The Renegade Writer - A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success

"The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success" by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell is a motivating book about breaking the traditional "rules" of freelance writing to prosper and do it your own way.

Both authors are freelance writers and they share examples of how they broke the traditional "rules" of freelance writing to gain more assignment and make more money in a career they are passionate about. The 200 page plus book is easy to read and contains many tips for the aspiring freelancer as well as the seasoned pro.

There are chapters on breaking into the business, generating ideas, sending queries without fear, contracts, how to find information, doing interviews, breaking grammar rules, getting paid, and your renegade attitude and how to thrive and not just survive. There are also some good references in the Appendices.

A number of the chapters concluded with a profile of a freelance writer who shared some of their renegade strategies that had worked for them. A couple of these writers were Melody Warnick, Jennifer Lawler, and Kelly James-Enger. Hearing the perspective of these other writers was not only informative, but also motivational and inspiriting. This would especially be true for the new writer.

There are nuts and bolts about the writing business that are not covered in this book, but that was not the author's purpose. It would be good for an aspiring writer to read some of the nuts and bolts and traditional rules type books, but then read this to realize that often rules are made to be broken, and when you do break them it is not the end of the world, but sometimes the beginning to bigger and better things.

I've recently started to increase the freelance work I do, and I'm glad I read this book. There are some great ideas and examples for any freelance writer. So, all you need to do is read the book and become a Renegade Writer today.

The Role of Mobile Libraries in Supporting Education

Introduction

A Mobile library refers to a suitably equipped and reinforced vehicle or bus that visits schools according to a regular schedule, with a resources collection that may be borrowed by learners and teachers. It can also be used to refresh a school's resource collection by issuing of block loans. This model of library is operated from a central library/depot of resources, such as regional or district education resource center. The mobile library service was initiated chiefly to alleviate the demands for library service at the main libraries by reaching out to the general population with the sole aim of providing accurate and current information to meet the needs in rural schools.

Butdisuwan (2000), defined Mobile library as a library that serves communities and locations that are distant from a local library. They are mostly run from Monday to Friday and sometimes on Saturdays.

Knight (2006), defined Mobile Library as a large vehicle for use as a library. It is designed to hold books on shelves so that the books can easily be accessed by readers when the vehicle is parked. The vehicle used usually has enough space for people to read the book inside of it. They are often used to provide library service to villages and city suburbs which have no library buildings. They can also serve groups of those who have difficulty accessing library services.

Niemand (2004), defined Mobile library as a library housed in a large van that provides a live service to those unable to attend their nearest local library.

Requirements for the Operation of a Mobile Library

Some of the requirements needed for the operation of a such services are highlighted thus:

• A teacher-Librarian to manage the overall service;

• Library assistant and a driver;

• Funding for fuel, maintenance and licensing;

• Optional online information and circulation services, linked to parent education library management system, by means of a laptop and scanner;

• A service level agreement with schools involved that clearly articulates the role and responsibilities between the schools and the providers of the service;

• A schedule of regular visits, based on school terms;

• A dedicated budget for collection development and running costs;

• Ongoing training for teachers who have access to the collection; and a

• Monitoring and reporting mechanism (Knight, 2006).

The Role of Mobile Libraries in supporting education

Libraries and information centres do not exist in vacuum. There is always a sound rationale for their operations. Hence the following reasons below express the importance of mobile libraries:

• Move on to service other schools as schools progress towards developing their own school library and information service;

• The school's library resource is refreshed regularly by mobile library service since the selection is based on the needs of the schools that are visited;

• This service is useful especially in the rural schools, when there is a lack of large organizational capacity and a lack of space to establish a proper library;

• Engage in the sharing of resources which enables learners and teachers to access a wide range of resources;

• Assist the teachers in growing learners to become information literate and develop the reading habit;

• Have other learning interventions such as music, arts, science and technology learning Programmes as part of the School Library and Information Service Programme, which will benefit all learners.

