SABRE FOUNDATION UPDATE *************************** November 1993 -- Volume 5, No. 1 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE ------------------------------ "Where Democracy and the Market Meet" As reported here, Sabre has developed several new programs to complement its long-standing work in book donation. In each program we have sought to address a need identified by our partners in the field. In each case, too, we have designed a pilot with potential for replication. Let me describe two of the new programs at greater length. SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS The lack of current scientific literature is especially acute in the former Eastern bloc, a region rich in human resources but undergoing enormous economic dislocations. During the Communist period, the import of scientific journals was centralized in state purchasing agencies and heavily oriented to fields with applications in military and other state industries. In easing the transition to a new era, Western learned societies, academic presses, libraries, university departments and editors have been generous in their donation and exchange programs. But their efforts cannot be relied upon to meet the need for new, highly specialized titles in science, medicine and technology -- fields dominated by large commercial publishers. This is an area where donation and discounts are rare, and where a one-year subscription typically costs three hundred to five thousand dollars. Even the major international wholesale subscription agencies receive discounts of only 5 - 10% on scientific/technical journals from the leading commercial firms. Sabre is therefore gratified that discussions between its Secretary, J.L. Auspitz, and several of the world's largest scientific publishing firms, accounting for more than 2,000 serial titles, have resulted in agreements to extend 50% discounts for three years in a new Reduced-Cost Journals Service, administered for the benefit of cash-poor research institutions in the former Eastern bloc. Through the Czech pilot described in this Update, Project Director Suzanne M. Deehy is developing a library ordering system that links an in-country library coordinator directly to an established commercial agency for the placement of journal orders. Funding for the new journals comes from the Czech libraries themselves, evidence of their commitment to sustain subscriptions when the discount expires. Sabre's role will be to recruit new publishers and to facilitate the movement to a normal commercial system that will no longer require our involvement. Since the participating publishers are among the pioneers of new information technologies, the Service will in principle be open to on-line and CD-ROM subscriptions, as well. ON-LINE INFORMATION The dramatic expansion of on-line data is a new fact of life in the support of research and commerce in all fields. The largest international network of networks is the Internet. Connections to this decentralized "information highway" increase at 10% monthly, and the variety of information available through the Internet is likewise expanding rapidly. Most non-commercial telecommunications users in the former Soviet Union are not yet fully connected to the Internet. However, an increasing number of institutions are able to receive information by e-mail, computer communication via modem linked to local telephones and international telecommunications satellites. Project Director Tania Vitvitsky has developed a pilot project in which six institutions in Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan will receive technical assistance to gain access to data availa the Internet. An information specialist on Sabre's staff will search out data for the client institutions and transmit them by e-mail. The institutions selected represent a variety of information needs, so that each institution may serve as a resource for others in its field. In this way, researchers in the three countries can both benefit from new sources of information and prepare themselves for the advent of full connectivity to the Internet. These two new services underline Sabre's increasing versatility in an area where the movement to democracy and the movement to free markets intersect: the information sector. Sabre's new services give evidence of a timely ability to respond to emerging needs. The Foundation's growth owes much to the vision of project-oriented grantors and the crucial role of contributors of general operating funds that enable us to sustain a capacity for innovation. Anne D. Neal ________________________ (photo of Regional Distribution Center in Budapest) Regional Distribution Center -- Budapest, Hungary. With the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Soros Foundation-Hungary, and the SzÈchÈnyi National Library, Sabre-Hungary Alapitv·ny has undertaken the task of sorting and processing the most valuable donation of scientific literature in Sabre's history. The 85,000-book collection will be distributed to libraries in six countries. ________________________ U.S. INFORMATION AGENCY AWARDS EXPAND PROGRAM THROUGHOUT REGION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the fifth consecutive year, Sabre has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Information Agency for book distribution in Eastern Europe and the Baltics. And in its first year of supporting book donations in the former Soviet Union, U.S.I.A. has funded Sabre to ship four containers of books to Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. In all, U.S.I.A.'s support will combine with other grantors, public and private, to sustain programs in 14 countries. The pioneer country is Uzbekistan. In October, U.S.I.A.'s Institution to Institution Program provided Sabre with ocean freight funds for