Doing your own handbook

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Since this is an international Handbook, we realise that many groups will translate materials to create their own handbooks. If you are thinking of producing your own handbook, here are some tips. First, you need to be clear about your goals and the amount of energy you are willing to put into a handbook (see questions below under goals and content). Another important aspect is thinking about what would make your handbook special.

Here is a list of questions that may be useful before starting your own handbook project:

Goals

• What is the main reason of the handbook?

• Who is the handbook for?

• How do you want the handbook to be used?

• What do you need to include in the handbook?

• Have you checked existing handbooks? What don't you like about them or find not useful?

Content

• What topics and themes do you want in the handbook?

• How do you want to structure the handbook?

• What is the length of your handbook?

• Will you use only new texts or existing ones?

• Who is choosing existing texts and writes new ones?

• What is the timeline for this work?

• How should the handbook be used? Can people just read a section that is relevant or is it that you need to read the full handbook?

Production

• How would you fund the handbook,

• Do you want to sell if or give it out for free?

• What will the distribution scope be?

• What kind of layout do you want (e.g., paper size, graphic styles)?

• How would you evaluate the handbook?