• Target user groups and their information needs in remote communities or other regions where library services are currently unable to stimulate or meet the demand for information;

• Stretch out their services to reach the physically disabled;

• Mobile libraries make reading materials available to various schools based on their different learning needs. Picture books with less complex illustrations, words and information books with many photographs are selected for a class at the preparatory level;

• They play a vital role in times of crises by directing many stakeholders such as citizens, experts and policy makers by providing trustworthy sources of information;

• Building lasting ties with the school community through establishing sustainable partnership by helping to inculcate the habit and culture of reading in the communities;

• Provide read-aloud session and user-education programmes especially when new users are introduced to their services; and

• Provide reference materials such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, maps, atlases, and globes for extensive source of information and references for their patrons (Beenham and Harrison, 1990).

Challenges Faced in the Operating Mobile Library Services

Mobile Libraries operations are not without challenges. These range from a lot of issues as stated below:

• Resources are limited and there is a chance that the appropriate resources could be selected by another school first. Mobile Library is medium is size and referral in nature and most times can accommodate less than fifty (50) users at a time. It also lacks certain facilities such as the bibliographic instructions and the library catalogue which are the keys to the holding of the library;

• The lack of space to read and the time to explore the mobile library is not sufficient. Typically depending on the size of the school population and duration of visit, each class is given thirty (30) minutes to utilise the library. As the number of children and classes increases in schools, the amount of time and space decreases in order to cater for all;

• More so, lack of sufficient trained and qualified personnel is another challenge of mobile library operation. Many a time, mobile library staff lacks the required qualification in the field of librarianship;

• Financial constraints also pose a challenge to running a mobile library. A mobile library needs a recurrent income and expenditure budget in order to augment for its depleted resources over a set of time owing to its consistent usage by users;

• Management of the Service could be problematic, as schools have to be held accountable for items borrowed;

• Distance and terrain present their own challenges especially as the service is limited by the number of buses servicing rural areas;

• Buses can also be a target for thieves especially if they carry computers; and

• Donated buses already customized from other countries need to be serviced locally, while there is also the added attendant of cost of importation clearance.

Indeed, a mobile library service is one of the most important services that library and Information Services use to meet their aims and objectives. There is considerable potential in the use the mobile library services as a support to local or stationary library services but there are also many challenges. There should be therefore commitment on the part of the government of nations, Educational Administrators, Librarians, and National library administrations, in order to achieve quality and sustainability in the development and improvement of mobile library services. Only through their active participation will mobile library services transform the teaching and learning process in education.

How to Write Books For the North American English Speaking Audience

Making a book available to the English reading audience in North America, whether it's Canada or the United States, requires more than simply having it translated into English from a foreign language. The quality of the translation is important but so is keeping in mind what the reader may expect or find confusing and which words may need to be translated while others may be accepted already as foreign words well known to English readers such as "deja vous," "burrito," or "sushi."

Even if you are not translating a book, but simply writing a book set in a foreign country that is largely unfamiliar to readers, you need to assume your reader is predominantly not knowledgeable about your topic and then make the topic and setting accessible for him or her. In other words, you must allow the book to retain its foreign charm or atmosphere while making it less "foreign," which may mean explaining customs, religion, or inside politics to readers so they can follow the book, or not dwelling on these items unless they are relevant to understanding the plot and characters. Remember while a non-fiction book has much more leeway because readers want information and detail, a novel is intended foremost as entertainment so you have to make the book accessible in a way that will entertain yet retain the key foreign elements of the text.

Here are a few simple tips to get you started in making your book accessible to the English-speaking North American audience:

Translation Rules:

    Do not let anyone whose first language is not English translate your book. Even if you hire a professor of English, and you live in France and the professor's first language is French, chances are no matter how wonderful that person's English is, he will not write English as well as a native speaker. (If you find you have no other option, then follow the advice in the next point).
    If you do hire a person whose first language is not English to translate your book into English, then hire an English speaker to edit the book. For example, if you are Slovenian and cannot find a native speaker of English who can translate Slovenian, you might find a Slovenian who can speak English to translate your book into English, but then you will want someone whose first language is English to edit the book to make sure the book reads smoothly and is grammatically correct.
    Hire a speaker of American English to translate and/or edit if you plan to sell the book in the United States. Many books translated into English have been translated into British rather than American English. While both are technically English, there are some significant differences in word meanings and spellings and American readers might find the British usage confusing. That said, Canadian readers probably will have no problem with the British English spelling (nor will Australian readers).