a pilot 4,000-book shipment for distribution by the Project on Economic Reform and Development in Central Asia and Tashkent State University of Economics. Sabre will identify an Uzbek partner for larger-scale distribution during a visit to Central Asia in 1994. In Belarus, Sabre welcomes its newest partner, the International Humanitarian Foundation of Minsk. CZECH PILOT PROJECT KICKS OFF NEW JOURNALS SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This fall Sabre began a pilot of its Reduced-Cost Journals Service in the Czech Republic. The Prague Institute of Advanced Studies is coordinating the offering to thirteen leading research libraries. Participating publishers, Elsevier Scientific and Kluwer Academic (The Netherlands), John Wiley & Sons (U.S.) and Springer-Verlag (Germany), have agreed to discount subscriptions by 50% for three years. The British subscription agency Blackwell's will process the orders at a reduced fee. The Journals Service was developed under a larger two-year grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for library support in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech libraries themselves, however, have provided the purchase funds for the pilot. "INFORMATION BROKER" JOINS SABRE --------------------------------------------------- An Internet information specialist, Vedder Wright, has joined Sabre under its newest endeavor, the Technical Assistance Project. Begun in September under a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy, the Project provides electronic information for six selected sites in Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan from on-line resources available on the Internet. Mr. Wright will act as an "information broker" searching for requested information. He will also introduce the new users to the complex process of Internet search and retrieval, using the latest navigational tools, so they will be prepared in the future. For a text-only version of this Update, ftp to world.std.com, path: ftp/pub/sabre, file name: sabre.update.nov.93. PRACTICAL BUSINESS BOOKS TO BE PUBLISHED IN POLAND AND UKRAINE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Under grants from the William H. Donner Foundation, ten practical business books, translated into Polish and Ukrainian, will be published and sold locally at affordable prices. Sabre's publications counsel, Charles Getchell, who is securing the rights for translation and publication, will conduct a seminar on rights negotiation in Lviv in early 1994. Five of the books will be published in Polish by ZNAK Publishers in conjunction with the Dzielski Institute in Krakow, following on the success of five similar books in 1991/92. In Ukraine, a publishing unit of Sabre-Svitlo will adapt five titles covering such topics as basic economics, marketing, budgeting, finance and human resources. BOOKSHELF HONORS JEFFERSON ------------------------------------------- Sabre will donate a 23-volume shelf covering the life and work of Thomas Jefferson to 100 libraries and American studies centers. Selected by Prof. Merrill Peterson and the staff of Monticello, the shelf will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, the "architect of democracy" who is of particular interest in formerly Communist countries. Sabre's long-time U.S. partner, Columbia University Libraries, will place 50 of the shelves with the remainder donated through Sabr mal distribution channels. Columbia Libraries has used Sabre's books in its exchange program to build an archive of ephemeral materials documenting the movement to democracy in the former Soviet sphere. The project is sponsored by the William H. Donner Foundation with contributions from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the University Press of Virginia, and the American Philosophical Society. An additional nine shelves have been purchased on behalf of U.S. Information Service libraries abroad. DIRECTORY OF AMERICAN STUDIES CENTERS ------------------------------------------------------------- In a spin-off of the Jefferson bookshelf project, Sabre is gathering information for a directory of American studies centers and libraries in the former Communist bloc. As the first directory of its kind, it will be useful both within the region and to U.S. and Canadian groups wishing to assist the centers. The directory will be available in early 1994 in both paper and electronic formats. ENTRIES ARE STILL WELCOME. MELLON MATCHING FUNDS ------------------------------------- Sabre's Mellon-sponsored Matching Fund for the purchase of educational materials in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia made grants in 1993 to the following organizations: Partners for Democratic Change -- $20,000 for library materials for four regional conflict resolution centers in Warsaw, Budapest, Prague and Bratislava, matching the funds raised by Partners for Democratic Change from The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Foundation for a Civil Society -- $3,100 for English teaching materials for its Masaryk Fellowship Program in the Czech Republic and Slovakia which places U.S. volunteers with Czech and Slovak counterparts for English language instruction and cultural exchange. Sabre matched funds provided by the Rockefeller Family & Associates. Fulbright Professor Donald E. Morse -- $1,500 for American studies books for Kossuth Lajos University in Debrecen, Hungary. The Council for International Exchange of Scholars provided the funds for the match. Clinton, Massachusetts Rotary Club -- $1,200 for English as a Second Language books and audio cassettes for the English Language Teachers' Association in Hungary. The materials were purchased by Sabre Foundation at 55% discount under its Low-Cost Purchase Program. Jewish Educational Center