Open Textbook Publishing at Oregon State University: A Partnership among

the Libraries, Press, and Open Oregon State

Faye A. ChadwellDianna Fisher

Open Educational Resource values

Land grant mission

Libraries, University Press and OER

Future of publishing partnership

The Broader Context

Overview of The

Oregon State University

Open Textbook Initia

tive

The Problem

• Top 6 highest enrolled courses at OSUover 1 million dollars

• More than half (63%) reported not having purchased the required textbook because of the high cost

• Given a choice between courses to satisfy a requirement students are not taking the class that interests them, they are choosing the one with the least expensive textbook.

OSU Student

Each term, I pay more for books than my monthly rent

INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP

A BEGINNING: FOUR SUCCESSFUL PROPOSALS

SUBJECT COVERAGE

ANIMAL NUTRITION

BIOCHEMISTRY

BIOINFORMATICS

ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT

Lessons LearnedFocus on shared purpose and

good communication.

Emphasize respective strengths of each partner.

Consider your capacity for new projects.

Don’t forget your true audience.

Market. Promote. Repeat

• Oregon Legislature has provided funding• Request for Proposals for “pub-

ready”• Collaboration with others• Being ambassadors for OER and

OA

Future Direction

Issues to Address

• Peer Review• Difficult of finding• Inconsistency• Across disciplines• Within disciplines