Contact Cheryl Casey if you're interested in creating and publishing OER.
Tools to create OER
- Pressbooks is a web-based software that lets you collaboratively create ebooks and publish them in a variety of formats (PDF, EPUB, and others). It includes H5P integration for creating interactive learning activities. The Pressbooks User Guide, Pressbooks video tutorials, and monthly webinars can get you started. Read the Libraries' OER and Pressbooks Policies.
- Manifold is an open-source publishing platform that produces open access books for the UA Press's Open Arizona project. As a member of the Open Education Network (OEN), the University of Arizona has free access to Manifold.
- Open Author is a tool from OER Commons that helps you build and publish OER. You'll need to create a free account.
Support for open textbook authors
Several resources are available to help open textbook authors:
- The OEN's Faculty Open Textbook Publishing Orientation (Pub101 for Authors) is a free course open to everyone in the Canvas learning management system.
- The OEN's Open Textbook Publishing Orientation (PUB 101) is another free course open to everyone in Canvas.
- Accessibility Guide for U of A Pressbooks Authors explains Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1 AA standards and how Pressbooks’ built-in tools can help book creators meet them.
- The Rebus Guide to Publishing Open Textbooks (So Far), from the Rebus Community, offers comprehensive resources for creating an open textbook.
- Authoring Open Textbooks, from the OEN, features a checklist for getting started, case studies of publishing programs, textbook organization and elements, writing resources, and an overview of useful tools.
- Open Education Self-Publishing Guide, from BCcampus, provides details on the preparation, planning, writing, publication, and maintenance of an open textbook. Copyright, open-copyright licenses, and the differences between citation and attribution are discussed, as well as the importance of copy editing and proofreading. Checklists and templates also are provided.
- Open Textbook Toolkit, from several universities in Canada, is for faculty who want to create their first open textbook. Sections cover stakeholders, technology, copyright, accessibility, production, and classroom use.
- Guide to Making Open Textbooks with Students, from the OEN, is a handbook for faculty interested in practicing open pedagogy by involving students in the making of open textbooks, ancillary materials, or other OER.
BCcampus Accessibility Toolkit — 2nd Edition provides resources for content creators, instructional designers, educational technologists, librarians, and others to create a truly open textbook that's free and accessible for all students.
How to edit open textbooks
- Modifying an Open Textbook: What You Need to Know from the OEN focuses on the technological aspects of editing existing open textbooks, and will help you assess the effort, expertise, and technical tools needed. It also includes step-by-step instructions for importing and editing common open textbook file and platform types.
- UA employees and students have free access to the complete suite of Adobe Creative Cloud products, which include Acrobat Pro DC for editing PDFs and Dreamweaver CC for editing HTML.
How to add Creative Commons logos and label your work
Download high-quality logos from Creative Commons.
Make sure to label your work to add attribution. Here's sample wording: "OER Toolkit" by Cheryl Casey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
It's very important to include the link to the deed of the Creative Commons license used. If you need help with this, contact Cheryl Casey.