Session 12 - Special Topics and Review

Textbook Success Program May 2020 Cohort
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@may20-cohort thanks everyone for attending our last weekly session! We’ll be moving into monthly check-ins starting September 8, see details: September Monthly Check-in. I’ve also put together a short evaluation to gather your feedback about the sessions so far, and to help improve our conversations over the remainder of the program. Please take a moment to fill it in over the next few weeks: Post-Sessions Evaluation — May 20 Cohort.

Questions and Discussion

  1. @poritzj asked about the usefulness of an “Index” — are students still using this backmatter type? @mbranson encouraged us to think also about its applicability in print books, for instructors, and for mature students.
  2. @w.j.palmer & @wernerwestermannj wondered how the interactive elements in the web book would translate into other digital and print formats. What do creators need to keep in mind for this change? What elements are necessary for texts to function?
  3. @w.j.palmer suggested using link shorteners when displaying the URL of hyperlinks in the print OER.

Chat Transcript

Lots of resources shared in the chat transcript, which I have rounded up below:

Lesson Recap

We hope that 12 weeks of the TSP have helped you see that the open publishing process is not as mysterious or complex as you may have thought! You may have seen some patterns forming between each of the stages we’ve covered. While we’re not doing an in-depth overview of each stage, we’re hoping that you can keep in mind these general principles to guide you along your way:

  • Plan ahead and revisit your approach at each stage (think through the process, create supporting documents, and meet with your team before diving into action)
  • Be public about the work on your project (so everyone on the team is on the same page, and so others know how to chip in or offer support)
  • Consider your audience and their needs from the very beginning (so your resource is more accessible, usable, and valuable)
  • Collaborate and provide pathways for people to join (different perspectives can strengthen your resource, and more people can help share the workload)
  • Nothing is set in stone or unchangeable (your resource can mould to fit changing needs or goals, and can be easily modified even after it is released)
  • Books and communities go hand in hand (you are creating both an OER and a group or team around this OER who is invested in using it and seeing it live on)

We also talked about frontmatter and backmatter elements that help your book feel like a more professionally created resource. There are a number of reasons to include these elements in your book, and in fact, they can benefit students, instructors, adopters, and help market or promote the book. Think about what elements might be necessary for your discipline, students, and teachers using the book — to help them understand open licenses, the production processes the book has been through, additional resources to supplement the book content. Also take into consideration how you would like to feature your team and gather feedback from adopters. Remember that Pressbooks will auto-generate some elements for you, letting you focus on the rest! Look at other OERs for examples and inspiration as you add these final touches.