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ILS 518 History of Books and Printing Syllabus
Fall 2005
NOTE: Please print a copy of this page and keep it nearby for ready reference.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSEWORK
The goal of this course is to give the student a general background for understanding the history of the book. Students will learn through reading, writing, and discussion. This should not be a discrete course in terms of your MLS studies. We should always be asking ourselves: How will this knowledge inform/empower my work as an information professional? For each of you this may have a different answer. Seeking that answer will be at the core of your assignments in the course. To that end, you may need to do a bit of soul searching as to what values drive your ambition as an information professional. You may need to take a few chances in the connections you make between the history of books and printing and your current or anticipated work in a library or information agency. We are about to enter a discovery journey back to the roots of the library. What we should be considering on that journey is not just the objects and processes themselves, but the rationale for their being and what this understanding brings to information service today.
Assignments consist of five written papers: 1) two short (500-750 word) essays; 2) two short (750-1250 word) scholarly response papers; and 3) a critical (1500-2500 word) scholarly paper.
To help guide selection of topics for the five papers, each student should develop two to three goals for what they would like to take away from this course. These are starting points that may change as you learn more about the history of books and printing. To document your journey into the history of books, I would like you to keep a chronicle, the first entry being your two to three overarching goals in taking this course. Each week you are to make an entry that includes: Learning Goal for the week; Targeted Information Goals; 3 articles or chapters to read; Integrated summary of the readings ( about 250-300 words).
You may wish to manage (and submit) your work through a website that you create. By creating a website, you can group and organize your writings into a meaningful outline as well as add links and pictures. If you choose to submit electronic documents, they must be in Word, follow APA style, and include a text-only version embedded (cut and paste) in the thread post with the attached Word document.
REQUIRED TEXT AND RESOURCES
Olmert, Michael. (2003). The Smithsonian Book of Books (reissue ed.). Smithsonian Books. ISBN: 089599030X [List Price: $49.95] Hardcover: 320 pages 11.4 x 9.2 x 1.0 inches
COURSE DESCRIPTION
A study of the history of books and printing, including papermaking, printing, binding, and book illustration. Scheduled fall semesters. (Formerly LSC 505). 3 credits.
PRE-REQUISITES & REQUIREMENTS
Prerequisites: ILS 501 and ILS 503 or departmental permission.
COURSE CALENDAR
- Section I [Weeks 1-4] :
- Week 1 [August 29-September 2]
- Read: in Olmert 9-25; Overview;
- View an online exhibit: Unseen Hands: Women Printers, Binders & Book Designers
- Due: personal introduction and URL for individual website (if using for submitting coursework)
Due: Week 1 Chronicle entry
Due: Post First journal entry (post to appropriate thread)
notify professor if any part of the syllabus is not clear or seems to be contradictory
- Week 2 [September 5-9]
- Read: in Olmert 27-48; Materials
- View an online exhibit: Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious
- Due: Week 2 Chronicle entry
- Week 3 [September 12-16]
- Read: in Olmert 51-66; Writing
- View an online exhibit within: Writing (The British Museum)
- Due: History of the Book Response Paper
Due: Week 3 Chronicle entry
Due: Second journal entry (post to appropriate thread)
- Week 4 [September 19-23]
- Read: in Olmert 69-109; Killian's Response Paper (Bookbinding); Bookbinding
- View bookbindings and read a brief History of Bookbinding on a commercial site
- Due: Week 4 Chronicle entry
- Section II [Weeks 5-6] :
- Week 5 [September 26-30]
- Read: in Olmert 113-139; Illustration
- Due: History of Printing Response Paper
Due: Week 5 Chronicle entry
- Week 6 [October 3-7]
- Read: in Olmert 141-161; Descriptive Collation and Descriptive Bibliography [1]
- Due: Week 6 Chronicle entry
- Section III [Weeks 7-8] :
- Week 7 [October 10-14]
- Read: in Olmert 163-195; Descriptive Collation and Descriptive Bibliography [2]
- Due: Week 7 Chronicle entry
Due: Third journal entry (post to appropriate thread)
- Week 8 [October 17-21]
- Read: in Olmert 199-233; Preservation / Conservation
- Due: Essay on [Romance] of the Book
Due: Week 8 Chronicle entry
- Section IV [Weeks 9-10] :
- Week 9 [October 24-28]
- Read: in Olmert 235-265; Digitization
- Due: Week 9 Chronicle entry
- Week 10 [October 31-November 4]
- Read: in Olmert 267-295; Of Selection
- Due: Essay on Future of the BookDue: Week 10 Chronicle entry
- Section V [Weeks 11-12] :
- Week 11 [November 7-11]
- Read: in Olmert 299-307
- View and Read The Spread of Printing (an online exhibition, University of Texas at Austin)
- Due: Week 11 Chronicle entry
- Week 12 [November 14-18]
- Read: Maps as Books Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton
- Due: Week 12 Chronicle entry
- Section VI [Week 13] : Final Papers
- Week 13 [November 21-December 2]
- Read: From Writer to Reader (American Booksellers Association)
- Will E-books Change the World? (FirstMonday)
- Due: Major Course Paper
Due: Week 13 Chronicle entry.
