Open Education Resources (OER): Textbooks

Features

• Includes publications relevant to Arts & Humanities, Business & Economics, Engineering & Computer Science, Law, Science, and Social Sciences.
• From 2018, the majority of ANU Press titles are published under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND). Please refer to the copyright page of each book for more information on a the copyright licensing for each specific item.

Features

Free digital texts compiled by Deakin University

Can be distributed for free, printed at cost price

Modified for local needs and curriculum

Aiming to increase indigenous, multi-cultural and gender-balanced content to make more inclusive, welcoming Australian textbooks

Features:

The primary aim of DOAB is to increase discoverability of Open Access books. Academic publishers are invited to provide metadata of their Open Access books to DOAB. Metadata will be harvestable in order to maximize dissemination, visibility and impact. Aggregators can integrate the records in their commercial services and libraries can integrate the directory into their online catalogs, helping scholars and students to discover the books. The directory is open to all publishers who publish academic, peer reviewed books in Open Access and should contain as many books as possible, provided that these publications are in Open Access and meet academic standards. 

CALI (The Center for Computer-assisted Legal Instruction)

The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit consortium of law schools, law libraries, and related organizations. Specifically, CALI hosts and facilitates the creation of CALI Lessons, a library of over 1,000  interactive legal tutorials written by law professors and geared towards law students.

Features

Knowledge Unlatched has made it possible for anyone in the world with an Internet connection to read books published through the Knowledge Unlatched project for free. A PDF Open Access version of unlatched books is available from OAPEN and HathiTrust if enough pledges are secured immediately after the pledging period ends or upon publication if the title is new. The Open Access version does not not carry DRM restrictions.

All KU titles are discoverable in OAPEN’s Directory of Open Access Books, HathiTrust’s Digital Library and through library discovery tools that include: EBSCO Discovery Service, Summon and Ex Libris. Books are also listed in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB).

By building a sustainable market for Open Access books, readers in all markets, including the world’s poorest, can gain the widest possible access to high-quality scholarship.

Features

The La Trobe eBureau eBureau publications are high quality, peer-reviewed, tailored, interactive, multi-media education resources and ebooks produced by LaTrobe academic staff, openly available free of charge from any location, on any device, at any time via the LaTrobe library catalogue, the La Trobe eBureau website, or Google.

Copyright status checks relating to the use and reproduction of images, audio, video, diagrams and text ensures all published third party materials in eBureau resources meet statutory requirements related to Creative Commons licences in an open access environment.

Maryland Open Source Textbook Initiative

M.O.S.T. seeks to support higher education faculty throughout Maryland in finding, adapting, and adopting OER materials to assist students.

Milne Open / Textbooks (previously known as Open SUNY Textbooks)

Search open textbooks and courses written and curated by State University of New York (SUNY) faculty

MIT Open Courseware

Engineering, Humanities & Communication, Social Science, Information Technology, Education

Features materials from over 2,015 MIT courses, including videos, full courses and teaching resources. Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

How to search OER Commons (2:36 min) by Openauthor Youtube

Features:

• OER Commons Open Textbooks search engine helps educators avoid time-consuming searches and find exactly the right textbook.
• Search according to subject matter, Conditions of Use, Education Level, etc. to pinpoint what you need.
• Growing collection of over 50,000 high-quality OER available.
• Focus is not just on cost savings- strong encouragement to participate and co-create.
• Large number of textbooks and resources available in Health, Medicine and Nursing, along with other subjects.

Licensing

Varies from text to text. Check conditions of use for each.

Features:

• One of the most widely adopted open textbook repositories for higher education, with nearly 500 colleges and universities adopting OpenStax
• All textbooks are completely open with no strings attached.
• OpenStax College makes it easy to get high-quality textbooks for your course. You can download the books in 5 different formats including print version.

Licensing:

• All OpenStax textbooks are licensed under CC BY 3.0
• ​This license lets you distribute, remix, modify, and build upon the original work, even commercially, as long as you credit the author for the original creation.

Features:

Open Textbook Library provides about 100 open textbooks from various disciplines. These textbooks have proven quality and have been already used in classes at a large number of universities and colleges. All textbooks are completely open.

Licensing:

• Most textbooks on this website are licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA. 
• This license lets you remix, tweak, and build upon the original work non-commercially, as long as you credit the author and license your new creations under the identical terms.

Pressbooks Directory

This directory provides an index of 3,362 books published across 114 Pressbooks networks.

A collection of resources and open textbooks, including some created by RMIT University academics.

Washington 45

Washington 45 provides a list of open, Creative Commons licensed textbooks that can be downloaded or used online

Features:

• Wikibooks may not look as fancy other open books providers but it is truly a community effort. Authors voluntarily start the book writing project, and readers can nominate them to be “featured books.”
• You can contribute to an existing Wikibook or start a new Wikibook. If you cannot find the openly available textbook in your discipline area, this is a nice place to begin the work.
• PDF versions are available for easy printing.

Licensing:

• All Wikibooks are licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
• This license lets you remix, modify, and build upon the original work even for commercial purposes, as long as you credit the author and license your new creations under the identical terms.