Guide for Adopting Open Textbooks: A Tutorial

To use open textbooks in your courses you need to:

   1. Find the right textbook
   2. Review and evaluate it
   3. Decide if you want to edit or update it
   4. Distribute it to your students
 
1. Find the right textbook
Use course objectives to write a list of search terms. (example search terms)

• Keep in mind the level, or depth of textbook you need.
• Remember: the book you select must be accessible to people with disabilities (see step 2 below)
• Be sure to check copyrights. Use books with permission, under creative commons or other open licensing, or public      domain (see step 2 below)

 
Go to the COT-identified repositories listed below for open textbooks and search. Use advanced search options to narrow results. (example narrow search)

• Connexions: http://cnx.org/
• Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/education
• Commonwealth of learning: http://www.col.org/resources/crsMaterials/Pages/default.aspx
• Orange Grove Text Plus: http://www.theorangegrove.org/OGTtest.htm
• CK12: http://about.ck12.org/
• Curriki: http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome
• Hippocampus: http://www.hippocampus.org/
• Wikibooks: http://en.wikibooks.org/
• The Assayer: http://theassayer.org/

• College Open Textbooks:  http://www.collegeopentextbooks.org/home.html
• Advanced Technical Education: http://atecentral.net/
• Applied Math and Science Education Repository: http://amser.org/index.php?P=Home
• FREE:Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: http://www.free.ed.gov/
• Creative Commons: http://search.creativecommons.org/
• OER Commons: http://www.oercommons.org/courses/material_types/textbooks
• Student PIRGS: http://www.studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks/catalog
• USG Share: http://usgshare.org/access/home.do
• CSU Affordable Learning Solutions: http://als.csuprojects.org
• MERLOT: http://www.merlot.org/

Additional resources:
 

• CCCOER  http://cccoer.wordpress.com/resources/
• Directory of Open Access Repositories: http://www.opendoar.org/find.php
• Edu2.0: http://www.edu20.org/

Tools to Help you Search, Select, and Distribute

• Search terms tool (MS Word form)
• Search terms tool (PDF form)
   

2. Review and evaluate it

Review each resource that matches your criteria and choose the one you like.

Tools to Help you Search, Select, and Distribute

• Accessibility: Important Guidelines
• Copyright Conundrums
• Evaluation Criteria

3. Decide if you want to edit or update it

If you want to make edits or append content, make sure the licensing allows that. Different repositories will have different options for editing and publishing revised copies.

Tools to Help

• Revising a Textbook

4. Distribute it to your students

Choose how students will get the book and distribute to your class.

Tools to Help

• Getting Textbooks to Students