A Poster Session A Poster Session PedagogyPedagogy

Melissa Ursula Dawn GoldsmithACRL-LA President-ElectReference and Instructional LibrarianNicholls State University985-448-4626Melissa.goldsmith@nicholls.edu

Tony FonsecaACRL-LA President

Serials LibrarianNicholls State University

985-448-4675Tony.fonseca@nicholls.edu

What Are Poster Sessions?As mentioned by the Colorado State University Writing Center, a poster session informs an audience about your research. Unlike a conference presentation, poster sessions are brief—consisting at most of a short presentation (roughly 3 to 5 minutes)—and rely primarily on the visual aspects of your research. Unlike what you may recall from a science fair, poster sessions usually require some kind of explanation from the author(s) and the entire poster presentation must be directly relevant to its main point.

 Why Do Them?Poster sessions offer opportunities for gaining quick feedback about the project, networking, acquiring ideas about how to take one’s research to the next step (e.g., conference presentation or article), and possibly earning awards. In the competitive job market for academic library positions, having a line on your CV that shows your interest in scholarly endeavors will help you to stand out among other candidates. Know now that it is very likely not enough to succeed at SLIS or in a graduate/work position only. A common interview question asks about your scholarly interests (also known as potential publications). A poster session experience will help you prepare for these kinds of questions.

Possible Formats

Today’s poster sessions are not your childhood’s science fair. Possible formats range from fixing work to a poster board backdrop to Power Point presentation including streaming video. There are advantages and disadvantages to all formats. For example, on one hand, the old fashioned poster presentation is often low tech; however, its appearance may be more impressive to the eye than someone standing next to just a laptop.

Tables and pictures sometimes work better on poster board than on a limited sized screen, especially with large audiences. On the other hand, technological savvy poster sessions that lend themselves well to interaction between the author and the audience may better demonstrate dynamic aspects of research better than the old fashioned poster. At times they give the impression of more preparation time invested in the poster, too.

Common Common Criteria for Criteria for

Poster SessionsPoster Sessions

Poster sessions were introduced to the American Library Association at its 1982 Annual Conference in Philadelphia. They are an effective forum for the exchange of information and a means to communicate ideas, research, and programs.

Poster sessions may present any of the following:

* a description of an innovative library program * an analysis of a practical problem-solving effort * a report of a research study

Poster sessions are not for product advertisements or vendor displays.

Poster session participants place materials such as pictures, data, graphs, diagrams and narrative text on boards that are usually 4' x 8' (dimensions vary slightly by Convention Center).

During their assigned time periods, participants informally discuss their presentations with conference attendees. Jody Condit Fagan, Chair, ALA Poster Sessions, American Library Association, 2010

Here are some places to start in order to address common criteria for evaluating your

poster presentation:

 Clear, well-thought, statement of the problem the research addresses. On a poster board, you can place a number next to the thesis statement to help indicate to audience where to begin. Keep it simple. Your goals should follow the thesis statement.

Goals should be in brief sentences, but should read like a narrative. Be careful not to overdo it with listing goals or by getting too wordy. Strike a healthy balance between both. Also, as with any kind of presentation or document, avoid going bullet crazy on any aspect of the poster presentation.

All pictorial materials should be labeled and numbered clearly. Be sure to include a short description of each picture. Avoid anything that seems merely decorative. Everything in the poster presentation should suggest obvious connections for audience members who may have very little background about your topic. In most situations your audience may have never studied your topic.

Most of your poster session should be about your research findings and conclusions. Without relying on simple lists, explain your results and discuss them within some kind of context. Here are a few examples: How do they serve as contrast to previous research? Did they meet your expectations? If not, then why? What kinds of applications do your findings have to the topic, to academic librarianship, to a particular scholarly field. How is your research useful to others? What about new avenues for research? What kind(s) of follow-up would be necessary?

Use a font and text size that are big enough to read for an audience of 5 or more. Do not assume they can or will come up close to your presentation to see text or numbers. Times New Roman, with a size 16 text is often a good place to start. Consider double spacing, perhaps triple spacing, as much as possible.

Posters should have a good visual and narrative flow. As much as possible, avoid having too much blank space or too much clutter. To avoid clutter, consider creating a chart or diagram that stands as being self-explanatory. It may be able to do the work of many words effectively.

Always include some kind of bibliography or works cited list. This is after all research. If you use sources, make a works cited list or a selective bibliography. If you are doing research on something entirely new, be sure to include a bibliography of related sources to your research. You may also want to suggest further reading.

Examples of Examples of Potential Potential

Venues and Venues and Where to Find Where to Find

CFPsCFPs

Here are just some ideas you can check out for your poster sessions. If allowed (read the CFP carefully), you may do the same poster session for more than one event. A couple events take place right here on the LSU campus, so you have no excuse to put off that

poster session: LSU, Graduate School, Intellectual Gumbo (usually at the Union)an event offered every once in a while on campus that has three poster session categories: sciences, social sciences, and humanities. If interested, contact Marie Hamilton at the Graduate School. The event usually included a few prizes for sciences as well as one for social sciences and one for humanities.

LOUIS Users Conference (an ACRL-LA event)held on the LSU campus, during LUC, ACRL-LA will hold its first poster sessions event this fall. Awards will be offered in categories like best visual and best oral presentation. Continue checking the ACRL-LA website for more details as fall approaches: http://www.acrlla.org.

