June-- Thanks for your valuable suggestions in how to "interface" with the hotel on technology issues. My bit of advice to those who would like to make presentations in the future is to look at all the options of how to present, and not just jump right in to a high level of technology. Electronic technology can be exceptionally helpful and is growing more sophisticated, but I would caution prospective presenters to consider all the options, including going "low tech", i.e. just presenting your paper straight, without visual components as all. I debated within myself all year about what tools to use as I did my research and prepared my presentation. I considered power-point, slides, a CD with images, and consulted with colleagues more knowledgable about technologicl options than I. I then happened on an an article in the "Chronicle of Higher Education" on the pitfalls of making presentations at conferences. It was an embarassing read, as I have, at one time or another, violated all the "don'ts" enumerated in the article. In addition to the usual common sense wisdom on presenting, the author also advised not relying too heavily on power-point presentations, that they are helpful in some instances, but not in others. The author then very much surprised me by suggesting that there was still a place for papers presented without technological support at all. This was reinforced by a recent article in "American Libraries", which also warned of the overuse of power-point.
I eventually chose to present without visuals at all, with the exception of a few copies I passed out, showing the problems connected with the rare books I was discussing. Those of you who came to hear me can judge better than I how successful I was. One thing the decision forced me to do was to spend the last month before conference just rehearsing and editing my paper. I also had my wife video-tape it, and I watched myself deliver it. In addition, I tried to be very careful to use ample verbal clues to indicate the direction of my argument, and such basics as on what part of the paper I was focussing at any given moment. As a result, I was able to concentrate exclusively on what I had to say, and didn't have to concern myself with such details as an "adapter". My decision would certainly not be advisable for everyone, but it worked for me, and I would do it again for the type of paper I presented. I don't happen to have the references for the two articles I mention, but can easily get them if anyone would like to read the articles. The Chronicle article appeared within the last six months, and the American Libraries article in a recent issue. Dan Rettberg Rare Book and Manuscript Bibliographer Klau Library Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Cincinnati, Ohio [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
