OpenStax conversion to Pressbooks

Hello!

@Apuva or whomever:
I am looking to transfer some content from OpenStax to Pressbooks. Is XML the best way to go? And once I download the zip file, which file(s) do I upload? And if I only wish to transfer one chapter, how do I download/upload that? Thank you!

@dave.dillon Hi Dave, hopefully our conversation on Friday during the drop-in webinar clarified the different options you could take for this (trying to import with the BCcampus plugin in the Pressbooks sandbox or copy/paste). Let us know how you get on!

Can you please share the different options online as I too have a similar question? Thanks.

More than happy to! You may have heard the news from BCcampus, where members of their team recently added 33 OpenStax books into their Pressbooks library (see their announcement). This makes it much easier for instructors hoping to adapt or customize OpenStax books, by following the instructions in their announcement linked above (with no need for any plugins whatsoever). Let me know if this helps with your question, or if you had more to ask.

Thank you for your reply and I was aware of this good news. Unfortunately, our group had already started editing and now need to export from the CNX editor into Pressbooks. We will probably contact BCcampus and learn how they did this.

Ah yes, it’s a bit trickier since they’ve already started editing. I’m tagging a few people from the BCcampus team here if they can offer any advice to you or others who might be in similar situations: @jgray, @laesoph - do either of you have any suggestions for Van?

Thanks, Apurva, for passing on my problem. I look forward to hearing from them.

Best,

Van

No worries, Van. Hopefully they can offer some help!

Hi @vansorat,

We imported these books into Pressbooks using the OpenStax import plugin that we have installed on our instance. But if you’ve already starting editing in CNX, copy and pasting the content is probably your best bet. If you are able to export the content so I could have access to the zip file, I might be able to import into Pressbooks for you, but no guarantee.

Best,
Josie

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Also I think I have two accounts on this forum because I keep forgetting which email addresses I signed up with, hence the change in user name.

Josie, I’ve sent you a direct message at this account to help smooth out the issue with your accounts and help you keep better track of things here. :slight_smile:

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Hi Josie,

Thank you for reaching out and offering to test an import for me. I would like to try that. Should I send it to your email? Thanks.
Van

Hi @vansorat,
The way our plugin works, I need a link to the publicly posted zip file that OpenStax provides for their books. So if you do have a link to the zip file, you can send that to me at jgray@bccampus.ca.

If not, I will try to upload the zip file directly to Pressbooks and see if that works. If the file is too big to send via email let me know and I can set up a drop box.

I am sorry for the delay in replying. The textbook has not been published and currently exists in draft mode on the Legacy CNX editing console. The modules include those within OpenStax published books and modules that others have made, adapting OpenStax modules which are only available within the editing platform. We can download a zip folder but the index file is in CNXML and there are images but no style sheet or java script files. Could I give you a call the week of Nov 11? It might be easier to explain it by phone and to get a better idea of what we should send you to test. Thanks!

Hi Van, Sorry I can’t help you with exporting from CNX to Pressbooks. Good luck! Lauri

Thank you, Lauri, for letting me know.