Office Hours June 2019: More than a Button – Getting Open Textbooks into Print
Channel: Rebus Community
Date: 2019-07-09

The special guests at this month's session of the Rebus Community and Open Textbook Network Office Hours were Amanda Wentworth (OER Publishing Coordinator, SUNY); Jonathan Lashley (Senior Instructional Technologist, Boise State University); Elizabeth Mays (Director of Sales & Marketing, Pressbooks); and Brian Mosher (Director, Chemeketa Press).

While digital technologies offer a host of exciting possibilities for OER, there’s still just something special about print. From enabling reliable offline access to evoking that feeling of holding a “real” book—printed OER are an important part of the ecosystem. In this session, our guests explored some of the practical elements of getting open textbooks into print, including assessing print-on-demand suppliers, on-campus printing options, ISBNs, dealing with bookstores, and creating print covers. We also touched on the importance of print books as an accessible option for students, a handy marketing tool, a thank you gift for contributors, and a marker of legitimacy in certain contexts.

The audio and chat transcripts of this session is available on the Rebus Community website: https://about.rebus.community/2019/07/09/june-office-hours-more-than-a-button-getting-open-textbooks-into-print/

Looking for resources shared during the call, or want to tell us your own thoughts about your experience printing open textbooks or what printed OER means to you? Head over to the Rebus Community platform:https://www.rebus.community/t/office-hours-more-than-a-button-getting-open-textbooks-into-print-27-june-2019-2pm-est-6pm-utc/1447