Spelling Differences:

British and American English have standard spellings that are slightly different. Here are just three of the most common:

    U: Words such as "honour" and "colour" are spelled with "u" in British English while Americans drop the "u" and spell them as "honor" and "color."
    S & Z: The British tend to use "s" in words where Americans would use "z" as in a word like "realise/realize."
    RE or ER: The British will spell words with an "re" ending such as "theatre" and "centre" while in American English they would be "theater" and "center."

Word Connotation Differences:

Some words in American English have different meanings than in British English. For example:

    Bonnet: In British English, a "bonnet" is the "hood" of a car. American English only uses "hood" for this part of a car, while in American English a "bonnet" is a type of hat.
    Lorry: "Lorry" is the British word for "truck." American English does not use this word at all.
    Fag: In British English, "fag" means a cigarette. In American English, it's a derogatory term for a homosexual and short for "faggot," which is commonly misspelled as "fagot." In both forms of English, "fagot" means a piece of wood.

Watch Out for Confusing Names

An American reader will soon find his head swimming even if you are using common American names that have similar spellings. For example, the American reader might have a hard time keeping Mark, Matt, Mike, and Mitch separate in his head, or for that matter, Peggy, Polly, Pam, and Patty could cause equal confusion. So if you are writing for an American audience and using foreign names, you especially need to be careful. If your novel is Arabic and your characters are Mohammed, Mustafa, and Mufid, you might easily confuse your reader as to who is who. Even more confusing would be hyphenated names that have the same beginning such as Abdul-Aziz, Abdul-Bari, and Abdul-Fattah. In this case, you might choose to drop the "Abdul" from the names and settle for Aziz, Bari, and Fattah, which are all fairly different in appearance.

Don't be Tolstoy. Anyone who has ever tried to read one of Tolstoy's novels such as "Anna Karenina" or "War and Peace" can find himself easily confused. Not only do Tolstoy's Russian characters have first and last names, but they also have middle names and nicknames, and Tolstoy has certain characters use different names depending on who is speaking to the character. Alexis' mother might call him Alexis while his friend calls him Nicholas, his middle name, and his professors call him Ilyanovich for his last name. The poor reader not only has to keep track of fifty characters, but three or so names per character to make up 150 names. One of the best solutions to this problem was a translation of "Anna Karenina" (see below) that settled on just one name for each character, changing all the individual characters' many names to one name per character for the reader to remember.

Focus on Broad Brush Strokes over Details

If you are writing fiction about another culture, you want to provide the feeling of that culture to the reader without giving an exhaustive history, geography, or cultural lesson. While the reader of non-fiction will probably be more tolerant of details, readers of novels want to be entertained, not expected to work to learn something.

The novelist should never assume the reader knows anything about what is, to him or her, a foreign culture being presented in the book. Nor should the novelist expect that the reader is going to run to the dictionary, encyclopedia, or Internet to look up unfamiliar terms. Readers who find they have to consult other sources, even if they are footnotes provided in the book, are quickly going to find that reading the book is too much work, and they are going to go elsewhere for information.

A novel set in a foreign country should provide just enough cultural glamour to wet the reader's interest-perhaps to make the reader understand the magic or the significance of the other culture. If the novelist has done a good job, he will first and foremost have told a story that is entertaining. If that is all he does, he will have succeeded. If the reader is intrigued enough to want to learn more about the culture or country beyond that, he can then do further reading in history books or encyclopedias or even visit the country that is the setting for the novel.

Finally, remember that several novels set in foreign countries have been successful among American reading audiences. Equally, several novels translated into English have been successful. To prepare your book for the American reading audience, you may do well to read some of these books and see how the culture is presented while being accessible to the reader and then follow that author or translator's example.

