Open Textbooks

Definition

From the Wikipedia [1]:

"An open textbook is an openly-licensed textbook offered online by its author(s). The open license sets open textbooks apart from traditional textbooks by allowing users to read online, download, or print the book at no cost.

Open textbooks are increasingly seen as a potential solution to some of the challenges with the traditional textbook publishing. model.

For a textbook to be considered open, it must be licensed in a way that grants a baseline set of rights to users that are less restrictive than its standard copyright. A license or list of permissions must be clearly stated by the author.

Generally, the minimum baseline rights allow users at least the following:

   * to use the textbook without compensating the author
   * to copy the textbook, with appropriate credit to the author
   * to distribute the textbook non-commercially
   * to shift the textbook into another format (such as digital or print)

Many authors also grant rights such as:

   * to add, remove or alter content in the textbook, often on the condition that derivative works must have the same license
   * to copy and distribute the textbook without giving credit to the author
   * to use the textbook commercially

Some advocates believe that the baseline rights must be more extensive to be considered "open". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_textbook)

Background

From a testimony for the U.S. Congress by David Wiley, a good introduction to the topic of Open Textbooks:

"Affordability. Part of the rising cost of higher education for students is the ever-increasing cost of textbooks - textbooks can add as much as $1000 per year to the cost of college. The National Association of College Bookstores says prices of college textbooks have risen nearly 40 percent in the past five years. In a survey of textbooks by the California Student Public Interest Research Group, new editions of textbooks cost 58 percent more than previous versions, with an average cost of over $100 per book. (Crane, 2004; Pressler, 2004). The impact of these costs is especially severe on low-income students. According to the General Accounting Office, the costs of textbooks represents 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees at public four year schools, and almost a full three quarters of the cost of tuition and fees at 2 year public schools where low-income students are more likely to enroll (Bershears, 2005).

Frankly, the textbook situation is wreaking havoc on teaching and learning practices on our campuses, with as many as 43 percent of students foregoing the purchase of required textbooks due to financial considerations (Crane, 2004). When less than three in five students in a class have the materials they need to support their learning, there must be an acute impact on educational effectiveness.

While efforts like the OpenCourseWares are making great strides in providing curriculum materials in an open way, the development of open textbooks that could be voluntarily adopted by university faculty has been very slow to occur." (http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/249)

Examples

See our entry on Open Content

An open textbook initiative by Economics Professor David Levine at http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/open.htm

The Open Textbook Initiative, at http://wiki.bssd.org/index.php/Open_Content_Textbooks

Discussion

DRM a major barrier to e-textbook adoption

Ryan Paul:

"A study published this month by a coalition of student public interest research groups (PIRGs) has identified key problems with e-textbooks, and it calls for schools and publishers to adopt open content licenses, such as those offered by Creative Commons.

The report explains that the high cost of textbooks represents a significant financial burden for many students. Although digital textbooks have the potential to mitigate this problem, a survey conducted by the student PIRGs found that e-textbook services offered by mainstream publishing companies fail to provide a compelling alternative to conventional print books.

According to the study, a majority of electronic textbooks are encumbered with DRM that limits printing to 10 pages per session and imposes a 180-day expiration period. Despite the restrictions, the electronic textbooks don't cost significantly less than physical textbooks. In fact, the study found that the total cost is roughly the same in cases where students sell textbooks back to the school bookstore at the end of a semester.

Individual students spend between $700 and $1,000 annually on textbooks, the study says. Textbook prices continue to escalate and have already increased by over 300 percent in the last 20 years. Traditional market forces aren't bringing the prices down because students are a captive audience; professors pick books but don't buy them, and students have no choice of titles for classes. To reverse this trend, the student PIRGs advocate adoption of open textbooks that can be distributed free on the Internet under open content licenses." (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080828-study-students-need-open-source-e-textbooks.html)

Source: http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/course_correction.pdf

The Student Public Interest Research Groups, at http://www.studentpirgs.org/index.html

Examples

See our entry on Open Content

An open textbook initiative by Economics Professor David Levine at http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/open.htm

The Open Textbook Initiative, at http://wiki.bssd.org/index.php/Open_Content_Textbooks