The Rare Book Pedagogy Site provides tools for faculty to introduce archival research to undergraduates. This website provides a series of exercises and materials that will enable faculty to easily incorporate rare book room experiences into their classes. Faculty will be able to teach undergraduates how to analyze and discern meaning from rare texts, and students will also learn the conventions of rare book rooms and the ways to handle rare materials properly. Faculty may use any or all of these exercises, depending on their specific course goals; these exercises are designed to be modular, so they are dependent on one another, and each assignment can be adapted to the course's needs.

If you are new to the Rare Book Pedagogy Site, go to the Getting Started page.

All texts are available in the WVU Rare Book Room (6th Floor, Wise Library) and have been approved by the library staff for use. The Rare Book Pedagogy Unit annotated bibliography provides useful references on book production, marketing, and literacy for the faculty. Copies of the items listed in the bibliography are available in the English Department office. A brief annotated list of Internet resources for faculty use is also available. If you choose to incorporate a module from the Rare Book Pedagogy Unit, please fill out the attached form regarding the module and its effectiveness.  Comments and suggestions to improve the modules are most welcome. Also, in order to improve these exercises, we ask that you send a transcript of your specific archive exercise to marilyn.francus@mail.wvu.edu