CILIPS Professional Development Fund Report – University of Dundee’s Understanding and Managing Rare Books Module by Emzy Wilkins

Category: Blog, Professional Development Fund Reports

University of Dundee’s Understanding and Managing Rare Books module

Written by Emzy Wilkins, Special Collections Librarian, Glasgow Life, 28th April 2025

I applied for the 2025 January intake of the University of Dundee’s Understanding and Managing Rare Books module (RM50030) with the help of the CILIPS Professional Development Fund. This single post-graduate module can be taken as part of a wider archives based post-graduate qualification but is also offered as an individual module. I participated remotely.

The course is split into four units –
1. What is a Rare Book?
2. Cataloguing and Provenance
3. Collection Management
4. Access and Promotion

There were no lectures (though there were two optional online seminars, one on Ethics and one on Rare Books in Digital Spaces); students are expected to study weekly according to the unit guide and use that study to participate in other activities, such as a weekly forum discussion topic based around a question or example that pertains to that week’s subject. I found that this helped to apply what I had learned that week to current practices and my own work, and by engaging with other students’ posts I gained understanding about other institutions and workplaces, especially when we were comparing policy and best practice. Each week’s study also had further reading  suggestions and ‘self-study’ tasks that encouraged practical application of the unit’s information which I appreciated. There were three small Assessed Tasks at regular points throughout the module, with two larger submissions at the end.

The course content was extensive, but splitting it into the four Units made it manageable. Unit 1 ‘What is a Rare Book?’ was a history module, in which we learned about the physical makeup of a book and what can occur to it to make it rare, the origin of moveable type printing, and the early print and book trade in Britain and Europe. I chose to write my mini Assessed Task on the history of early printing in Edinburgh, which did not start as smoothly as it could have! Unit 2 ‘Cataloguing and Provenance’ was my favourite as I have experience with cataloguing. I learned about analytical bibliography (describing a book as a physical object), the difference between general service and Special Collections/rare books cataloguing, and considered what provenance is, how to record it, and what it can tell us about a book. Units 3 and 4 – ‘Collection Management’ and ‘Access and Promotion’ were interlinked, bringing us up to the present and asking how we manage our own collections (or how we would like to), how we manage access to collections (with an emphasis on disability awareness) and comparing how different institutions promote their collections. The discussions with my fellow students were particularly interesting as we bounced ideas around and gave suggestions based on our own experiences.

I am very grateful to CILIPS for granting me money to attend this course, as it has already directly impacted my work and improved my knowledge and skills as well as sparking interest in subjects for further research. I would recommend this course for anyone working with rare books, or if you’re interested in knowing more about this subject.

Emzy was able to attend the University of Dundee’s Understanding and Managing Rare Books module with the support of the CILIPS Professional Development Fund. The fund aims to provide financial assistance to members wishing to undertake professional development activities related to enhancing skills in the information profession. This can include in person and online conferences, events, courses, seminars or webinars organised by CILIPS, CILIP or other bodies in the UK or overseas. To learn more and apply for the next round of funding then please click here.