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Open Society Information Program Forum
OSI Information Program

May 15, 2001, Issue 61
This issue can also be found at <www.osi.hu/cpd/spf/61_’01.html>

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In this issue:

Projects and Initiatives of the OSI/Soros Foundations Network

Copyright seminar in Armenia

ISBN seminar: plans to create an ISBN Agency in Dushanbe

Opening up the textbook market in Central Asia

Translation update

Network Announcement

International Policy Fellowships: call for proposals

Improving Services to Public Library Users: call for proposals 2001

Publishers' Training Program update on future events

NCEE Training of trainers call for proposals

New on the web

East - West Collaboration in the Development of Interactive Media - UPDATE

Information Sector News

Copyright on images: ART resource

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Projects and Initiatives of the OSI/Soros Foundations Network

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COPYRIGHT SEMINAR IN ARMENIA

A seminar on Copyright and the Book Publishing Business was held in Armenia between April 17-20, 2001, a few days before International Copyright Day, sponsored by the Armenian Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation. The seminar was organized by the Armenian National Publishers Association (NPA) and was conducted by Ms. Lynette Owen copyright expert, whose book "Buying and Selling Rights in Literary Works" is being translated into Armenian.

Such complete seminar focusing strictly on copyright was the first of its kind to be held in Armenia, which explains the high number of participants. Sixty people in total: representatives of book publishing and trade, as well as copyright related organizations participated at the seminar, including officers of the National Copyright Agency and the RA State Department of Book Publishing and Information, most Armenian publishers, polygraphists, book traders, heads and representatives of the National Writers' Union, employees of National Library, Literature Institute. Participants found this seminar helped them understand clearly the role of copyright in the Armenian publishing business.

On the basis of materials from the seminar the NPA plans to publish a booklet with practical advice to publishers for use in their everyday work. The brochure will complete the "Books and Copyright" book published by the NPA last year, which includes articles on copyright issues in Armenia and the text of the Bern Convention, published in Armenian for the first time. The next book in this series will be the above-mentioned "Buying and Selling Rights in Literary Works" by Lynette Owen. These three books will create a convenient toolkit for Armenian publishers to use in working with copyrights at a professional level.
(Submitted by Mr. Vahan Khachatryan, President of the National Publishers Association of Armenia <armnpa@freenet.am>)

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ISBN SEMINAR: PLANS TO CREATE ISBN AGENCY IN DUSHANBE

The ISBN seminar, organized by OSI - Tajikistan, Dushanbe, April 9-11, 2001, lasted three days and covered not only the ideology, structure, printing and application of ISBN, but focussed on the standard's potential in developing an efficient infrastructure for the whole book sector. There were 22 participants, mostly publishers and librarians, as there are hardly any booksellers left in Tajikistan. Participants and the facilitator, Dr. Hartmut Walravens, overviewed the ISBN system and its role in the whole book sector with particular reference to the existing legal framework, and the necessity of a book-friendly environment and its impact on cultural and educational policy.

As a result of discussions at the workshop, participants have drafted an action plan to develop an ISBN agency in their country. As a first step they defined an administrative group for the establishment of ISBN in Tajikistan. It would be preferable to involve the publishers in this work in order to ensure their co-operation and ISBN application in the publishing industry. It was suggested at the seminar that the Ministry of Culture should act as a host for the initial phase, which perhaps the Publishers Association, currently under construction, could then take over. Another solution could be that a publisher could step in and market bibliographic data. Next, the Agency will need to establish close relations with the International ISBN Agency; translate the ISBN Standard (ISO 2108) as well as the ISBN User's Manual into the Tajik language, as well as co-operate with Tajik Publishers Association.

A task-force group has been created to work out the plan. OSI - Tajikistan participates in the group's work and is trying to secure sustainability in the process.

For more information please contact Kamol Obidov, OSI - Tajikistan Publishing Programs Coordinator <okamol@osi.tajik.net>, or Dr. Hartmut Walravens, the workshop's facilitator, <hartmut.walravens@sbb.spk-berlin.de>.

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OPENING UP THE TEXTBOOK MARKET IN CENTRAL ASIA

Colliding with the first ever Central Asian Book Fair since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kazakh Association of Publishers in cooperation with the Information Program organized a seminar dedicated to textbook policy issues in Almaty.

The two day program dealt with issues ranging from illegal books, lack of finance, lack of author skills, cross-border publishing to textbook approval mechanism. Phil Cohen now a veteran textbook policy trainer for OSI was leading the talks, with the help of two teams from Georgia and Azerbaijan. Both teams described their own textbook situation in their countries, both the ups and downs of the not yet finished process.

Participants of the seminar came from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, among them ministry officials, publishers, teachers and other donor organizations, who were taking part in the discussions with vague interest.

