MAKING AN EXHIBITION OF ONESELF

I should first like to say a few words about the title I have given to this paper. The title was chosen quite deliberately because I felt that it epitomized both the subject matter itself and the manner of its presentation. I had two principal reasons for the choice. The first was because I wished not only to give an indication of the subject of the paper but also I wanted to emphasize my firmly held belief that an information service and its information officer are one and indivisible. The information officer must, by the very nature of his calling, identify himself with the services he provides. For that reason the personal pronoun was introduced into the title. Moreover, the whole purpose of holding a display or exhibition is to display or exhibit—to draw attention to something—to advertise it—even to the point of ostentation. A telling phrase has the ability to do just that, and therefore my second reason was my desire to make the title arresting and so carry that precept into practice.