy-specific details; Retro-conversion; Book-in-hand cataloguing; form-based cataloguing; on-line cataloguing; Derived cataloguing; Indexing issues
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Unit Six: Beyond the Book
Policy issues; Describing non-book collections; Museum objects; Photographic materials; Scrapbooks and albums; Printed ephemera; Newspapers; Maps; Sound recordings
Aims
The module aims to allow student who have successfully completed module DS36210 Introduction to Rare Books Librarianship to:
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increase their knowledge of the history of the printed book and its associated technologies;
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increase their awareness of the curatorial problems involved in managing rare book collections;
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learn the skills of bibliographical analysis and description and specialist problems of rare books cataloguing.
Module Skills
| Problem solving |
Analysis and description of the physical make-up and appearance of early printed books. |
| Research skills |
Several activities involve a researched follow-up to taught examples |
| Communication |
Writing and presentation skills |
| Improving own Learning and Performance |
Implicitly, by building on materials from the Introductory module and development of skills within this module |
| Information Technology |
Use of web-based catalogues and databases; use of web-based conference facilities |
| Personal Development and Career planning |
Use of the library working environment in activities and assignments in a specialist area of library and information studies |
| Subject Specific Skills |
Bibliographical analysis and description, rare-books cataloguing, identification of engraving techniques, provenance research |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6