Is the on-line talk abstract emerging as a new literary genre? Cindie McLemore has pointed out to me that this example, due to Chuck Fillmore, is a small masterpiece of the form.
It's easy to read, it gives you a clear idea of what the talk will be about, and it makes you want to go hear the rest of the story. It manages to give both the big-picture thematic context of the research and the individual experience of the researcher. The fact that it's talking about about excellent work on interesting problems is essential, but the presentation is artful.
Posted by Mark Liberman at November 6, 2003 08:57 AM