Old Encyclopedia Year Books - What Can You Learn In Hindsight?

Not long ago, I was at a local thrift store which also happens to have a good selection of used books. I frequently go into see what's there and the inventory turns over every couple weeks or so. On the free shelves they had half a set of encyclopedias. Now then, no one really wants a set of encyclopedias these days, no one except for me that likes to do research to help with my writing, and I suppose even fewer folks would want half a set of encyclopedias.

Nevertheless, I rescued these books from the free pile. In scanning through all this information and yes I have read the Encyclopedia before, I noticed some interesting things in the yearbooks, those add-on books which come with an encyclopedia subscription, or at least they used to when people were still buying these books. In each year book they had all the major events; natural disasters, scientific discoveries, major developments in all industries, and the big events in governments around the world.

What I found quite fascinating is many of the things that we think are new inventions today, were actually invented decades ago. We might think that something is a new development, or a breakthrough area of science, but the predecessor discoveries which are only backdated a couple of incremental notches of the chain came old about long ago. What it also tells us is that whenever a new discovery is a made, people think of all the potential applications and how this will change everything right away. Things never happen that fast.

In fact, it takes years for this stuff to come to fruition, and for it to become reliable enough for some entrepreneur to pick up this new technology and run with it. Sometimes the defense department, or the entertainment industry, or perhaps the healthcare sector will advance the technology as fast as they can, but even so it could be five years until it has proven itself reliable, and even longer until that percolates into the consumer markets.

Although it appears that we are making incredible leaps in technology every single day, and as we read the press releases from various universities and research divisions, it's as if everything is changing so fast, but the reality is that humans resist change, and so do industries. After all, why should they change something that is currently working for something that is not guaranteed to work in the future, even though it will bring significant advances someday - if they are making money now, why risk something new?

This overall lesson of the speed of technology to market and into our everyday lives is something you can learn by merely paging through the old Encyclopedia yearbooks. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Astrology Cusps - More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Them

Have you ever taken the time to explore a single word? If I am lacking in knowledge on a subject at times I will Google that subject and then follow several of the listings to gain a general grasp. This can be frustrating or fun depending on the choice of subject. For example, this morning I Googled the word "cusp," a common word in my field of astrology. I did not look at astrological sites because after 35+ years of studying astrology I pretty much know that general information. I wondered what I might find on cusps if I reached outside my own field of astrology. Occasionally an explanation for one application can turn on the lights for another application.

Surprisingly, cusps come in several forms, according to the dictionary and encyclopedia. If you try my method of study, be prepared to spend a little time because some explanations take longer than others. I found...

· Beach cusps which relate to a beach shoreline and were described as a pointed and regular arc pattern of that shoreline

· In geometry and astrophysics, a cusp is a singular point of a curve (something like a shoreline?)

· Cusps in psychology are called behavioral cusps. This cusp apparently marks an important change in behavior that has far reaching consequence or in my words is pivotal to a change in specific behavior

· A dentistry cusp may be found on three types of teeth, a molar, a premolar or a cuspid (there is our base word)

· Astrological house or sign cusps that I will explain below.

I saw cusp paired with other words such as a

· cusp catastrophe (a geometrical pattern where stability is lost),

· cusp form (modular form theory i.e., a cusp form is a modular form that vanishes at a cusp)

· cuspidal representation (automorphic representation) and I have no clue what that is other than the definition mentions algebraic groups. The rest of the description went right over my head.

From this I got a picture in my mind that a cusp is a defined arc (curved line) with a specific point that can be pivotal and that the point may be or become unstable and could at some point disappear.

Astrologically cusp is a common word that is used for both signs and houses. A sign cusp is that point where the end of a sign gives way to the beginning of the next sign. A house cusp is the degree, sign and minute of the dividing line between houses at a specific earthly longitude and latitude. Let us take a moment to back up and understand some basics before we attempt to move forward.

