UMass students, library, others want more faculty to take advantage of open source material to save students costs | masslive.com

"Since the provost's office and the university libraries launched the Open Education Initiative in 2011, University of Massachusetts students have saved more than $1 million in textbook costs. UMass wants more faculty to participate to help students save even more by applying for the $1,000 in grants that help faculty find ways to bring course material to class using proprietary library resources and open educational resources, which are digital materials available at no cost through so-called open licenses. Marilyn Billings, scholarly communication and special initiatives librarian at UMass, led a panel program Thursday afternoon at the Faculty Senate meeting showing what has been accomplished and hoping that others will apply. Grants applications are due April 22. While there are only ten available, she said if there’s a greater interest she’ll try to find more funding. Hossein Pishro-Nik, an associate professor, electrical and computer engineering, said he wrote a book for his students with the help of a the grant and since then has saved his students more than $43,000 ..."