RARE BOOK SCHOOL (RBS) is pleased to announce its Spring and Summer Sessions
2006, a collection of five-day, non-credit courses on topics concerning rare
books, manuscripts, the history of books and printing, and special
collections. In 2006, RBS courses will be held at the University of Virginia
in Charlottesville, VA; at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore; and at the
Freer/Sackler Galleries in Washington, DC.

For an application form and electronic copies of the complete brochure and
the RBS Expanded Course Descriptions, providing additional details about the
courses offered and other information about RBS, visit our web site at:

        http://www.rarebookschool.org/

Subscribers to the list may find the following courses to be of particular
interest:

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(L-70) Electronic Texts and Images, David Seaman :: 6-10 March, University
of Virginia

A practical exploration of the research, preservation, editing, and
pedagogical uses of electronic texts and images in the humanities. The
course will center around the creation of a set of archival-quality etexts
and digital images, for which we shall also create an Encoded Archival
Description guide. Topics include: SGML tagging and conversion; using the
Text Encoding Initiative Guidelines; the form and implications of XML;
publishing on the World Wide Web; and the management and use of online
texts. Details about previous versions of this course are available online.
Some experience with HTML is a prerequisite for admission to the course.

This course will provide a wide-ranging and practical exploration of
electronic texts and related technologies. It is aimed primarily (although
not exclusively) at librarians and scholars keen to develop, use, publish,
and control electronic texts for library, research, or teaching purposes.
Drawing on the experience and resources available at the University of
Virginia's Electronic Text Center, the course will cover the following
areas: how to create archival-quality etexts, including digital image
facsimiles; the necessity of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) for
etext development and use; the implications of XML; text analysis software;
and the management and use of Web-based SGML text databases. As a focus for
our study of etexts, the class will create an electronic version of an
archival document, mark its structure with SGML ("TEI") tagging, create
digital images of sample pages and illustrations, produce a hypertext
version, and make the results available on the Internet.

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(L-80) Implementing Encoded Archival Description, Daniel Pitti :: 6-10
March, University of Virginia

Encoded Archival Description (EAD) provides standardized machine-readable
descriptive access to primary resource materials. This course is aimed at
archivists, librarians, and museum personnel who would like an introduction
to EAD that includes an extensive supervised hands-on component. Students
will learn XML encoding techniques in part using examples selected from
among their own institutions' finding aids. Other topics covered include:
the context out of which EAD emerged; introduction to the use of XML
authoring tools; the conversion of existing finding aids; publishing finding
aids; funding sources for EAD projects; and integration of EAD into existing
archival processing.

This course will introduce the application of Encoded Archival Description
(EAD), Version 2002, to the encoding of archive and manuscript library
finding aids. Though aimed primarily at archivists who process and describe
collections in finding aids, it will also be useful to repository
administrators contemplating the implementation of EAD, and to technologists
working in repositories. Topics include: the history of EAD and its
theoretical and technological foundations; an introduction to Extensible
Markup Language (XML), including authoring and network publishing tools; the
structure and semantics of EAD; use of software tools to create and publish
finding aids; conversion techniques and methodologies, and templates for the
creation of new finding aids; and the integration and management of EAD in
an archive or library.

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(L-85) Publishing EAD Finding Aids, Daniel Pitti :: 12-16 June, University
of Virginia

This course will introduce students to standards and software used for
publishing Extensible Markup Language (XML) encoded documents, with a focus
on EAD encoded finding aids. It is aimed at systems support personnel in
archives, libraries, and museums, or self-supporting archivists, librarians,
and museum staff who would like an introduction to EAD publishing technology
and methods. The course will focus on writing stylesheets using Extensible
Stylesheet Language-Transformation (XSLT), but will also cover Web server
technology, available software for indexing and searching XML encoded
information, and use of Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Formatting
Objects to produce printed finding aids. Topics include: in-depth
introduction to the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL); authoring of
stylesheets using the XSLT language, focusing on XML to XML, and XML to HTML
transformations; use of multiple stylesheets and frames; survery and
functional evaluation of available indexing and searching software; use of
XSL Transformation and Formatting Objects to produce PostScript, PDF, RTF,
and other printable encodings; survey and functional evaluation of XSL and
XSLT software. The course will conclude with a discussion of management and
administrative issues presented by Web publishing.



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Posted on behalf of Rare Book School

Rare Book School
114 Alderman Library
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4103
Phone: 434-924-8851
Fax: 434-924-8824
Email: [log in to unmask]