Regional technical aid center II (RTAC II) evaluation

scientific and technical textbooks at a reasonable cost for university students in the Central American countries of El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala. The evaluation covers the period 8/86- 11/89. The project has already exceeded life-of-project expectations for the number of books distributed. A total of 560,728 books have been shipped to Central America and most of them have been sold; orders for the next semester total more than 220,000. Further, an unanticipated demand for social, economic, and political science books could raise the demand for books by 30%, though it would also deplete funds before project end. The project has produced four technical pamphlets which have been widely distributed. Videotapes and a newsletter were envisioned but have not yet been implemented. The six distributors, mostly new to the business, have developed remarkably well in a short time. Most have promoters who further the work of the publishers by providing a great deal of public relations work. Great strides have been made in supplying books to branch universities and small universities in isolated locations, and the project also donates defective books to these universities' libraries. An additional benefit of the project is the reopening of relations between Missions and universities that were cut off a decade ago. The Missions have been able to begin other projects with these universities, especially in developing linkages to U.S. universities. The project has also resulted in greatly decreased photocopying and pirating of textbooks and a reduced influence of Soviet publishers (although one publisher, Mir, is now imitating this project, concentrating on technical fields that the project does not include). On the negative side, more specialized accounting training is needed, since most of the distributors' accounts are inconsistent with those of the project staff. This is primarily due to difficulties in using the management information system, which both coordinators and distributors feel is too sophisticated and expensive. Another problem is dissatisfaction among the distributors with the low markup on books (15% in El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala and 10% in Honduras). A study has been commissioned to examine bookstore costs. Several lessons were learned. (1) The project's "demand-driven" model has been highly successful; this demand is elastic, however, depending strongly on the price of books. (2) Sufficient funding to allow for early, complete implementation allowed the project to operate quickly and well. (3) The direct participation of Missions in the project operation made it possible to gain extra support and funding. (4) Including private bookstores helps assure a medium for sales after the project ends. (5) A computerized management information system functions only as well as the interests and abilities of the users permit.