Please read this first:

Before we begin

Using the booklets:

Format and Printing
If you wish to print out the course material (see also 'Copyright' below), it is designed
to be printed as A5 booklets, meaning that you can fit 4 printed pages on every sheet
of A4 paper. This is the most economical way to print it out. PCs and Apple
computers read the pdf files in which the booklets are formatted using a piece of free
software called Adobe Acrobat Reader. When you open a pdf file in Adobe, click on
'File' in the top left corner, scroll down until you find 'Print' and click on it. This will
open a dialogue box like the one shown here:

Set the boxes highlighted in pink to the settings shown: Print Range = 'All'; Subset =

'All Pages in Range'; Page Scaling = 'Booklet Printing'; Booklet Subset = 'Both Side';
Check the 'Auto-Rotate Pages' box; Binding = 'Left.'
At the top of the print dialogue box you should see the name of your printer and a
button marked 'Properties.' Click the 'Properties' button and this will open the settings
dialogue for your printer. You will need to match its settings to those you've just set in
the Adobe dialogue box. In mine, this means setting Orientation to 'Landscape'; Paper
Size to 'A4'; Check the 'Collate' box; set 'Layout' to 'Manual Double-Sided' and
binding position to 'Short Edge [Left].' When you've done this, Click 'OK' and printer
'Properties' will close, taking you back to the Adobe print dialogue. Click 'OK' at the
bottom right of the Adobe dialogue box and your printer should begin printing pages.
When all the sheets have printed on one side, a notice should appear on your screen
asking you to re-insert the pages to print the other side. To do this, you should just lift
the printed pages from the printer output tray and place them in the printer's in tray
the same way up and the same way round. Then click 'OK' on the box on screen and
off you go again. When you have both sides printed, remove the sheets, knock their
edges together on a flat surface, fold them neatly down the middle and staple them.
At least, that's how it works in my set-up. Other printers may require different settings
or actions. Check your printer's manual. If that fails, a little bit of trial and error may
be required. Some printers are able to automatically print one side, feed the paper
back through and print the second. If you're lucky enough to have one, by all means
set it to do just that.
If you do print out the course material, we ask that you help care for our environment
by using either recycled or FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) approved paper.

Copyright
Overall copyright on the booklets belongs to the BDO. Within that, copyright on
individual images and text belongs to the artists, photographers and writers who have
given us permission to use them. This copyright means that these booklets and their
contents may not be distributed by any means without the express permission of the
BDO or the individual artists, photographers and writers who are the copyright
holders.

However...
You are licensed by the BDO to print out a copy of each booklet for your own use.
You may also share the course material with your partner, and this extends to printing
a second copy for your partner. You may also share the course material with your
children at your own discretion.

Digital Use:
Contents Pages
Taking advantage of the pdf file format, we have included hyperlinks on our Contents
pages and elsewhere. These should appear as dark blue text. Clicking on any section
title listed on a Contents page will take you to that section. Likewise, clicking on any
section heading within the text will take you back to the Contents page.

Other Hyperlinks
Clicking on other hyperlinks within the text (also coloured dark blue) will open your
web browser and take you to sites where you can find more information, including
whole libraries of traditional tales, places where you can buy harps and much, much
more. These links have been carefully selected to enrich your experience as you
progress through the course.

Requests For Help

Feedback
Throughout the course, we encourage you to contact us (details below) with any
queries or problems you might have related to the course material. We aim to answer
as quickly and fully as possible. If we get a lot of similar enquiries, these will help us
to refine and improve future releases of the course. Please be aware that, at the
moment, there are only a few of us to answer questions. Once more people are
familiar with the course, we plan to add more.
We would also be pleased to receive details of your experiences with the course
material as well as any poetry, music, songs, paintings, &c that you produce during
your progress through the course inspired by what you find in it. Please only send
copies, not originals, as we have limited time or resources to return them.

Contribute to the Course

The course booklets being in pdf format means that it is relatively easy to update and
amend them and it is our intention to do just that based on feedback from people
taking the course. If you have ideas for ways in which the course can be improved, we
would be delighted to hear from you.

Gender Balance
In the planning stage of the bardic course, we had a number of contributors lined up,
roughly balanced between women and men. We hadn't allowed for the fact that two of
our women contributors would become pregnant and give birth during the preparation
of the course, thereby reminding us of Druidry's ancient status as a nature-based,
fertility faith. Naturally, babies tend to take priority. We do still have women's voices
in the course, but, as things stand, there is a preponderance of male writers. Little in
the course is gender-specific, and it may be argued that the configuration of one's
genitalia makes little difference to one's understanding of the bardic tradition. On the
other hand, there may be a need to dispel the lingering 19th-century notion of Druidry
as male-dominated. Since the BDO was one of the first Druid groups to be jointly led
by a woman, we would like to continue in the same vein.
So, if you would like to contribute to future versions of the course, we would be
delighted to hear from you. Given the current uneven balance, we would be especially
pleased to receive contributions from women.
In the ovate and Druid courses, we plan to incorporate many more women's voices.

Remember that...
Part of the purpose of producing these courses is to raise funds for the BDO (a notfor-profit organisation). These funds will be used to promote Druidry in various ways.
One aim is to buy land on which to: host Druid events; plant trees; build stone circles;
build roundhouses; establish green burial sites, &c. Respecting the copyright on the
course material will be a great contribution towards these aims.

Contacts for all course-related comments and questions

E-mail: bdo_tutors@btinternet.com
This is a dedicated e-mail address solely for questions and comments relating to the
course. Using it will ensure that your questions are answered as quickly as possible.
If you're willing to wait for a slower reply, you can reach us post too.
Post: BDO Midlands (Bardic Course),
PO Box 6733,
Bridgnorth WV16 9BW,
UK
Blessings one and all, and we trust you will enjoy your journey with us through the
course,

Greywolf and all at the BDO /|\