4 Questions authors are asking about open textbooks

"Whether you are a veteran textbook author or new to the industry, you’ve likely heard of open educational resources (OER) and open textbooks by now. As with anything new, the open textbook model is faced with scrutiny and questions from those familiar with the traditional publishing process. It’s also laden with opportunities, such as the current $5M open textbook pilot program. To better understand the open textbook model, specifically what is the same and what is different from traditional publishing options, we asked some questions of several leaders in the open textbook movement. Here’s what we learned.

Q: As an author, if I wanted to write an open textbook, where should I start?

Dave Dillon, TAA member and open textbook author of Blueprint for Success in College and Career, suggests starting with an understanding of Creative Commons Licensing and the 5Rs of OER: retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. Most open textbooks are published under the CC BY licensing option that permits all five, while still allowing creators to retain copyright over the books. Dillon says, “with that understanding, there are endless possibilities and greater academic freedom with open content. An author can become more of a curator, if open content already exists in your discipline.” As a curator, rather than a creator, you can speed up the textbook development process through adoption and customization of existing content rather than “recreating the wheel.”..."