Last February the Georgian Ministry of Education announced a competition for new textbooks for secondary schools. For the first stage of competition 67 bid lots were submitted by 22 publishers. Evaluators, selected by means of expert inquiry (an expert in a field recommends more experts, they recommend further names, etc., in the end the most often mentioned people are the nominated evaluators), chose 12 textbooks from 9 publishers for the second stage. They focused on the following criteria: correspondence with the state standards, the content, the pedagogical approach, presentation and illustrations, the language and the teacher’s guide book. The price was also considered one of the most important evaluation criterion. Titles to be successful had to achieved the score of at least 4 on a 0-5 scale. As the result of the second stage 9 textbooks submitted by 7 publishers were selected for pilot printing (500 copies) and they will be available in September.

The competition is a part of a large reform of education in Georgia. Although it was organised and financed by the ministry, the role of Open Society Georgia Foundation exercised through the Educational Megaproject was significant. It first managed to achieve the opening of the textbook market [see Forum 18], then organised training for textbook authors, publishers and ministry representatives on issues such as team textbook development, competition management, distribution, textbook evaluation and design [see below]. In the future the Megaproject, working with a budget of $1.2m, is planning to organise textbook competitions of its own. [based on information from Goka Gabashvili, Educational Megaproject of Open Society Georgia Foundation <goka@mega.osgf.ge>]

SEMINAR ON TEXTBOOK EVALUATION IN GEORGIA

A seminar textbook evaluation was organised by the Georgian Megaproject [see above] and CPD on 4 and 5 July. The main objective was to provide the know-how of textbook evaluation as well as to increase the understanding of the process among the evaluators and textbook publishers. The trainers were Annabel Jones from the UK, formerly Longman, and Alice Szamadone Biro, an active teacher and a textbook evaluator from Hungary. The former presented the publisher’s point of view while the latter focused on that of the teacher. During the seminar they presented the different criteria of textbook evaluation used in their countries. On the last day the participants were given sample textbooks for same subjects and age groups from Hungary and the UK and had to evaluate them using the criteria they had just discussed. An idea for a follow-up was to create a collection of textbooks that could constitute a basis for further training and an resource for the development of new textbooks. [based on information from Monika Horvath, CPD <mhorvath@osi.hu> and a report from Alice Szamadone Biro]

SEMINARS ON BOOK DESIGN ON GEORGIA AND AZERBAIJAN

Two seminars on book design, one following the other, took place in Georgia on 17-19 June and in Azerbaijan on 22-24 June. The seminar in Georgia was run in connection with the Educational Megaproject [see above]. The structure of both events was two seminar days and one day for individual consultancy, altogether about 20 hours. During the last the participants had also to present individual projects prepared in connection with the seminar and their own work. The training had a practical, problem-solving character, which the participants enjoyed. The trainer, the free-lance British designer Richard Morris, dedicated a lot of time to an analysis of the design of various books. The consultation day was packed with people staying on while their hour was over.

In Georgia there were 22 participants including one person from Armenia, while in Azerbaijan, where the seminar was conducted in the foundation-sponsored internet center, the number was 15. Designers participating in the seminars highly evaluated them and expressed hope that training in this area will continue. In Georgia they suggested that local trainers are always involved in such events in the future. The Azerbaijani Publishing Program plans to provide similar training for the foundation-sponsored teams working on new history textbooks.

The seminars cost $5,000 and $4,250, respectively. Combining them resulted in substantial savings achieved on the trainer’s airfare and preparation time. [based on information from Eka Mazmishvili, Open Society Georgia Foundation <eka@osgf.ge> and Ula Adigezalova, Open Society Institute - Azerbaijan <UAdigezalova@osi-az.org>]

SEMINAR ON MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION IN KYIV

The seminar took place between 9-12 July. On the eve of the seminar the trainers Jacek Wlodarczyk and Mikolaj Burchard of BMR company, Krakow, Poland visited several bookshops, publishers and the bookmarket in Kyiv. “It looked to us as if we returned to Poland of several years ago” said Jacek Wlodarczyk, the director of BMR. He made an optimistic prediction for the future of the book market in Ukraine and said that all processes would be faster than in Poland.

During the next four days 40 participants, mostly publishers and book distributors from all parts of Ukraine, studied strategic planning in marketing and book distribution. The session on promotion and advertising proved the most interesting to them. As a result of the seminar, publishers expressed interest in publishing of titles on publishing recommended within the ‘Books on Publishing’ list [see Forum 32]. Both the course and the trainers were highly evaluated and everybody expressed the wish to do a course on Management in Publishing with BMR.

The seminar was co-organised and co-financed by the International Renaissance Foundation and CPD. The total cost was $19,110. [based on information from Lydia Hryva, International Renaissance Foundation <hryva@irf.kiev.ua>]

“BOOKS IN PRINT” SEMINAR IN KYIV

The aim of the seminar, which was conducted between 16 and 17 July, was to popularise with the Ukrainian publishers community, book distributors, librarians and government officials the concept of “Books in Print” system as well as to provide advise to ACK the Ukrainian book distributor and publisher which will create Ukrainian BiP. (ACK won a tender for producing Ukrainian BiP organised by International Renaissance Foundation last March. The will receive a grant of $100,000 from IRF and will also apply for additional support to Electronic Publishing Development Program). Two case studies, of Poland and of Romania, were included,. Joanna Borowska of the Book Information Center in Warsaw presented the Polish experience of creating BiP and donated a printed and a CD-ROM versions of Polish edition of this publication to Ukrainian publishers. Participants showed great interest in a feasability study on BiP in Romania made by Robert Davies of Education for Change Ltd., UK for the European Union (a Romanian BiP is only being planned at the moment). Brian Green of EDiTEUR, UK, the seminar leader, considered the event useful and said, “it is certainly not going to be easy to get Ukrainian Books in Print off the ground”. He suggested further training for ACK.

