Using Microsoft PowerPoint: : A How‐to‐Do‐It Manual for Librarians

Citation

Calvert, P. (1999), "Using Microsoft PowerPoint: : A How‐to‐Do‐It Manual for Librarians", Asian Libraries, Vol. 8 No. 8, pp. 299-300. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1999.8.8.299.4

There can be little argument that librarians, as a generalization, are pretty bad at giving presentations. Yet in a new environment that requires entrepreneurial talents to convince funding agencies to part with money, sponsors to come up with support, senior management to support new initiatives, and customers to offer moral support, presentation skills are needed more than ever by librarians. As Bill Gates’ empire has continued to spread, Microsoft’s PowerPoint has become a default presentation program, and it is common to find it installed at major conferences around the world. Some ability with this program is now almost as much part of the librarian’s armoury as cataloguing.

There is more to good presentations than just the software, of course, so the librarian‐presenter cannot forget voice projection, timing, dress sense, and many other factors, but the software has an undisputed place. This manual walks the novice user through installation, using templates, basic editing with the mouse, creating and showing presentations, the use of bullets and other effects, colours and backgrounds, inserting new pictures or videos, creating charts, saving and printing. There is even a section on using PowerPoint’s Help option that made it seem almost useful, though I have always found Microsoft’s Help features to be as useful as a heavy topcoat in Bangkok.

The title of this book is a little misleading. Almost all of the text works the reader through PowerPoint in a step‐by‐step fashion, using plenty of illustrations to guide the novice. What it fails to do is angle the use of the software to librarianship. Only Chapter 13 is for librarians, and it gives some useful hints on making presentations for library instruction guides (with saved images from the catalogue), and a virtual library tour including an organizational chart and a simple floor map. There are not many other library‐specific uses included in the manual.

The manual’s price is reasonable, so this could be a useful purchase for a library supporting any sort of professional programs, though from personal experience a hands‐on class with someone who already knows PowerPoint will be just as helpful as reading this book.