ENGLISH 241: Archeology of Text:
Archival Research Methods and “the Book” in the Internet, Print, and Manuscript Eras
Manuscript leaf from a Book of Hours A printer working a wooden hand press 1st Google server (Takuya Oikawa, Flickr "Computer History Museum")
Fall 2009 MWF 2:30-3:20 Athenaeum Room 435 (Special Collections and Archives, 4th floor)
Instructor: Arnie Sanders, English Department, with the assistance of guests Nancy Magnuson (College Librarian), Tara Olivero (Special Collections Librarian), Bill Leimbach (VP for Information Technology), Margaret Guccione (Information Technology Librarian), Susan Ezell (Access Services Librarian), Ken Giese (CLIR Project Librarian) (Last edited: 01/08/2010 12:17)
Office Hours, Fall '09, MWF 11:30-12:30
12/10/09, Site and Course News-- English 241 Individual Research Projects: a guide to resources
Tim Stinson (U. North Carolina State, Raleigh)--parchment DNA research: parchment manuscripts usually have traveled far from their place of manufacture, the monastery scriptorium or secular scribe's room somewhere in Ireland, England, Europe, or the Middle East. Tracing manuscripts back to their points of origin can help reunite separated leaves that once were part of a single MS, and can help us study ancient libraries by reuniting the books that once stood side by side, but now have been scattered all over the world by war, commerce, and book sellers, especially since the advent of online books sales. Stinson's research promises to enable us to "reconstruct the herd." I studied with Tim at the Walters and he has tentatively agreed to speak at Goucher for the Peirce Center in the Spring.
Keep reviewing this list as you read for class and prepare for your next encounter with your cadaver book: Maxims for Special Collections and Archives Research. Some basic book-construction vocabulary (also see ABC!).
“There is no ignorance more shameful than to admit as true that which one does not understand: and there is no advantage so great as that of being set free from error.” Xenophon, quoting Socrates, translated by F.J. Furnivall, a great and influential editor, shortly before his death on 2 July 1910.
Internship and Fellowship Opportunities for Qualified English 241 Graduates
Online Exhibits of Past and Present Research Projects
Our motto: tolerate mystery as a precondition to discovery.
Summary
This interdisciplinary English course will introduce students to archival research techniques using Goucher’s Rare Book Collection and online digital archives, including cached web history like the Internet Archive. Working backward in time, from the present to the Medieval period, the course will survey some important ways people have packaged and used written/visual information, from digital media to early printed pamphlets or books to manuscripts. Students who have completed the course will be equipped to do additional archival research in Goucher's archives for 200- and 300-level courses, and to work as “archival assistants” in the Special Collections division of the Julia Rogers Library. Students with English 241 experience, and who have suitable proposals and letters of introduction from Goucher's librarians and a faculty member in the field, usually can get access to rare books and manuscripts in archives and special collections around the world. Students who successfully complete the course are eligible to apply for Patricelli Family Foundation Internships which pay stipends to support research in January or the summer.
hits since 3/17/07 creation.