Forty participants attended the seminar, among them were a member of the Publishing Board of Soros Foundation-Moldova and two Moldovan publishers, whose visit was a part of their preparations for the publication of Romanian “Books in Print”. The seminar was co-organised and co-finansed by IRF and CPD. The total cost was $11,000. [based on information from Lydia Hryva, International Renaissance Foundation <hryva@irf.kiev.ua>]

PUBLISHING FINANCE SEMINAR IN KAZAKSTAN

Soros Foundation - Kazakstan held a seminar on Publishing Finance on 14-17 July. Participants included publishers and booksellers from Kazakstan and also Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan. Each day after six hours of lectures the trainer Nick Esson gave out evening assignments, which at first caused a great shock, then great excitement. During the seminar participants were introduced to basic financial documents such as profit and loss account, balance sheet, and cash flow. The seminar cost $16,000. [based on information from Monika Horvath, CPD <mhorvath@osi.hu>]

MONGOLIAN PUBLISHERS IN KYRGYZSTAN

Using an extra day resulting from the plane schedule, five publishers from Mongolia visited Kyrgyzstan directly after the financial seminar in Kazakstan [see above]. In spite of numerous similarities, there are a lot of differences in the development of publishing in both countries. During the visit the guests saw the Publishing Center of Soros Foundation - Kyrgyzstan, the Center of the Development of the Kyrgyz Language, where there was a round-table discussion with the staff of the Center about ways of developing publishing industries, problems of language development, working with authors etc. They also visited the company Raritet, where they had a chance to learn about the first Book Club in Kyrgyzstan, whose creation was inspired by earlier seminars run by the foundation, specifically that by BMR [see Forum 22] and to get acquainted with an electronic version of Books in Print. The visit to the Kyrgyz-Turkish printing company "Atlas-Bishkek" provided an interesting example of how to produce small print runs and a case of the role of foreign investment in developing local publishing industry. During this single day he visitors saw also other bookshops and publishers. The visit was co-sponsored by the Soros Foundation - Kyrgyzstan and CPD, the cost was $600. [based on information from Irina Rodionova, Soros Foundation - Kyrgyzstan <irina@soros.kg>]

NEW ON THE CPD WEBSITE

Pernille Askerud: Textbooks for developing economies: Why projects fail

The text has been included in the Policy Resources within the Publishing Resources. It is an expended version of an article published earlier by the journal ‘Logos’, 9/2 1998.

STAFF CHANGES

Forum welcomes Mr.Artsvi Bakhchinyan <bartsvi@osi.am> who is taking over the responsibilities of Publishing and Library Coordinator at OSI-Armenia after Mariam Gevorgyan’s departure. Artsvi has been working for the foundation for about a year as the coordinator of the Arts and Culture Program.

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Publishing General

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“PRINTING IN ASIA” - A SUPPLEMENT TO PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Publishers Weekly of 28 June brings a special report entitled “Printing in Asia”, which can be of interest to foundations closely involved in the production of books. In addition to a general review of the situation of Asian printing services (the title “The Best is Now” summerises this article well), one can find a useful directory of printers covering a number of countries (Hong Kong, Indonesia & Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea & Thailand) as well as US representatives, and a large quantity of glossy advertisements. [JC]

BARNES & NOBLE TURNS ITS CUSTOMERS INTO AGENTS

One of leading online retailers, Barnesandnoble.com or bn.com, has recently introduced a scheme encouraging its customers to recommend titles from this site to their friends, family and acquaintances. MybnLink, which is the name of the scheme, provides links which should be incorporated into the recommendation e-mail. Customers generating additional sales through this scheme are rewarded by 5% of the sales amount. They can keep their earning or donate them to one of five major foundations: American Red Cross, CARE, First Book, National Wildlife Federation, or Special Olympics. Barnesandnoble.com donates 1% of these extra sales to First Book, which is a foundation providing books to poor children. [JC]

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Translations Published - Update

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New titles published within the CEU Translation Project:

ROMANIA

1. Gilpin, Robert: The Political Economy of International Relations, $4,200, $116/author’s sheet
2. Grosser, Alfred: Les Occidentaux: les pays d'Europe et les Etats-Unis depuis la guerre, $3,500, $123/author’s sheet

TRANSLATIONS PUBLISHED WITHIN NATIONAL PROGRAMS:

ESTONIA

1. Gombrowicz, Witold: Diary
2. Kierkegaard, Soren: Fear and Trembling
3. Pascal, Blaise: Thougths

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Open Society Publishing Forum is a publication of the OSI Center for Publishing Development.

Archive of back issues: <www.osi.hu/cpd >

Contact person: Jerzy Celichowski <celichow@osi.hu>

Requests for adding to and dropping from the mailing list: Monika Horvath <mhorvath@osi.hu>

You can also contact us at:

Center for Publishing Development
Open Society Institute
1397 Budapest
PO Box 519
Hungary

e-mail <cpd@osi.hu>

tel (36 1) 327 3014
fax (36 1) 327 3042

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