Due: Last journal entry (post to appropriate thread)
GENERAL POLICIES
Each student will
- assume responsibility for your learning
- use the provided learning guides and resources; conduct data
searches when necessary
- manage your time effectively (plan a schedule and practice
time management)
- ask for assistance when you need it; avoid unnecessary frustration
and confusion
- remain active in the Message Center, Email, threaded discussions and
other activities
- prepare all work at graduate performance levels
- follow good online etiquette
The instructor will
- provide assistance/knowledge in facilitating understanding of the
course content
- guide students through the course
- facilitate discussion through questioning, probing, examples, etc.
- provide feedback
- maintain records
- mark exams/assignments and maintain records within 15 working days
- respond to messages on Tuesdays and Thursdays
GRADING POLICIES
(OPTIONAL) Write a brief (no more than one page) summary of your background. You may write about your family, early education, employment, and/or personal interests. This would be a good place to share with classmates your major goals in taking this course. Introductions are to be posted in the threaded discussion area under the thread marked "Introductions." [The introduction is optional and will not comprise any part of the final grade.]
Each student will write a 2-3 page (500-750 word) documented essay on the [romance/power/mystery/acuity/society/magic] of the book. Choose an appropriate noun (suggestions in brackets) and write a 2-3 page (500-750 word) documented essay on the book from the perspective of the noun you choose. Citations are to be in APA style. Due Week 8 [The essay on [Romance] of the Book will comprise 10% of the final grade.].
Each student will write a 2-3 page (500-750 word) documented essay on the future of the book from the perspective of the history of the book extrapolated to the post-GenXers. Citations are to be in APA style. Resources: ( Generation X also Generation X; Generation Y also Generation Y; Generation Z) Due Week 10. [The essay on Future of the Book will comprise 10% of the final grade.]
Each student will write a 3-5 page (750-1250 word) paper on an aspect of the book and each documented (citations are to be in APA style). The paper needs to place the topic within the broader one of the book. The paper should stand alone as if a lecture or talk. NOTE: Use APA style. Due Week 3. [The History of the Book Response Paper will comprise 10% of the final grade.]
Each student will write a 3-5 page (750-1250 word) paper, on an aspect of printing and each documented (citations are to be in APA style). The paper needs to place the topic within the broader one of printing. The paper should stand alone as if a lecture or talk. NOTE: Use APA style. Due Week 5. [The History of Printing Response Paper will comprise 10% of the final grade.]
Each student is to conduct library research and write an original 7-10 page (1500-2500 word) documentated paper on an aspect of the book, printing, or reading and readers relevant to History of Books and Printing. See Resources for idea starters for major course paper. NOTE: Use APA style.
Due Week 13. [The Major Course Paper will comprise 40% of the final grade.]
Each student should keep a Chronicle beginning, for Week 1, with developing two to three goals for what they would like to take away from this course. For each week (Weeks 2-12) you are to make an entry that includes: Learning Goal for the week (e.g. a general question you wish to explore); Targeted Information Goals (e.g. specific information you want to find to help form an answer to the question); a Reference list of 3 articles or chapters to read to find the information; and an Integrated summary of the readings and the answer you have formed to your question ( about 250-300 words). Due Weekly on Friday. [The Chronicle will comprise 10% of the final grade.]
Quality of class participation will be assessed by the professor. Too little or too much participation are both negative qualities. Examples of too little participation are adding little new content to discussions, adding content that seems to be isolated from awareness of on-going discussion(s). Examples of too much participation are being the first to comment in discussions and making extensive comments so classmates have little opportunity to add additional points. [Class participation will comprise 10% of the final grade.]
The journal is a non-graded assignment in which the student, a specified intervals, comments on the course. Four entries are requested:
- Write a narrative describing what you expect to gain from this course, your feelings about online versus onground courses, and why you chose to study online during this semester. Be sure to mark the entry with the title "BEGINNING REFLECTIONS - FIRST WEEK OF CLASS".
- Write a narrative describing what you have gained from this course so far, your feelings toward this mode of instruction, and problems you may have encountered--including any solutions you may have already found. Be sure to mark the entry with the title "REFLECTIONS AT THE QUARTER -- date".
