1. References

Requirements for forms of reference vary but normally include the author, title, edition and date of publication for books, normally followed by the page reference in footnotes, and the author, title, periodical, issue, year and pages for periodical articles. The author's name is normally but not invariable inverted. Sometimes the place of publication and the publisher is also named and the imprint may be enclosed in parentheses. The publisher can normally give details of his house style or there are manuals for editors. The result can have the following appearance:

Books:
Hoskins, W.G. Local history in England. 2nd ed. London, Longman, 1972, pp. 174-176 or:
W.G.Hoskins, Local history in England. 2nd ed. (1972), 174-6.

Articles (the title of the article is in inverted commas, the title of the periodical or collection in italic:
W.J.Blake, 'Hooker's Synopsis Corographical of Devonshire', Transactions of the devonshire Association, 47 (1915), 334-68.
Joyce Youings, 'John Hooker and the Tudor bishops of Exeter', in M.Swanton (ed.) Exeter Cathedral: a celebration (1991), 202-7.

References can be grouped at the foot of each page, at the end of each chapter or at the end of the book. Avoid "op. cit." and "ibid", prefer the author's name and date of publication as a brief means of reference to a bibliography or else refer back to earlier notes e.g. "Hoskins (1972), 145." or "Evans, note 44, p. 134."

An alternative form of reference, more normally used in scientific and archaeological publications is the Harvard system. Here the references are given in full in the body of the text thus: (Hoskins, 1972, 174-6) and the entries in the bibliography at the end of the work bring the date to the front in the form:

Hoskins, W.G. (1972) Local history in England, 2nd ed (London, Longman).

Further reading:
British Standard 1629: Bibliographical references.
British Standard 5605: Citing references.

The whole question of copyright is very complex and there are a number of misunderstandings. For example a work does not have to be published to be in copyright and copyright is not dependent on the deposit of a copy in the British Library. The main copyright legislation is the Copyright Act 1988 but this has been amended by other legislation, notably by an EEC decree which extends the copyright term from fifty years to seventy years after the death of the author.

Further reading:
Wall, R.A. Copyright made easier (ASLIB, 1993).

There are many different forms of publication apart from books published by main-line publishers such as Phillimore or Devon Books. Publications can range from the single broadsheet through folded leaflets, and periodical articles to works in one or more volumes. There are also a variety of forms of publication and production methods available. Whatever the publication there are a number of factors that have to be considered:

3.1. Defining the scope of the publication. Will it cover the whole history of the parish or a particular period or topic? Will it be a reprint of an existing item, printed or manuscript, with or without a new introduction or commentary? A publication without a clearly defined scope tends to end up as a shapeless jumble of ill-digested snippets.

3.2. The end product envisaged. Is a published book intended or an article in a local or national periodical. Will it be part of a series? If so there may be existing guide-lines on presentation to follow. Is an unpublished typescript the immediate plan. If so how many copies will be produced for the compilers, the village, libraries and museums? Will a master be held on computer. If so is it in a widely usable format (e.g. ASCII files).

3.3. The organisation of the project. Will it be an individual or team task? If it is a team task specific duties have to be allocated to various team members (photography, interviewing, searching resources, indexing, keyboarding, editing etc).

3.4. Literature searching. It is vital not to duplicate research that has already been undertaken. Library catalogues, bibliographies and local collections of resources should be searched. An appeal through the village magazine may unearth additional material. Any original archives unearthed should be deposited in the Record Office.

3.5. Taking notes from sources. It is essential that full references are taken from each source consulted: author, title, publisher in the case of books or name of periodical in the case of periodical articles, date and page details. This information will be useful for the bibliography and references in the published volume. A note of the collection where the item was seen and the shelfmark will help if the item has to be consulted again.

3.6. Organising material. If the publication is a large one a filing system for the working papers is essential. The traditional card file is flexible and portable, A4 folders can house notes and photocopies and information can be put onto computer files (either word processed or as databases). Whatever method is used for storing information, adequate indexing is vital for retrieving it. Indexes by personal and place name, subject and sometimes date can all be useful.

3.7. Planning the finished work. As the material is gathered a list of sections or chapters will begin to emerge. These can be thematic or chronological in nature. An outline of the contents of each section can now be drawn up and keyboarding begun. Word processing or desk-top publishing can frequently virtually eliminate type-setting costs by providing camera-ready copy and will also provide a tidy typescript from which a few copies can be run off, should publication prove to be impractical. When selecting material for the text it is important to avoid crowding the main text with too much detail. Some material, for example lists, can be relegated to appendices.

Further reading:
British Standard 5261: Copy preparation and proof correction.

3.8. Reference systems. These are essential for all but the most popular works. Footnotes can only be added at the final stage when the layout of individual pages is known. Endnotes, at the end of each chapter or of the book as a whole, can be added as work progresses but will frequently require renumbering. The Harvard system of referencing (the insertion of the author's surname, publication date and page in the text which refers to a bibliography at the end of the book) needs a minimum of updating but it is more obtrusive. See section 1 above.

3.9. Bibliography and indexes. The minimum reference for a bibliography is author, title, date for books, plus the title of the periodical, volume and page numbers for articles. Indexes can greatly increase the reference value of a publication but is time-consuming and frequently has to be done in haste after the page proofs are available. It is important to decide what to index. As well as person and places, an index of subjects is useful.

Further reading:
BS ISO 999:1996 : Information and documentation. Guidelines for the content, organization and presentation of indexes . Other information on indexing may be found at http://www.indexers.org.uk/ the site of the Society of Indexers.

