December 2005 issue of SCL News finally out

Finally! The newsletter for IFLA Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section (of which I'm the editor) is out on the IFLA page (click here to access the PDF file -- in low resolution; 874KB).

Took me a damn long time to get it published and printed. I learnt several new things in the process:

• Open Office is a pretty good alternative to MSOffice (see this previous post)
• Now I know why people pay good money to outsource the page design & layout
• Editing is hard work ('enuff said)
• Now I understand why publications work with very tight schedules -- seems that there's always something to be corrected up to the last minute the copy is due for printing
• Backup your files frequently. And always assume that the computer you're working on will crash and die on you (mine did!) so backup on portable drives
• "Saddle-stitch" means staples in the middle, booklet style
• When planning the number of pages for A4 double-sided pages, plan in this sequence: Pages 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 etc (basically it's one A3 page stapled in the middle)

The technicalities of printing and desktop publishing aside, I've also learnt what's happening in other countries wrt library services for Children and Young People. There are good ideas on pages 9 to 15 (Country Highlights from UK, France, Germany, Japan, USA, Singapore, Republic of Korea).

Some favourites of mine: "Bookstart" & "Sharing at Bedtime" programmes from UK, "Reading Ladder for Children" project from Germany, "Reading as Corrective Community Service" from USA, "Beautiful Granny project" from South Korea, the Asian Children's Festival and September 11 "Live Chat" event from Singapore.

Printed copies of the newsletter is made available to IFLA members. If you wish for the higher resolution PDF file, I'd be happy to share it with you. Drop me a comment or email.

Tag: IFLA