Signs: Think about the space outside our world where the zodiac seems to reside. Notice I said "seems to." Earth's path and the path of most of the other planets around the Sun is called the ecliptic or the path on which eclipses occur. This ecliptic passes through twelve of the 60 or so constellations, depending on which constellation reference systems used. This specific collection of 12 signs is called the zodiac (circle of animals) that range on either side of the ecliptic, which again is the centerline of the zodiacal constellations. The constellations in general and the zodiac in particular are not located at a specific distance from Earth or anywhere else. The zodiac constellations are just somewhere out there outside the ecliptic and extend out into space an indeterminate distance. The stars that make up each constellation are light years apart within each grouping so each constellation is huge in terms of the space it occupies.

Additionally, there are no fences in space to create a clear demarcation (of space) dedicated to a sign, they just run into one another at a somewhat obscure meeting point. The constellations are of irregular length (longitude) but the corresponding signs are thought to have an average of 30 degrees each (who made up these conflicting rules?). I doubt if it could get much "spacier" than this but I can tell you from personal experience that the 12 sign zodiacal system does work.

So, each of the zodiac signs is 30 degrees long and just runs into the sign on either end because there are no fences or physical transition points in space that I know of. We number the celestial longitude distance in the sign 0 to 29, with 30 degrees becoming 0 of the next sign. But there is no physical division in space. Enter the word cusp. The transition between one sign and another is referred to as the cusp. The explanation for sign cusp is not complicated. A sign cusp is the transition point between one sign and its neighbor. Technically the accepted transition occurs between 29 degrees and 59 minutes of any sign and 00 degrees and 00 minutes of the following and adjacent sign. This is true of either end of a sign, the beginning or the end. 00:00 is the beginning and 29:59 is the end of any sign.

It is the planets that are read as being in a sign, which is a simple explanation for the appearance of a planet (which is closer to us) as it passes in front of the zodiac constellations. The zodiac is located in outer space beyond our solar system, therefore the planet is seen with the sign as a backdrop. How do you know which planets are cuspal? Astrologers usually allow three degrees at the end of the sign and the beginning of the next sign. That would equate to 26 degrees and 59 minutes to 29:59 for the end of a sign and 00 degrees to 3 degrees (no minutes) for the beginning of a sign. Astrologers would simply say plus or minus three degrees to the change of any sign.

How do astrologers read this? There is a blending of energies that occurs at a change of sign, a blurring where the signs are not as distinct. One influence is waning, one is emerging, both are involved but in a blended way. The strength of one diminishes as the influence of the other sign becomes stronger. This is a gradual process over six degrees of space. I have a friend who was born with the Sun at 29 Aries 55, almost into Taurus, plus she has four planets in Taurus. Day to day you see a very strong Taurus influence but do not ever forget she is an Aries. She is fully capable of acting as an Aries whenever she finds it necessary. Her Aries has not vanished it just is sublimated to some degree, buried under all that Taurus. Aries can still appear whenever it chooses. Astrologically she is an Aries with very strong Taurus overtones, or cuspal.

From the non-astrological dictionary or encyclopedic definitions I described earlier, I would choose the concepts of shoreline (the boundary between land and sea), a specific point in a curve, a pivotal change of behavior. stability may be lost, and a vanishing point is possible. I then can, if I choose, reformulate the way I think about a cusp, any cusp in any application. By sign cuspal refers to a boundary of some sort but is not clearly one sign or the other so there is an element of instability. By the gradual cessation of one influence and the gradual progression of the coming influence there is a vanishing point to the earlier sign but it seems to be located about three degrees into the succeeding sign. That illustrates the nature of the blending of signs that occurs at the cusps. The curve reminds me of our circular patterns and the curve of space marked at a specific point in that curve, pivotal in terms of influence, application or behavior. This illustrates how we can always add to our store of information on the cusp using science or everyday facts.

Houses are 12 divisions of the physical Earth relative to the longitude and latitude of birth at a specific moment in a day. Again there are no actual fences. Nowhere on this physical globe are there physical fences that act as dividers for the house systems. There are almost 8 billion people alive on this globe and we would need to employ 12 fences each. We would get nowhere, ever, if we had to encounter physical fences of that number and variety. So the cusp is a metaphor for a dividing line. My favorite description of a house is an arena of physical experience. For example, house one is your body, house two is your moveable possessions, house four is your family, etc. Due to the curvature of the Earth and the interaction between the Earth and the zodiac various house systems have differing amounts of space allotted to each individual house. A cusp is a handy dandy reference tool for knowing where the influence of one house ends and another begins, where one arena of physical experience gives way to another arena of physical experience.

