2010-06-26 open-access textbooks (text and academic authors association conference)
DESCRIPTION
Introduction to open-access publishing for authors, co-presented with Heather Joseph from SPARC 6 June 2010 Text and Academic Authors Association Conference Minneapolis, MNTRANSCRIPT
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Open-Access Textbooks
Nicole AllenThe Student PIRGs2010 TAA Conference
June 25, 2010
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The Problem
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The Problem
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Textbook Price Increases in Perspective Percent Change 1986-2004 Students spend
$900 per year
Prices rising 2-4x inflation
•Students spend$900 per year
•Prices rising 2-4x inflation
•Affects some students more than others
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The Problem
Broken MarketFlawed market structure gives publishers too much power
Producer
Consumer
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The Problem
Broken MarketFlawed market structure gives publishers too much power
Publisher
Student Professor
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The Problem
Broken ModelSelf-destructive business model drives publisher market abuses
Students
Bookstore
Publisher
Each textbook is bought and sold several times, but the publisher only
profits on the first sale
used books
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About Open Textbooks
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About Open Textbooks
1. A textbookWhat is an open textbook?
!2. Open license
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About Open Textbooks
For most open licenses...Rights users get:•Access at no cost
•Copy & reformat
•Distribute copies
And usually...•Customization
Rights authors keep:•Attribution
And sometimes...•Commercial use
•Customization
•Relicensing
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About Open Textbooks
1. A textbook
2. Open license
3. Online access
What is an open textbook?
! 4. Other formats
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About Open Textbooks
48%Comfortable with digital
70% wanted the option to use both
94%Comfortable with print
Students showed a strong preference for print as their primary format.
75%Print
25%Digital
40%Free
online
60%Low-cost
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About Open Textbooks
PDFfree
Kinkos$25.00
Print on demand$29.35
Onlinefree Kindle DX
free
Sony Reader
free
LaTeXfree Self-print
at cost
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About Open Textbooks
PDF$24.95
Print (B+W)$29.95
Onlinefree
Print (color)$59.95
Audio book$39.95
Self-printat cost
Study package$14.95
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Open Textbook Models
E-books and Open Textbooks:•Digital
•One of several format options
•Readable on computer or e-reader
•Marginal cost near zero
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About Open Textbooks
E-books• Need passcode
• Limited license
• Mutually exclusive with other formats
• Still prone to piracy
Open Books• Worldwide access
• License is forever
• Other formats are optional
• Piracy not an issue
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Why open textbooks?
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Why Open Textbooks?
Publisher
Student Professor
Open textbooks fix the problem by making the market more student centric
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Why Open Textbooks?
Students
Bookstore
Publisher
used books
Students
Bookstore
Publisher
Open TextbooksBroken Model
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Open Textbook Models
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Open Textbook Models
1. Individual authors•Personal motivations
•Sabbatical time/grant funding
•Count open textbooks toward tenure?
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Open Textbook Models
2. Institutional projects• A consortium of 80+ community colleges is
pooling resources to write and review texts
• Rice University founded CNX.org, a platform that hosts numerous open books
• Hewlett & Maxfield Foundations funded the creation of a new open textbook
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Open Textbook Models
3. Government funding• A new bill introduced by Sen. Durbin (D-IL)
would create a federal grant program to create open textbooks through the NSF
• The WA community college system received state funding to create open curriculum & texts for the 80 highest enrollment courses.
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Open Textbook Models
4. Commercial publishersFlat World Knowledge is the first open textbook publisher. Their first books launched in spring 2009, and are now used at over 400 schools.
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What You Can Do
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What You Can Do
•Seek, consider and adopt open textbooks in your own courses
•Give preference to publishers with open-access business models
•Regain the rights to older books and release them as open textbooks
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What You Can Do
•Join us at the table as we pursue federal funding for open textbooks
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Open-Access Textbooks
Nicole AllenThe Student PIRGs2010 TAA Conference
June 25, 2010