4. Publication.
The are a range of levels of publication:

4.1 Full book by a commercial publisher (e.g. Devon Books, Phillimore). Many publishers prefer to commission books, especially as part of a series. They may require reworking to fit in with their publication criteria. It is useful to contact publishers with a synopsis before writing; certainly look at other books by the publisher. Publishers will make strict judgments on commercial viability and you should expect some delay in replies. The Local History Magazine book publishing service (01602-700369) is one means of publishing small local histories. In some instances a publication may fit into an existing series. For example Halsgrove has embarked on a series of community history publications, based on a standard format, in which they have worked closely with local history groups. The resulting books, concentrating largely on photographs collected from individuals in the community, contain captions and text written on themes such as social history, the church, transport, farming etc. The publisher liaises closely with the community during the compilation of the work and oversees the design and production process. The works are published on subscription with the publisher providing promotional flyers for circulation in order to secure pre-publication sales. For details, see their website.

4.2. Vanity publishing. This is to be avoided - it can be expensive but there are reputable publishers and printers who will handle material they consider good enough for publication. You pay the editorial and production costs and receive a finished product. Some publishers have facilities to publicise or assist in the distribution of such publications.

4.3. Self-published book or pamphlet. If you undertake publication yourself, a number of points have to be decided by you:

4.3.1. Format: what type size and page size will accommodate the information in a suitable number of pages? An estimate of the number of pages and details of illustrations is required before printers can provide costings.

4.3.2. Binding style: stapled, spiral, comb, slide, perfect or sewn, paperback or hardback. The provision of an attractive cover can help to sell a publication.

4.3.3. Print-run. It is best to avoid being left with too many unsold copies. With LASER printers and high-speed photocopiers publication on demand is possible for specialist titles. Costs are vastly increased if the printer has to typeset from typescript and many printers will not even consider accepting manuscript. With publication on demand the author avoids committing too much money in advance, but the unit costs will be higher as the cost is the same for each copy produced and does not drop as when several hundred are run off a once.

4.3.4. Costings. A comparison can be obtained by approaching several local printers through the Yellow Pages. A very rough estimate of costs given by a local publisher in 1997 is that 1,000 copies of a 100 page A5 format book can cost £1,500 although much will depend on the type of cover, the quality of paper and the use of colour illustrations. Lower print runs are possible but the "run-on" costs are much lower than the "set-up" costs. It should be recognised that smaller communities will only be able to support a relatively small print run.

4.3.5. Finance. This can be assisted by subscription publication (advertising for payment in advance, often at a reduced price) or by local sponsorship, either in the form of grants or loans.

4.3.6. Copyright. This may need to be cleared on recent illustrations, maps or works from which extensive quotation is made. On some non-copyright items obtained reproduction fees may be charged.

5. ISBN (International Standard Book Number). This is used by booksellers and libraries for computerised ordering and cataloguing. It can help to circulate your publication more widely. The ISBN can be obtained free of charge from Whitaker, 12 Dyott Street, London WC1A 1DF. Ask for a publications notification form which will ensure that it is mentioned in the Bookseller, the national weekly trade periodical.

6. Legal deposit. One copy of each publication produced in the British Isles has to be forwarded to the Legal deposit Office of the British Library. This will normally ensure its listingin the British national bibliography, which circulates internationally, but it may also result in a request for up to five more free copies from the agent for the other copyright libraries.

7. Setting a selling price. Take the unit print cost, make an allowance for six legal deposit copies, any complimentary or review copies, a proportion of unsold copies, inflation over two to three years, postage, bookseller's margin of 33 per cent and any profit (e.g. for the Church Restoration Fund, or the group's coffers). The print cost usually has to be at least doubled.

8. Publicity and distribution. Copies to Local Historian, Local History Magazine, Devon Historian and other local or national periodicals for review also to the County Local Studies Librarian who will include this in a monthly list of publications which is circulated to libraries throughout Devon for selection purposes and also appears on the web. Details should have been circulated within the community and this is where the bulk of the sale would be expected. The local newspaper will often run a feature on the book, the author or the society which may help sales and the local radio may also be prepared to mention it, possibly interviewing the author. Make sure that the newspaper publishes sufficient details for readers to be able to obtain the item. Wider distribution is difficult and expensive. Booksellers in the larger towns may be persuaded to take a few copies but the majority of sales will be through a direct approach to the author or a member of the group.

9. Shorter works (up to about 5,000 words) may be more appropriate as a periodical article. For articles in periodicals you should attempt to see copies of the periodicals to be approached to ascertain the type of article they require and to read any advice for contributors which they may provide, especially regarding the length of contributions and their requirements for footnotes or references.

For unpublished typescripts at least two copies should be produced, one to be retained locally and the other to be placed in WSL.

10. A mixed form of publication is possible with the main text published as a booklet referring to the additional material which may be held as typescript notes, as microfiches inserted into the cover of the book or available as computer files on disc.

Further reading:
Writers' and artists' yearbook (annual)
MHRA style book: notes for authors, editors and writers of dissertations. 3rd ed. (Modern Humanities Research Association, 1981).
Butcher, J. Copy-editing: the Cambridge handbook for editors, authors and publishers (3rd ed, 1992)
Hart, H. Hart's rules for compositors and readers at the University Press, Oxford (39th ed, 1983)
Dymond, D. Writing local history: a practical guide (1982)
Marius, R. A short guide to writing about history (2nd ed, 1995)
Publishing for local history: guidance for the budding author ... (Hampshire County Library, 1995).