12 Excellent Reference Books for Collecting Vintage Costume Jewellery in the UK

You have a thirst for knowledge and want to know more about the vintage costume jewellery in your collection. But which book to buy if you are living in the UK?

There are hundreds of reference books to choose from and most have been written in the US by authors who have a collection based in the US. How specific is that to us in the UK?

So here's a brief guide of 12 books to give a good over view of knowledge from Victorian through to the eighties and beyond. Actually there are more than 12 books here, because some authors have written more than one book that is useful.

This guide should cover general unsigned pieces and some signed pieces of jewellery. However there are no specific books ever written for the majority of the mass produced signed costume jewellery made by UK companies or made for the UK market apart from Wilson and Butler.

1. Costume Jewellery: A Collectors Guide by Caroline Behr (Miller's) (ISBN 1-84000-373-1)

A good place to start with a general over view and time line from Victorian, Art Deco, Arts and Crafts, 1950s, Czech, Austrian and some designers. Easy to read and has good photographs. Hand bag size and ideal to read on the train

2. Vintage Costume Jewellery: A Passion for fabulous Fakes by Carol Tanenbaum (ISBN 1-85149-511-8)

A must to buy and has the time line with expanded information. Includes Art Nouveau, Birmingham silver, machine, intro to Bakelite and plastic and a glossary. Loads of good photographs but none of the backs (a must for identification but rarely included in any book)

3. Secrets To Collecting Jewelry: How to BUY MORE for less! by Leigh Leshner (ISBN 0-89689-180-1)

Again a time line and over view through history but an absolute gem of a book because it has shows the backs and mechanism or findings that are essential to dating jewellery. This book looks at style and materials with specific photographs. Prom jewellery, art plastic, retro, manufacturing methods, Scandinavian, cameos. Mostly brief information but a very good visual guide. US book with $ price guide (2005). Another fabulous book to read on the bus or train as fits into your bag.

4. Jewels and Jewellery Clare Phillips (V & A) (ISBN 978-1-85177-535-4) or Jewellery: The Decorative Arts Library edited by Janet Swarbrick (ISBN 1-902328-13-2)

Could not decide which of these UK books was the most informative. So have I have included both

Jewels and Jewellery contains materials, a chronology of styles and manufacturing and distribution. Photographs of museum and pieces. Includes silver filigree, Berlin Iron, pearls, glass and enamel. Faith jewellery, cut steel, mourning and love jewellery not just jet or bog oak. Lalique, Ashbee, Liberty Cymric, Wilson, Gaskins and a time line pre Victorian to the 2000s.

Jewellery is a visual celebration of the world's great jewellery making techniques. From the ancient world until 1989. Full of information and photographs with more specific references to Jewellery in the UK.

5. Popular Jewelry of the '60s, '70s & '80s by Roseann Ettinger (ISBN 0-7643-2470-5)

Three decades of jewellery showing fashion and political trends that influenced the designs. US book with $ price guide (2006) The majority of vintage jewellery found is from this period and so makes this book invaluable to read. Well illustrated with pieces that are recognizable here in the UK. Including Mod jewellery, eastern influence, Pop Art, novelty, revival pieces, love beads, Art Metal, jade, plastic, wood and pave. The author has produced other reference books on other decades which are well worth investing in.

6. Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry by Leigh Leshner (ISBN 0-87349-954-9)

Bakelite is rare to find in jewellery in such quantities and variety as in the States. It is useful to recognize and see the variety of designs plastic has been used or with other materials. Celluloid, Lucite, thermoset, thermoplastic, laminated, reverse carved are more commonly found here in the UK and easily over looked. This book does make you look at plastic accessories in a whole new light. Does not contain enough information on galalith, the early plastic type that is more common in the UK. For this read books on Jakob Bengel.