- Write a narrative describing your current feelings toward this mode of instruction, and any problems or successes you have had since the third week's journal entry. Be sure to mark the entry with the title "REFLECTIONS FROM THE MIDDLE - date".
- Write a narrative describing your current feelings toward this mode of instruction, and highlight problems or successes you have had over the course of the semester. An overall critique of the course and suggestions on how it can be improved for future classes would be appreciated. Be sure to mark the entry with the title "REFLECTIONS FROM THE END - date".
Journal entries should be submitted to the instructor during the first, third, sixth, and thirteenth weeks. Post your journal entry to the appropriate thread or post through Class Mail (within the message rather than as an attachment) to the instructor by Friday of the given week. [In the subject line please enter "518, last_name, journal #."]
All assignments will be graded on a 6-point scale where 6=Outstanding, 5=Strong, 4=Adequate, 3=Limited, 2=Seriously flawed, 1= Fundamentally deficient, and 0=Unable to evaluate. This scoring convention is after the GRE Scoring Guide. Adapted and in more detail this is:
- 6 Outstanding.
- Presents a cogent, well-articulated/presented response to the assignment and demonstrates mastery of the elements of effective writing/presentation of the assignment. The work typically: develops the assignment with insightful reasons and/or persuasive examples, sustains a well-focused, well-organized discussion/presentation, expresses ideas clearly and precisely, uses language fluently with varied sentence structure and effective vocabulary.
- 5 Strong.
- Presents a well-developed assignment and demonstrates a strong control of the elements of effective writing/presentation of the assignment. The work typically: develops the assignment with well-chosen reasons and/or examples, is focused and generally well organized, expresses ideas clearly and well, uses varied sentence structure and appropriate vocabulary.
- 4 Adequate.
- Presents a competent rendering of the assignment. The work typically: develops the assignment with relevant reasons and/or examples, is adequately organized, expresses ideas clearly, demonstrates adequate control of language.
- 3 Limited.
- Demonstrates some competence in fulfilling the assignment but is clearly flawed. Exhibits one or more of the following: vague or limited development of the assignment, weak in the use of relevant reasons or examples, poorly focused and/or poorly organized, has problems expressing ideas clearly, uses language imprecisely.
- 2 Seriously Flawed.
- Demonstrates serious weakness in fulfilling the assignment. Exhibits one or more of the following: is unclear or seriously limited in developing the assignment, provides few relevant reasons or example, is unfocused and/or disorganized.
- 1 Fundamentally Deficient.
- Exhibits one or more of the following: contains numerous errors in content, either of omission or accuracy or both; provides little evidence of the ability to develop or organize a coherent response to the assignment.
- 0 Unable to be evaluated.
- Not submitted on time or off assignment or merely copies the assignment
GRADE EQUIVALENTS
- 5.5-6=A
- 4.5-5=B
- 3.5-4=C
- 2.5-3=D
- below 2.5=F
Each student is expected to participate in weekly online discussions and activities. Weekly discussions will stem from lecture notes and/or entries in student Chronicles.
Attendance is automatically monitored and recorded by the OnlineCSU courseware.
While it is expected that every student will participate regularly, there may be times when illness, official university activities, etc., force a student to miss a day(s) of online activity. Final course grades may be lowered for each unexcused absence from online activity. Attendance for the purpose of this course is defined as a combination of frequency and duration of activity in any given week. A student who does not participate--or participates only marginally--in any one week can expect to have their final grade lowered by 10% for each week of "absence" from the course. For example, a student does not participate for a week and has not received written permission from the instructor for the absence; if the student's grade would otherwise be an "A" (4.0), it is now an A- (3.7) and if the student's grade would otherwise be an "A-" (3.7), it is now a B+ (3.3). [A=4.0; A-=3.7-3.9; B+=3.3=3.6; B=3.0-3.2; any average below 3.0 (B) is below expected graduate level performance.]
FACULTY BIO
Professor Brown received the Ph.D. in Information Studies from Drexel University. Her major area of concentration is information systems and her minor area of concentration is management of organizations, including course work in social systems sciences (Wharton, University of Pennsylvania) and additional work in cognitive psychology, intelligent tutoring systems and statistics (Princeton University). She also holds a ALA-accredited Master of Science in Library and Information Science (Drexel University) and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education/Comprehensive Science (West Chester University). Her current research interests are in categorization and naming of thematic information, electronically offered courses, information-seeking behavior, and usability testing.She is published in leading journals in psychology and in information science, and has been a presenter at conferences and workshops on Distance Education, Digital Libraries, Web-Based Testing, Grantsmanship, and Managing a WebSite for Classroom Support. She is a successful grantwriter (federal, state, local levels) and has served as a reviewer for federal and local funding agencies. Dr. Brown has also studied handpress/letterpress and bookbinding and formerly operated a small press.
