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Translation
Project Electronic Publishing Development Program Training Program Books in the humanities and social sciences play a vital role in an open society: they underpin higher education, sustain and enrich public discussions of social, political and cultural issues, and provide the knowledge needed for building and reforming institutions. In a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, however, many basic books in political science, economics, law, or sociology are unavailable in the local languages. Moreover, reforms undertaken in these countries often suffer from a lack of texts presenting current debates of issues related policy making in a modern state. Despite the great need for them, such translations can rarely be published without a grant. The Translation Project is an ambitious initiative designed to meet this need. The project has been launched in twenty-four countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In each country, the local Soros Foundations conduct annual open competitions for publishers and award grants to support translation and publication of books. The CEU Translation Project and the "East Translates East" Project are both components of the Translation Project. While the former focuses on titles originated in the “West”, the latter aims at stimulating translations among the languages of the post-Communist countries. CPD runs also smaller translation competitions dedicated to the promotion of issues usually neglected by mainstream publishing.
Electronic Publishing Development Program (EPDP) The Electronic Publishing Development Program (EPDP) was launched by OSI’s Center for Publishing Development (CPD) in 1996. The Program aims to support the creation and dissemination of electronic information and communication in the countries of the Soros network. The program works in two main areas - supporting the local foundations of the Soros network in their electronic publication and information activities, and conceiving and coordinating large projects across the network. Currently the three main cross-network activities are:
The Publishing Center provides training for professionals from the book industry: publishers, booksellers, policy makers and textbook authors. Training seminars are organized jointly with local Soros foundations. The CPD promotes also exchanges among the post-communist countries stimulating a flow of know-how from the more advanced to the less advanced publishing industries. Practical publishing guidelines in English and Russian are distributed also in an electronic format through this website. Training is also provided by the Electronic Publishing Development Program. In 2000 the program focuses on the development of local training capacity. CPD will organize workshops on publishing training provision with particular stress on textbook training. Introducing and promoting of new technologies is another new area important for the project. Seminar on Print-on-Demand technology conducted last June in Poland is an example of that. Publishing Macroenvironment Development and Research Ensuring the existence of a favorable publishing environment, comprising, among other things, laws favourable for the industry, functioning of trade associations, modern book information systems, and training centers, is one of the CPD’s objectives. In addition to providing training in the above areas the Center also supports the development of publishing institutions as, for example, in the case of a new ISBN agency in Kosovo. The Center conducts publishing surveys, a unique source of information on publishing, bookselling, and printing in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia. It also cooperates with the Oxford Brookes’ University’s Center for Publishing Studies and the Publishing Training Center in Great Britain in a European Union-sponsored research project into the training of publishing industries of the post-communist countries. The Publishing Legislation Online Project monitors laws related to publishing in these countries. The Information Society Press Syndicate distributes material generated through Center’s activities to professional journals in the field of publishing, librarianship and information technology. CPD’s website offers a range of policy resources. The Center provides a professional support service to both the national foundations and the regional programs of the Soros foundations network, advising on the development of established projects and the creation of new ones. An example of this is the multimillion dollar Pushkin Project in Russia, in whose development the center has been actively assisting. The CPD also helps national foundations to share good practice and good ideas, and to clarify overall goals and strategy. CPD is working with foundations in the Stability Pact Area (South-Eastern Europe) on the designing and implementation of two large-scale projects promoting flow of books across borders. |
© Center for Publishing
Development, 2000
Oktober 6. Str. 12. 1051, Budapest, Hungary
phone: 36 1 327 3014 fax: 36 1 327 3042
e-mail: cpd@osi.hu