7. Collecting Costume Jewelry 303: The flip side Exploring costume jewelry from the back by Julia C Carroll. (ISBN 978-1-57432-626-0)

This is the book that gets to the basics must have knowledge of vintage costume jewellery. The different components including the stones and cabochons that can be invaluable in dating and hardware clues that can be missed. Cameos, rhinestones, signed jewellery and photographs of the signatures, art glass, pin backs and so much more. I look at this book and always find something that I have not noticed before. One of my most valuable books in terms of knowledge. Also has a section of designers including Jonette Jewelry Co (JJ) that are not always found in other books. US book with $ price guides (2010)

Julia Carroll has produced other books including Costume Jewelry 101 and 202 in this serious. Both books are well worth having for reference as well.

8. Baubles, Buttons and Beads: The Heritage of Bohemia by Sibelle Jargstorf (ISBN 0-88740-467-7)

This is another gem of a book; as we had an abundance of vintage jewellery imported into this country from Bohemia up until the Second World War and then in smaller quantities after. Still available to find and collect but prices are rising. Sections on buttons, filigree, glass beads, plastic and glass cameos, 1930s, enamel and more importantly the history. After reading this book it has helped me date and identify cameos, filigree brooches and brightly coloured rhinestone jewellery of the 1920s and 30s. Hand finished and machine made dress clips and the different finishes used.

Sibylle Jargstorf has produced other books on beads and glass that are invaluable.

9. Cameos: A Pocket Guide by Monica Lynn Clements and Patricia Rosser Clements (ISBN 0-7643-1728-8)

Although there are many books on cameos, this small packet guide is full of cameos in materials other than shell. Shell is the most collected cameo jewellery type but for me it did not have an appeal. I wanted to know more about the glass, plastic, metal and gemstone cameos that I was finding. How to identify the materials used and when were they made. This book has an abundance of photographs covering a huge amount of cameos in these materials and more importantly recognizable for the UK market. US book with $ price guide (2003) For more in depth information on cameo jewellery then obtain any of the editions of Cameos: Old and New by Anna M Miller.

10. Victorian Jewellery by Margaret Flowers (No ISBN)

Not a book on vintage but antique jewellery that is now out of print but still available in several editions. First published in 1951 but well worth reading. Insight into the Victorian influences and seen in revival pieces. Birmingham's role in mass produced jewellery. This book is often sited in later books as being influential. Has the Victorian period in 3 parts and each section has the most used motifs of that period. Did make me laugh at the sheer snobbish attitude of the author at times but well worth reading. Few photographs and mostly in black and white that are not that clear.

11. Scottish Jewellery: A Victorian Passion by Diana Scarisbrick

Scottish jewellery is found in abundance in the UK. From the mid nineteenth century with the rise in popularity, had factories in Scotland and England churning out designs and pieces in the thousands. This continued into the late twentieth century mostly in Birmingham. This book is a good introduction. Not as in depth as could have been and do not expect information on vintage Scottish souvenir jewellery from Miracle, The Ward Brothers, Exquisite or Hollywood. Pages of photographs of agate and silver brooches and bracelets. But complicated by the photo guide at the end of the book. A good starter book to recognize Scottish motifs.

12. Warman's Jewelry: Fine & Costume Jewelry 4Th Edition by Kathy Flood (ISBN 1-4402-0801-8)

This is the 4Th edition of the Warman's Jewelry Identification and Price Guide. So 3 other books to obtain and read. In this edition two centuries are covered with pearls, figural, cameos, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and plastic. The difference between Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian jewellery. Again page after page of jewellery photographs. Good mix of fresh antique, vintage and modern jewellery. A mix of world wide designs hat I found applicable to the UK. US book with $ price guide (2010)

This is just a brief reference of general books for vintage jewellery that will change as more books come onto the market or I discover out of print books. Then there are more specific books on Bengal, Avon, Sarah Coventry, Egyptian Revival jewellery, Haskell, D & E, Wilson & Butler and so many more to read