Posters are now a common method of presenting research at scientific meetings. They permit more people to participate than would be feasible if everyone gave a talk and enable those attending to spend a longer time in conversation with people engaged in research that is of mutual interest than if everyone were sitting through talks. Learning to prepare a poster and engage in conversation about your work are, therefore, useful skills both inside and outside the world of scientific research.
Many Web sites give excellent advice about designing research posters. You can find them with any search engine. The links below are a more or less random sampling. They are not listed in any order. If you have a site that you consider particulary good, send a message to Mary Barkworth giving the address and the reason why you recommend it.
University of Minnesota Civil Engineering
American Physiological Society
Advice for using different software programs
Scientifically Speaking: a 28 page pdf file