Poster Session Web Site
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Questions, not answered in the other sections of this Web Site can be addressed and shared in this FAQ page.

Please E-mail your queries to:
mlevine@lcsc.edu

The answers then will be posted to this page.

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How do I ... ?

I am trying (well, starting to try) to put together a group dealing with AIDS in eastern Asia for the meetings in Washington. Is a focused poster session possible -- the four or five people that would normally be speaking at a session all postering together? For some presenters, especially those who speak English as a second language, this would be much more comfortable -- easing language difficulties while ensuring shared interests. Submitted by Thomas Hardy, Tamagawa University, Japan

Posters are a good avenue for multiple author papers. At long as at least one presenter is in front of the poster to dialogue with readers during the formal poster session, multiple authors are acceptable. It is a way to in fact, increase the substance of the paper and the richness of the presentation dialogue. As the question points out, it is one method to collaborate with foreign colleagues and have them be able to be in on the conversation, without the constraints of language difficultites. Natural and Physical Scientists and Social Scientists who conduct experiments frequently have four or five authors. I would however, suggest for the social sciences and humanities limiting the authors to three or four at the most, unless it really is a collaborative project.

A note on Multiple Author conventions of style - The author who is the main communicator for requests for papers or questions after the presentation, should be asterisked in the title and mentioned in a note, as the main correspondent. Mulitiple Affiliations should also be handeled in this manner with different symbols superscripted to the name and in a note the affiliations given for the symbols.

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 Who is the audience for a Poster Session? What should the presenter assume about this audience? How does this affect what information gets conveyed? Submitted by Dawn Kowalski, Colorado

The poster session audience varies according to what kind of conference you are attending. Generally, for the Social Sciences and Humanities one might assume that the audience has some expertise in various methods (such as quantitative methods, or specialized terminology); but the presenter wants also to have enough background so that a more general audience, with minimal knowledge can still obtain some knowledge from the poster. Thus, you might want to have a brief background section as one part of your paper or figures that give capsulized information.

Example: When I did a poster comparing Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem, the main theme was the misconstruction of Western leadership ideas in terms of their leadership. But how did I acquaint an audience with who these leaders were? For the more general audience I developed chronologies in an attractive, laminated, and mounted display. In addition I had photographs of people and one memo in an arranged section. For the more specialized audience I discussed the ideological development of each leader (without for example, explaining Marxism or Personalism), and then had a specific case study of their leadership in power. In the conclusion, I suggested my ideas in bulleted format as to discussion ideas based on the narrative. Thus, readers who were interested in Asian leadership could learn and ask about the more general history of these two leaders, or interchange ideas on the larger implications of their leadership. Remember, your audience will be able to directly ask you questions, or raise issues or even provide you with information.

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