College Open Textbooks

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Art

"Dunes with Fence"

We believe strongly that the arts aren't somehow an extra part of our national life, but instead we feel that the arts are at the heart of our national life. --First Lady Michelle Obama

This textbook was nominated for the 2010 Text and Academic Authors Association's (TAA) "TEXTY" Textbook Excellence Award. Winners announced in June 2010.

Featured Textbook: "Smarthistory: Art History Conversation" (2009)

Authors: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker (plus many other contributing editors) Textbook URL: http://www.smarthistory.org Reviewer: Kate Jordahl. Professor, Photography and Digital Imaging Foothill College Fine Arts and Communications Division

s. *Average of all chapters. Maximum rating is 5.0.

Reviewer's Comments

I recommend this excellent site. I do have concerns about the accessibility of the site and see room for improvement. I mention this knowing that Smarthistory is free and wonderfully ad-free. This resource grows from volunteers and grants and represents a great accomplishment. In a time when textbook companies are trying to charge extra for students to access web support materials or offer sites that are visually primitive, it is wonderful that this rich, dynamic resource is freely available for students anywhere there is high-speed internet.

Textbook: "Digital Foundations: Introduction to Media Design with the Adobe Creative Suite " (Wiki)"

Author(s): Xtine Burrough And Michael Mandiberg Textbook URL: http://wiki.digital-foundations.net/index.php?title=Table_of_Contents

Reviewer:Kate Jordahl, Professor, Photography and Digital Imaging Foothill College Fine Arts and Communications Division

*Average of all chapters. Maximum rating is 5.0.

Reviewer's Comments

I recommend this textbook with some reservations. This textbook, while similar in content to the Floss edition, is not as easy to follow or download. This version is good for a faculty who wished to only use one or two chapters. This Wiki focuses on the Adobe Creative Suite of programs, the standards of the design and photography industries, and is more useful for students going forward as majors in the fine and applied arts. The book has a good mix of technical/software and visual/artistic/historical material. In addition to being a textbook for an entire Design Foundations class, the chapters are easy to use as stand-alone supplements or to help advanced students review basic concepts.

"Digital Foundations"

Author(s): Xtine Burrough And Michael Mandiberg Textbook URL: http://digital-foundations.net/

Reviewer: Kate Jordahl, Professor, Photography and Digital Imaging Foothill College Fine Arts and Communications Division

*Average of all chapters. Maximum rating is 5.0.

Reviewer's Comments

I recommend this book for faculty consideration. This textbook is easy to follow visually and has a friendly look on pages and good interface. The TOC remains on side to allow browsing. The book has a good mix of technical/software and visual/artistic/historical material. In addition to being a textbook for an entire Design Foundations class, the chapters would be easy to use as standalone supplements to a class or to help students who are in more advance classes review basic concepts. The authors have embraced the Creative Commons approach to the material, which allows faculty to reprint, reuse, remix, and build upon this work non-commercially.

Textbook: "Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy"

Author(s): Lawrence Lessig Textbook URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/47089238/Remix

Reviewer: Lani Smith, Librarian/Adjunct Professor, Ohlone College

remix - making art and commerce thrive chart

*Average of all chapters. Maximum rating is 5.0.

Reviewer's Comments

I recommend this book for community colleges and university students as well as general interest. It is suitable for business, technology, art and law majors. This book details how digital technology has, among other topics, created conflict with existing copyright laws. In sum, the author proposes that we need to create a copyright law that leaves amateur creativity free from regulation. That regulation could be avoided most simply by exempting noncommercial uses from the scope of the rights granted by copyright. Amateur remix, he believes, should be deregulated (free).

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