Barratt, A. (2004). Incunabula and their readers: Printing, selling and using books in the Fifteenth Century (Book). Renaissance Studies, 18 (2), 331-333. [Reviews the book "Incunabula and Their Readers: Printing, Selling and Using Books in the Fifteenth Century," edited by Kristian Jensen.]
Brown, M. P. (2004). Book history, sexy knowledge, and the challenge of the new boredom. American Literary History, 16 (4), 688-706.
Brown, M. P. (2004). The study and story of books in early America. Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America;, 98 (4), 522-530.
Calvo, H. (2003). The politics of print: The state of the discipline. Book History, 6, 277-305.
Ghosh, A. (2003). An uncertain "Coming of the Book ". Book History, 6, 23- 55.
Hofmeyr, I. (2005) The globe in the text: Towards a transnational history of the book. African Studies: 64 (1), 87-103.
Jensen, K. (Ed.). (2003). Incunabula and their readers: Printing, selling and using books in the Fifteenth Century, London: British Library.
Miller, W. (2005). Chapbooks: Democratic ephemera. American Book Review, 26 (3), 1-2.
Lamberg, L. (2004). Medical books from the cradle delight in a digital age. Journal of the American Medical Association, 292 (20), 2455-2456. [Examines the books or incunables available in the rare book library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. ]
Rubin, J. S. (2003). What is the history of the history of books? Journal of American History, 90 (2), 555-576.
Singleton, B. D. (2004). African bibliophiles: Books and libraries in medieval Timbuktu. Libraries & Culture, 39 (1), 1-12.
Weiner, S. (2004). Faster than a speeding bullet: The rise of the graphic novel. Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing.
PRINTING - HISTORY
Armstrong, R. D. (2001). 'The only alternative course': Incidents in Nevada printing history. Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 95 (1), p97-114.
Chaves, J. (2002). 'A most exquisite mechanic': Labor and leisure, printing and authorship in the periodical essays of Benjamin Franklin. Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America,. 96 (4), 521-540.
Eisenstein, E. L. (2002). An unacknowledged revolution revisited. American Historical Review, 107 (1), 87- 105.
Finkelstein, D. (2003). Jack's as good as his master. Book History, 6, 95-107.
Goines, D. L. (2003). A brief history of pre-electronic printing. Communication Arts, 44 (8), 23-28.
Gunaratne, S. A. (2001). Paper, printing and the printing press. International Journal for Communication Studies, 63 (6), 459-480.
Johnston, F. (2004). The compound good. Essays in Criticism, 54 (4,) 398-405. [Reviews the book "Print, Manuscript and the Search for Order, 1450-1830," by David McKitterick.]
Maruca, L. (2003). Bodies of type: The work of textual production in English printers manuals. Eighteenth-Century Studies, 36 (3), 321-343.
Pérez, P. G. (2001). (2001). The Printing Press in Colonial Peru: Production Process and Literary Categories in Lima, 1584-1699. Colonial Latin American Review, 10 (2), p167-88.
Scheich, J. (2004). The Kynoch Press: The anatomy of a printing house 1976-1981. Libraries & Culture, 39 (2), 234-235. [Reviews the book "The Kynoch Press: The Anatomy of a Printing House 1876-1981," by Caroline Archer.]
BOOKS AND READING/READERS
Basbanes, N. A. (2001). Patience & fortitude: A roving chronicle of book people, book places, and book culture. New York: HarperCollins Publishing.
Chartier, R. (Ed.). (1989). The culture of print : Power and the uses of print in early modern Europe. Lydia G. Cochrane (Tr.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Cavallo, G., & Chartier, R. (Eds). (2003). A history of reading in the west. Lydia G. Cochrane (Tr.). University of Massachusetts Press.
Fischer, S. R. (2004). A History of Reading. Reaktion Books, Limited. University of Chicago Press.
Jackson, H. J. (2001). Marginalia: Readers writing in books. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Jackson, I. (2004). Approaches to the history of readers and reading in eighteenth-century Britain. Historical Journal, 47 (4), 1041-1054.
Karetzky, S. (1982). Reading research and librarianship: A history and analysis . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Manguel, A. (1996). A history of reading. New York: Viking Press.
Noakes, S. (1988). Timely reading : Between exegesis and interpretation. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Saenger, P. H. (1997). Space between words: The origins of silent reading. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Seymour-Smith, M. (1998). The 100 most influential books ever written: The history of thought from ancient times to today. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group. Citadel Press.
Stock, B. (2001). After Augustine: The meditative reader and the text. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
On this class site, every effort has been made to acknowledge the work of others. Any omission is unintentional. If anyone finds an oversight, please contact me at brownm6@southernct.edu immediately so that any error can be corrected.
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