The publishers association of Kazakhstan is planning to release a publication based on the presentations of the seminar. There are talks of a follow-up meeting in Baku to strengthen further connections between Central Asian and Caucasian countries, however details of these intentions are still unclear. <mhorvath@osi.hu>

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TRANSLATION PROJECT (newly published books)
updated by Yana Genova (ygenova@osi.hu) Translation Program Manager

Croatia

Lefort, Claude: The Invention of Democracy, $5,310

WOMEN’S TRANSLATION PROJECT

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Magezis, Joy: Women’s Studies, $5,000

ROMA TRANSLATION PROJECT

Hungary

Lackova, Ilona : A false Dawn: My Life as a Gypsy Woman in Slovakia, $5,000

Fings, Karola: Herbert, Heuss and Frank Sparing: From a "Race Science" to the Camps, $5,000

BALKAN HISTORY PROGRAMME

Fikret Adanir, Die Makedonische Frage, Amicitia, Sofia, German/Bulgarian Translation by Maria Redeva Neikova

Raymond Detrez, Grigor Parlicev, een casestudy in Balkannationalisme, LIK, Sofia, Dutch/Bulgarian translation by Zherminal Civikov

Francis Dvornik, The Slavs in the European History and Civilization, GAL-ICO, Sofia, English/Bulgarian translation by Vassil Dudeckov Kurshev

Vesna Goldsworthy, Inventing Ruritania, The Imperialism of the Imagination, Geopoetika, Belgrade, English/Serbian translation by Srdjan Simonovic

Colin Imber, The Ottoman Empire 1300-1481, Amicitia Publishing House, English/Bulgarian translation by K.G. Georgieva

Barbara Jelavich, History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century, The Book House, Albanian translation by Gjergj Peci

Karl Kaser, Familie und Verwandschaft auf dem Balkan, Association for Social History, Belgrade, German/Serb translation by Alexandra Bajazetov Vucen

Machiel Kiel, Art and Society in the Turkish Period, Lyubomadrie Publishing House, translation into Bulgarian by Rossitsa Gradeva

Robert Mantran, L’Histoire de l’empire Ottoman, Clio, Belgrade, French/Serbian translation by Ema Miljkovic

Hugh Poulton, Minorities and States in Conflict, Cikos Holding Print, Subotica, English/Serb translation by Stanka Parac Demjanovic

Maria Todorova, Imagining the Balkans, Studia Humanitatis, Ljubljana, English/Slovene translation by Spela Mihelac

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Network Announcements

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INTERNATIONAL POLICY FELLOWSHIPS - 2002: CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The Central European University Center for Policy Studies (CPS) is calling for proposals for its year 2002 International Policy Fellowships (IPF) program, which is affiliated with the CPS and the Open Society Institute-Budapest. The CPS International Policy Fellowships are intended to support the analytical policy research of open society leaders and to provide these fellows with professional policy training. The program aims to improve the quality of analysis in countries where the Soros foundations work by ensuring that these leaders are able to conduct research in their home region while maintaining local affiliations and a high degree of mobility and intellectual freedom. Fellows participate in four training seminars in Budapest over the course of the fellowship year conducted by professors of public policy from around the world and gain vital skills including how to write professional policy documents, identify appropriate policy instruments, and effectively advocate policies—skills that are underdeveloped in countries where Soros foundations work. The product of each fellowship will be a detailed analysis of a major issue to be published in English and translated into other languages.

All initial queries must be entered online via the Internet directly into the IPF application database found at http://www.osi.hu/ipf/apply.html. Those who have no opportunity to access the Internet (including from public libraries, Internet centers, or national Soros foundations) should send an e-mail to fellows@osi.hu or call the IPF offices at (36 1) 327-3863 to discuss the best alternative application solution.

All applications must be submitted online at http://www.osi.hu/ipf/apply.html by July 1, 2001. Applications sent by mail, fax or e-mail will not be considered unless prior approval from IPF staff to use an alternative method of application has been received

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OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE INFORMATION PROGRAM MATCHING FUNDS
CALL FOR PROPOSALS 2001

Improving Services to Public Library Users

The Information Program announces a Call for Proposals to improve both public and specialized library services to the community. Proposals will be accepted from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia.

As a public library aims to serve all citizens and groups, clients of public libraries should include:

  • children; youth; adults;
  • people from minority groups, e.g., cultural, ethnic;
  • people with disabilities, e.g., blind and partially sighted, hearing-impaired;
  • people confined to their homes due to illness, age, or disability;
  • people confined to institutions, e.g., in hospitals, orphanages, juvenile detention centers and prisons;
  • other disadvantage groups


Thus, the Information Program seeks to explore with public and specialized libraries innovative strategies and approaches to making libraries accessible to and useful for the broadest possible public.

