The Grey Lit Café

Spineless Wonders: the power of print unbound

Spineless Wonders is the splendid title for a splendid exhibition at the University of London's Senate House Library - an exhibition of unbound material in myriad formats, spanning five hundred years of printing. This episode reviews the exhibition with its three curators: * Tansy Barton (Academic Librarian) * Christos Fotelis (Conservator) * Leila Kassir (Academic Librarian) We consider how the exhibition came about, how exhibits were selected, what the aim of the exhibition is, and which exhibits constitute the curators' favourites.  And, as a by-product of our discussion we reflect on established themes of the podcast, namely how grey literature is defined and what relationship it has to ephemera. Details of the exhibition, which continues to 15 November 2025, together with supporting digital resources, may be found on the University of London's website, here [https://www.london.ac.uk/about/services/senate-house-library/exhibitions/spineless-wonders]. Further listening We hope you found this episode rewarding. If so, you might find the following of particular interest: * Before Spotify: the remarkable story of chautauquas [https://thegreylitcafe.buzzsprout.com/1936705/episodes/14904856-before-spotify-the-remarkable-story-of-chautauquas] * But what about letters? Their scholarly use as grey literature [https://thegreylitcafe.buzzsprout.com/1936705/episodes/14552885-but-what-about-letters-their-scholarly-use-as-grey-literature] * How to define grey literature? The implications of letters [https://thegreylitcafe.buzzsprout.com/1936705/episodes/14784905-how-to-define-grey-literature-the-implication-of-letters] Credit  The music is from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GreyLitCafe] About the publisher This episode is published by Frontinus Ltd. We're a communications consultancy that helps organisations and individuals to communicate scientific, professional, and technical content to non-specialist audiences. We provide * consultancy * mentoring * editing and writing * training and work on presentations, bids and proposals, and publications (for example, reports and papers). To learn more about services or explore ways of working together, please contact us via our website, http://frontinus.org.uk/ [http://frontinus.org.uk/].

Effective design features on posters (GM1 comms)

If you're studying on the University of Cambridge's Multidisciplinary Design course, this episode is for you. The episode focuses on the visual aspects of advice.  It seeks to provide pragmatic recommendations that will make a marked difference to the communicative effectiveness of your poster presentation. Contents * 00:00 Navigation * 01:56 Visual aspects of text * 04:25 Contrast * 07:21 Alignment * 09:13 Naming * 10:29 Further resource Further Resources Robin Williams, The non-designer’s design book, 4th edn (Peachpit Press, 2014). Writing, designing, and presenting a poster (a writing protocol): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bW8sj5j1W70PjYLUuLgPLPADyOvUOXVV/view [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bW8sj5j1W70PjYLUuLgPLPADyOvUOXVV/view]/. Credit: The music, from Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, is courtesy of the US Marine Band.  Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GreyLitCafe] About the publisher This episode is published by Frontinus Ltd. We're a communications consultancy that helps organisations and individuals to communicate scientific, professional, and technical content to non-specialist audiences. We provide * consultancy * mentoring * editing and writing * training and work on presentations, bids and proposals, and publications (for example, reports and papers). To learn more about services or explore ways of working together, please contact us via our website, http://frontinus.org.uk/ [http://frontinus.org.uk/].

Physical aspects of poster presentations (GM1 comms)

If you're studying on the University of Cambridge's Multidisciplinary Design course, this episode is for you. The episode focuses on the (quite radical) implications of  * the context of poster display * spectators' behaviour * aspects of inclusive practice. These considerations will help you to optimise the communicative effectiveness of your poster presentation. Contents * 00:00 Key issues * 03:29 Allocation of space on the poster * 04:43 Non-linear sequencing * 07:40 Inclusiveness Credit: The music, from Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, is courtesy of the US Marine Band.  Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GreyLitCafe] About the publisher This episode is published by Frontinus Ltd. We're a communications consultancy that helps organisations and individuals to communicate scientific, professional, and technical content to non-specialist audiences. We provide * consultancy * mentoring * editing and writing * training and work on presentations, bids and proposals, and publications (for example, reports and papers). To learn more about services or explore ways of working together, please contact us via our website, http://frontinus.org.uk/ [http://frontinus.org.uk/].

Tactics: group presentations and Q&A (Comms for GM1)

If you're a student on the University of Cambridge's Multidisciplinary Design course (GM1), this episode is for you. Indeed, it focuses on considerations specific to the course, based on observations from previous cohorts' presentations. This is the third of three episodes on presentations. There is a parallel set of episodes on poster presentations. Contents * 00:00 Group prsentations * 01:35 Use of space * 03:30 Q & A * 09:14 Further resources Link The protocol, 'Giving a presentation', is available from the Frontinus website, here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QyT64vNnO7RXUhoWj9WBStOewtOwzv6s/view [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QyT64vNnO7RXUhoWj9WBStOewtOwzv6s/view]. Credit: The music is from Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, courtesy of the US Marine Band. Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GreyLitCafe] About the publisher This episode is published by Frontinus Ltd. We're a communications consultancy that helps organisations and individuals to communicate scientific, professional, and technical content to non-specialist audiences. We provide * consultancy * mentoring * editing and writing * training and work on presentations, bids and proposals, and publications (for example, reports and papers). To learn more about services or explore ways of working together, please contact us via our website, http://frontinus.org.uk/ [http://frontinus.org.uk/].

Effective communication using slides (Comms for GM1)

If you're a student on the University of Cambridge's Multidisciplinary Design course (GM1), this episode is for you. The episode stems from consideration of the pitfalls presenters fall into concerning use of slides. Simply by avoiding these pitfalls, you can make your presentation outstandingly communicative. This is the second of three episodes on presentations. There is a parallel set of episodes on poster presentations. Contents * 00:00 Key issues * 04:37 Audience engagement * 07:10 The three functions of slides * 12:57 Using slides interactively * 15:51 Implications for time management Credit: The music is from Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, courtesy of the US Marine Band. Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GreyLitCafe] About the publisher This episode is published by Frontinus Ltd. We're a communications consultancy that helps organisations and individuals to communicate scientific, professional, and technical content to non-specialist audiences. We provide * consultancy * mentoring * editing and writing * training and work on presentations, bids and proposals, and publications (for example, reports and papers). To learn more about services or explore ways of working together, please contact us via our website, http://frontinus.org.uk/ [http://frontinus.org.uk/].