in Warsaw -- $850 for five newly created Judaica lending libraries in Poland, matching funds provided by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. Hungarian American Educators' Association $200 for dictionaries for the English Teachers' Association in Hungary, purchased at 40% discount. LOW-COST PURCHASE FOR UKRAINE ------------------------------------------------- Sabre negotiated discounts with publishers and purchased materials valued at more than $22,350 on behalf of the Ukrainian National Association, Friends of Rukh, and the Friends of the University of Kiev Mohyla Academy. The books are being used for English language instruction throughout Ukraine and at Kiev Mohyla Academy. ANONYMOUS GRANT FOR RUSSIAN PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------------------ Sabre's book donation program in Russia, initiated under a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy, is expanding, thanks to an anonymous donor. The new grant covers the preparation and shipment of three containers of books and journals to Sabre's partner in Moscow, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Library for Foreign Literature. The first of the containers, received in June, was distributed to libraries, business centers, and the Parliamentary Library. COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS IN THE U.S. --------------------------------------------------- Increasingly, U.S. organizations are cooperating to stretch the limited resources available for Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Some recent examples of organizations for which Sabre has provided procurement, shipping and distribution services are: American Bar Association's Central and East European Law Initiative -- legal reference materials for law centers in Lithuania, Bulgaria and Belarus. Solomon R. Baker Library, Bentley College -- economics and business books and journals for sister school programs at Tartu University and Tallinn Technical Institute in Estonia. Getty Center for Art History -- monographs and art books for museum libraries in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Massachusetts/Ukraine Citizens Bridge and Holyoke Community College -- economics and business books and encyclopedias for schools in Ukraine. U.S.-Ukraine Foundation -- law, economics, and public policy books for Pylyp Orlyk Institute in Kiev. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ------------------------------- As basic textbook needs give way to more specialized requests from abroad, donated library collections from academic institutions (often from retiring professors) have become an important part of the book donation program. Recent collections include: Over 1,400 books and journals from the private library of the late Ann F. Friedlaender, Chair of the Economics Department at M.I.T. The National Union Catalog (1,177 volumes) from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Library materials on liberal arts topics from the Firestone Library of Princeton University selected for the American University in Bulgaria. Books and journals on social work and social policy from Rutgers University for the University of Tartu. NEW PROGRAM OFFICER ADDS PUBLISHERS --------------------------------------------------------- Sabre's expansion requires new sources of materials, particularly in the Russian Federation. Colin McCullough has joined Sabre as Program Officer with special responsibilities for procurement. Mr. McCullough comes to Sabre from several years at the Edinburgh offices of Bookspeed, the largest book distribution company in Scotland. Twenty-three new publishers have contributed books to the 21 containers shipped by Sabre through November of this year. There are now more than 110 publishers participating in the book donation program. PUBLICATION NOTE --------------------------- "Rights as Social Practices" by Beth Singer, from Volume 1 of the Polish-edited Praxiology: An International Yearbook of Practical Philosophy, has been reprinted in the author's book, Operative Rights (State University of New York Press, 1993). Praxiology, meanwhile, having been launched with its American publisher, Transaction Press, with the assistance of Sabre and the Earhart Foundation in 1990-92, is now a self-sustaining annual. COMINGS AND GOINGS ----------------------------- Anne Ryan, who has served as Officer for Board Affairs since 1990, will devote herself to graduate studies in health advocacy at Sarah Lawrence University. . . Jacek Holowka, board member and former Executive Director of Fundacja Sabre, Warsaw, is the new Vice Rector for International Relations at Warsaw University . . Reed E. Hundt, who brought Sabre into Latham & Watkins as a pro bono client, has been named Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. . . Iaroslaw Isaievych, Chairman of Sabre-Svitlo in Ukraine, has been elected President of the International Association of Ukrainian Studies. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN '93: ----------------------------------------------- The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation U.S. Information Agency William H. Donner Foundation Anonymous (Russia) Whitehead Foundation National Endowment for Democracy U.S. Agency for International Development Anonymous (general support) Grassroots International Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Foundation Citibank Corporate Foundation . . . and many individual donors PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW STREET ADDRESS: --------------------------------------------------------- Sabre Foundation, Inc. 872 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 2-1, Cambridge, MA 02139 tel: 617/868-3510 fax: 617/868-7916 e-mail: sabre@igc.org or sabre@world.std.com *****************