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Publishing Program 1997-1999
Program Coordinator: Yegana Mamedova
Books and new electronic publishing media are effective ways to make the ideas and information needed by societies in transition accessible to a large number of people. The goal of the various publishing projects within OSI-Azerbaijan and efforts are twofold. First, they are intended to support the publication of books and electronic products which promote critical thinking, excellence in education, intercultural understanding, and the values of open society. Second, they aim to foster the development of a strong, diverse, and independent publishing industry as a vital institution of an open, civil society.
The program aims at the development of the publishing and book market in Azerbaijan. In addition, the program also supports the improvement of textbook contents for educational materials. The publishing sector of Azerbaijan faces many hardships including lack of government funding, the dependence of Azeri publishing houses on the government, and lack of book marketing and active book selling systems. Furthermore, it has a poor link among publishers and libraries in the country, and poor development of the Azerbaijan market due to lack of a network between publishers and booksellers. Support for publishers is one way to work against Azerbaijan's information vacuum.
With these problems in mind, OSI-Azerbaijan has selected several areas of focus:
- Publishing initiative in general: to support private sector in an information and distribution system;
- Publishing support to educational sector;
- Supporting local, professional institutions in disseminating the Open Society concept.
Within these areas of focus, the main activities include:
Supporting initiative in book trade and distribution
Publishing expertise and consulting
Provision of grants for educational books publishing
Seminars and training for publishers
Lobbying of free book trade law
NGO involvement
Textbook Publishing Program
This program supports several areas of educational publishing and the improvement of textbook contents. It fosters the involvement of private publishers in the textbook market and develops and improves their publishing capacity. In addition, it helps local schools improve their strategy for collection of books and periodicals.
Publishers Training Program
The Publishers training program trains leaders from the publishing industry to increase their knowledge and skills concerning copyrights and publishing as a small business. Because of the crucial shortage of professional publishing knowledge in the country, OSI created this program to share vital international information in the area of publishing.
Translation
Books play critical roles in an open society: they underpin education, enrich public discussions of social, political and cultural issues, and deliver the knowledge needs for an effective government and a strong independent sector. In a majority of post-communist countries, many basic texts in the humanities and social sciences are unavailable in the local languages and there is also a severe shortage of books for professionals. The Translation project is an initiative designed to meet these needs. The project is designed to fulfil two objectives: to produce sorely needed translations of important titles, and to contribute to the growth of an independent publishing industry which is so vital to democracies.
Electronic Publishing
The Electronic Publishing Development Program was launched by OSI's Center for Publishing Development in 1996.The Program pursues its mission through new digital publishing media such as Internet and CD-ROM technology. The Program aims to support the creation and dissemination of electronic information and communication in the country.
- 1997 Program Expenses: USD 57,110
- 1998 Program Expenses: USD 119,479
- 1999 Program Expenses: USD 89,010
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