NDLTD: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations International Symposiumevery year, NDLTD sponsors an international symposium on electronic theses and dissertations, a topic that lends itself well to numerous library and information science issues. About every other year the conference meets in the U.S. This is an international level, competitive conference that invites poster session papers. Find the symposium link: http://www.ndltd.org.

Music Library AssociationMLA includes poster sessions at most of its national annual conferences. It may be tricky to find their CFP, but you can contact the roundtable chairs or the President for information. The focus of these posters must be on music librarianship or on technology and other skills that may be of use to music librarians: http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org.

American Library AssociationSome years ALA offers poster sessions that are relevant to academic libraries and librarianship at its national annual meeting: http://www.lib.jmu.edu/org/ala.

American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T)their CFPS for their national annual meetings always include poster sessions. Though the focus is on information science and technology, their emphasis has always been about multiple perspectives from various disciplines: http://www.asis.org/conferences.html.

Helpful Websites Helpful Websites

American Libraries Association Poster Session Page

28th Annual ALA (2009) Poster Session Abstracts

27th Annual ALA (2008) Poster Session Abstracts

Colorado State University Writing Center

Examples:Examples:Poster Session Poster Session

Posters Posters (Academic (Academic Libraries)Libraries)

Strengths and Weaknesses

In each of these examples of a poster session, strengths and weaknesses of each presentation, as identified by Dr. Alma Dawson's Spring 2010 Academic Libraries class, will be listed after each image.

E Books in Your Academic LibraryStrengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Clarity Not bulleted to

death Attractive Contains

bibliography

WeaknessesGoal is Unclear Better Use of spaceToo much blank spaceInformation not

numbered/doesn't lead readers

Use better eye catching central image

The Carnegie Libraries of OhioStrengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Photos clearly

labeled

WeaknessesFunction of photos isn't

clearToo much dead spaceoo exhibityStorefront lookSubtitle would be helpfulTitle badly justified /

placed (not centered)Authorship not clear

Recruiting Student Workers with Facebook

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Clearly numbered Well organized Has a clear

purpose Colors Hanging indents

used nicely

WeaknessesA bit too busy#3 unclear (lack of

narrative)Middle images are

unclear in how they relate

Backing colors show through the paper

Color consistency would be nice

Rutgers University LibrariesStrengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Title is clear

WeaknessesCould "pop" a little

betterBoaders would be niceNo captions on photosToo powerpointyTitle should be reversedLack of artistry

Enhancing PedagogyStrengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Clear title Authored clearly Sign up list Sign up list a good

touch

WeaknessesToo much small text

From the Rockies to the VulgaStrengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Invites lengthy

interaction

WeaknessesA little too busyMaybe one-third of

the informationNo centerBetter tape should

be used

ACRL-LA Poster Session ACRL-LA Poster Session Contest, Oct. 22, 2010Contest, Oct. 22, 2010

In conjunction with LUC 2010, ACRL-LA will be holding its first annual poster session contest for SLIS students as part of its annual workshop on Friday, Oct. 22nd, at LSU.

First place prize: $100.00 All participants get a certificate for their recordsPossible Topic Ideas: Copyright, Open Access (OAJs, ETDs, digitization, marketing), and Electronic Dissemination IssuesWorkshop Speaker: Jud Copeland, Department of Teaching, Learning & Technology, Central Arkansas

Poster Sessions: Poster Sessions: A Selective BibliographyA Selective Bibliography

Arnold, Jennifer, Lisa Nickel, and Lisa Williams. “Creating the Next Generation of Library Leaders.” New Library World 109.9/10 (2008): 444-56.chronicles how this article actually began as a poster session presented at ALA. Gordon , Rachel Singer. The Nextgen Librarian’s Survival Guide. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2006. xiv, 208 p. recommends poster sessions as a way of joining the professional dialogue of your discipline. Hazard, Brendal. “Poster Session Alphabet Soup.” College & Research Libraries News 67.7 (2006): 423-24.lists tips in creating a successful poster session, including knowledge of submission guidelines, possession of business cards, addition of three-dimensionality, professional attire, and engagement with the audience.

Shontz , Priscilla K. The Librarian’s Career Guidebook. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004. xix, 565 p. discusses poster sessions as a method of making oneself visible and as a springboard for professional development activities.

Poster Sessions: Poster Sessions: A Selective BibliographyA Selective Bibliography

 Smallwood, Carol. Writing and Publishing: The Librarian's Handbook. Chicago: American Library Association, 2010. xi, 189 p. discusses poster sessions as a method of beginning an article. Snowman, Anne, and Sonia Keiper. “Poster Presentations 101.” Pennsylvania Library Association Bulletin 62.7 (2007): 22.presents suggestions for preparing a poster presentation, including paying attention to specifications, developing the outline into a publication draft, keeping it short and simple yet making it visually appealing using photographs, flowchart presentations, and handouts. Tucker, Cory, and Reeta Sinha. New Librarian, New Job: Practical Advice for Managing the Transition. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006. vii, 236 p. notes the usefulness of poster sessions to SLIS students.  “Virtual Conference Attracts Librarians Unable to Travel.” Public Libraries 47.2 (2008): 4.briefly mentions an online poster session, part of a virtual PLA conference.

A Poster Session A Poster Session PedagogyPedagogy

Melissa Ursula Dawn GoldsmithACRL-LA President-ElectReference and Instructional LibrarianNicholls State University985-448-4626Melissa.goldsmith@nicholls.edu

Tony FonsecaACRL-LA President

Serials LibrarianNicholls State University

985-448-4675Tony.fonseca@nicholls.edu