Further details of the announcement can be found on the website of the Library Program: www.osi.hu/nlp (click activities in the roll down menu).
Applicants who require further information or guidance may visit the web site: or contact Rima Kupryte, Program Manager for Libraries, Consortia and Community Informatics, email: kupryter@osi.hu), or the library coordinator within the national Soros foundation.

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PUBLISHERS' TRAINING PROGRAM

The workshop "New Publishing Model – Strategic Application of New Equipment and Technologies In Search of Reduced Costs and Revenue Generation" will be held at Rudniew Hall, Warsaw, Poland, on May 17, 2001.

We will also have a seminar called "Challenges for Georgian Book Publishing -a new publishing model – strategic application of information system and digital technology" as a one-off event within the Georgian Book Fair. The seminar will be held at the State Philharmonic Society on June 15 - 17, 2001.

The above workshops are fully sponsored by the Publishing Training of the OSI Information Program. For more information please contact Mikhail Minakov <mminakov@osi.hu>

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NCEE TRAINING OF TRAINERS CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) plans to train up to 110 teacher trainers from the former Soviet Union, the Central Asian Republics, the Baltic states, and Central Europe, in two Training of Trainers programs comprising a series of four one-week seminars to be offered in 2001-2002.

The NCEE is seeking outstanding educators from higher education, schools, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who have the commitment and long-term institutional support to offer training programs in economic education for school teachers after completing this series of seminars. In particular, we encourage applications from employees of institutions for re-certifying teachers and NGOs who are responsible for training teachers in economics. Accommodations and meals (during the seminars) and travel expenses will be covered by NCEE. An honorarium will be provided to participants at the end of each seminar, provided all program requirements are met.

Further information can be downloaded from our website in English and in Russian.

More information can also be obtained from: Mark Dempsey <mdempsey@ncee.net> The Open Society Institute does not enter into correspondence regarding this training.

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NEW ON INFORMATION PROGRAM WEBSITE

Please note that OSI Information Program has a new URL: www.osi.hu/infoprogram.
Websites of the Information Program, CPD website, as well as NLP will be continously updated in parallel.

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EAST-WEST COLLABORATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA
UPDATE
Budapest 10th - 11th June
For more information please visit www.osi.hu/ep/im2001

NO REGISTRATION FEES FOR CONFERENCE DELEGATES

The Open Society Institute is committed to the success of this conference. Feedback from participants has shown that registration costs are an issue, and therefore the conference registration fees for all participants will be paid for by OSI.
Book online at www.osi.hu/ep/im2001 OR
Contact Viktoria Levai (vlevai@osi.hu)
For the new programme please visit the conference website: www.osi.hu/ep/im2001

RESERVE YOUR PLACE BEFORE 28TH MAY 2001 TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!

IF YOU ARE FROM THE CIS YOU NEED A VISA TO COME TO HUNGARY AND THE PROCESS IS OFTEN VERY LENGTHY. PLEASE SEND YOUR APPLICATION THIS WEEK OTHERWISE, WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT THERE WILL BE ENOUGH TIME TO PROCESS YOUR VISA APPLICATION!.

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Information Sector News

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COPYRIGHT ON IMAGES: ART RESOURCE

Identifying and clarifying copyright on images is a nightmare for every publisher who does not want to violate the rights of the owners. The Art Resource Group could probably help them in solving this problem. ARTRES.COM (www.artres.com) offers a chance of diminishing the complications around rights on images by:

  • Providing access to over 3 million images by over 10,000 artists and the names of the copyright holders
  • Giving an introduction and useful tips to the issue of rights on images
  • Being the official rights and permissions representative for almost every major museum in Europe and many institutions in the United States
  • Offering photo resources for the early stages of developing projects or book concepts by providing possibility of search through an images database by subjects and themes.

For more information please visit <www.artres.com>.

[Submitted to FORUM by Katarzyna Mach, former Translation Project & Rights Manager of the Center for Publishing Development]

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newsletter archive

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Descriptions and projects of Open Society Institute of the Information Program can be found at its website:

Information Program: www.osi.hu/infoprogram


Center for Publishing Development www.osi.hu/cpd
Network Internet Program www.soros.org/internet
Network Library Program www.osi.hu/nlp

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

Contact person: Mikhail Minakov <mminakov@osi.hu> Monika Horvath <mhorvath@osi.hu>

You can also contact us at:
Information Program
Open Society Institute
1397 Budapest
PO Box 519
Hungary

e-mail <infoprogram@osi.hu>
tel + (36 1) 327 3014
fax + (36 1) 327 3042

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