Textbooks: the potential of Open

Open access isn't just about research, but can be invaluable in supporting teaching and learning. Continuing our series of Open Access Week themed posts, Sarah Thompson writes about developments in Open textbooks...

Image courtesy of opensource.com, https://goo.gl/images/m4HDqJ 

Supporting student reading

Like most academic libraries in the UK, we take the provision of student reading very seriously. It is standard practice at York to buy at least one copy of every Recommended book on a reading list, and multiple copies of books marked as Essential. Wherever possible, we buy ebooks, often in addition to print copies; surveys continue to show that while students prefer print books for close, sustained reading, ebook versions are more convenient; they can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, downloaded for offline reading, searched for keywords etc. Ebook content used in conjunction with SensusAccess or screen reading software can also be easier than print books for many people with visual or learning disabilities/difficulties.

Isn’t everything available as an ebook?

Unfortunately, not all books cited by lecturers on their reading lists are available digitally on library ebook aggregated platforms such as Dawsonera, Ebook Central and VLeBooks. Those that are available may only be sold on a restricted use model and therefore are only available to a small number of people at the same time (1 or 3 concurrent user licences are common) and, in addition, are usually subject to Digital Rights Management (DRM) which restricts printing and copying to a set amount (for example, 10% of a book). These restrictions are usually in place for titles which publishers have classified as Textbooks, and they negate many of the convenient features of ebooks. We know that students can at best feel frustrated, at worst put off using ebooks altogether, when they are turned away from reading an ebook because it is already ‘in use’, or they are added to a virtual queuing system.

Why the restrictions?

So, why do some publishers insist on these restrictions when allowing their textbooks to be sold to libraries via the ebook aggregated platforms? For the same commercial reasons that other textbook publishers don’t sell to these platforms in the first place: fear about lost revenue due to lost sales. The textbook publishing model is predicated on selling to individuals, not to libraries, and on selling large numbers; the biggest selling textbooks are regularly re-issued in new editions, keeping them up-to-date and maintaining new sales. Easy access to e-textbooks via the library would inevitably reduce sales to students. The e-textbook models that publishers have embraced are those that maintain and grow their revenues: rental models to students, subscription models to libraries and sales to institutions. The institutional model provides access for a pre-defined cohort of students via platforms such as Kortext and Bibliotech, and is costed on a price per student basis, usually for a period of a semester or a year; prices are high because this model presumes this is the core title for a particular module, and that it will be fully incorporated into lectures, seminars, activists, tests and assignments. These costs are unlikely to be scalable or sustainable if applied to all modules across the university, and - perhaps even more importantly - they do not seem fair or proportionate when textbooks are not integral to the teaching of a module, but are merely one of a number of resources which students are directed or encouraged to read.

https://openstax.org/

Open Textbooks

Could Open be the solution to escalating, unaffordable textbook prices, while also delivering content that is free from copyright and digital rights restrictions? A number of interesting Open Textbook initiatives are happening in the US, where students are expected to buy their own textbooks. One notable initiative is OpenStax, which produces peer-reviewed, openly licensed online textbooks that are free to use and adopt. Open licencing means students can share the content on social networks, discussion forums and in blended learning environments without any restriction, or convert it into a format that meets their study habits. They will have access throughout the whole of their course, not just during the relevant module or semester, as well as later for lifelong learning. OpenStax are supported by Rice University and a number of philanthropic foundations.

Other initiatives

https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/

The Open Textbook Library is another significant US initiative, again supported by educational and charitable organisations. They don’t produce their own content, but instead provide a managed listing of free, peer-reviewed, and openly-licensed textbooks from different authors and publishers. Like OpenStax, all their titles can be freely used and adopted. Almost all have a licence that permits them to be edited and for a derivative to be created, e.g. for use outside the US it might be helpful to add local or regional contexts and examples. Other examples of major platforms include College Open Textbooks and OER Commons.Tools like Open Author support people who want to create open educational resources and make them widely available. In addition, there are regional initiatives such as BCcampus OpenEd, eCampusOntario and Florida’s Orange Grove.

http://ukopentextbooks.org/

What’s happening in the UK?

The UK Open Textbook project set out to raise awareness and host activities to encourage the adoption of open textbooks. It has reached the end of its pilot phase and is now seeking further funding; you can read a report of its achievements to date in the Insights article “Open textbooks – an untapped opportunity for universities, colleges and schools”. Jisc’s Institution as e-textbook publisher project, which has just completed, has worked with the universities of Liverpool, Nottingham, UCL and the Highlands and Islands and Edinburgh Napier to support them in creating their own e-textbooks (8 in total) and experiment with different business and licensing models. Both of these projects are important and will hopefully drive further research and experimentation. But so far there’s been relatively little activity, especially when compared to initiatives elsewhere in the world.

Interested? Please get in touch

We’d love to hear from anyone at York who’s might be interested in adopting or adapting an existing open textbook, or potentially creating their own - contact me or your Academic Liaison Librarian. Let’s start a conversation and see what we can achieve together.

Sarah Thompson is Head of Collections at the University of York Library. She is responsible for the the teams who acquire, catalogue and make available print and electronic information resources, as well the budgets associated with acquiring those resources and the technology that underpins their management and discovery.