1. The Open Textbook Publishing Pilot
A Collaborative Approach to the Next Generation of Open Textbooks
Intro Slide
Hi, I’m Chelle Batchelor, Coordinator for Access Services at the University of Washington Libraries. I’m going to be talking about a really exciting pilot project I’m involved in, called the Open Textbook Publishing Pilot.
Chelle Batchelor, Coordinator for Access Services
University of Washington Libraries

2. Presentation Outline Pilot goals Components / participants
Current status
In my 5 minutes of fame I’ll explain what we’re trying to achieve, who is involved, and where we are in the process.

3. The Goal "Googly" by Barb Dybwad is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The goal of this open textbook publishing pilot is to create something amazing – the ability for anyone who wants to publish a new open textbook to be able to do so. Right now at UW I know of at least five people who are interested in the idea of publishing an open textbook, but they don’t have a way to publish the book. So this pilot is an effort to figure out how to provide all the tools an author might need, throughout all parts of the publishing process.
"Googly" by Barb Dybwad is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

4. The Components “Ingredients” by Andrea Goh licensed under CC BY 2.0
A number of really important and interesting components have come together to form this pilot project.
“Ingredients” by Andrea Goh licensed under CC BY 2.0

5. The Open Textbook Network
An alliance of higher education institutions committed to improving access, affordability, and academic success through the use of open textbooks.
Starting with the key component - The Open Textbook Network. This is a network of institutions that are committed to promoting the use of open textbooks. Dave Ernst is the executive director, Sarah Cohen is the Managing Director and they have recently been joined by Karen Lauristen, the Director of Publishing and Collections. She will be the project lead for the publishing pilot.
"Sugar" by Andrei Niemimäki is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

6. The Participating Institutions
Cleveland State University
University of Arizona
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
University of Washington
Currently there are four institutions from the Open Textbook Network participating in the pilot. I’ve also heard that we will be joined by institutions from other networks, possibly BC Open and several others, but I don’t think those partnerships have been announced yet.
“arm and hammer baking soda” by Rakka is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

7. The Authors “untitled” by herr_hartmann is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Each institution has at least one Author committed to publishing an Open Textbook. At UW our authors have proposed an Introduction to the Digital Humanities textbook and a Public Financial Management textbook. We have one other possible author who is investigating whether the platform will support the creation of interactive texts that support active learning. If it does, he will create an interactive Educational Psychology textbook.
“untitled” by herr_hartmann is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

8. The Platform https://pressbooks.com/ http://reb.us/
Speaking of the platform! The pilot will utilize Pressbooks, an open source book production tool that many institutions are already using to create open textbooks. We will also be piloting a new platform called Rebus. Honestly, I have no idea what Rebus is going to look like, but my current understanding is that it will support the creation of a community of academic staff, faculty and students who will all be able to work together in an open and collaborative publishing model.
”Flour" by cbertel is licensed under CC BY 2.0

9. The Developer http://hughmcguire.net/
The developer we’ve been working with is Hugh McGuire. He is not only the founder of Pressbooks, but he also founded LibriVox: an open, volunteer-based non-profit organization that supports the creation of audio book versions of public domain works. Hugh said in our first meeting with him that he was inspired by LibriVox to create a way to take a similar community-based approach to publishing open textbooks. Thus, the idea for Rebus was born.
”Ganache de Chocolate" by Luisa Contreras is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

10. The Other Interested Parties
We also have some really exciting partners here at the UW. Our University Press is involved because they are interested in figuring out how they might fit into this new model of open textbook publishing, and our Disability Resources for Students office is involved with an eye toward ensuring that the textbooks that are ultimately produced as a result of the pilot are as accessible to users with disabilities as possible.
”Sally makes her own cookie monster cupcakes" by Jose Martinez is licensed under CC BY 2.0

11. The Process
So, where are we in this whole creative process? Well, we’re at the very beginning. Pilot participants have met, we’ve been provided with access to a shared instance of Pressbooks, and we’ve received training on how to use it.
At UW, I have a grad student who has started moving content into Pressbooks and I’ll be meeting with my faculty authors when I get back from the summer meeting. Hugh is working on Rebus and I’m sure he’ll have more information for us about it soon.
So, we’ve taken a few steps forward, but we’re really just getting started!
”Indy v Kitchen Aid" by splityarn is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

12. Stay tuned…
If your institution is a member of the Open Textbook Network and you’re on their distribution list, you’ll likely get updates periodically. We’ll be presenting an update at the OpenEd conference in November in Richmond Virginia, so if you’re going to the conference, please come to our session! And of course, feel free to catch me after the session and let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll try to keep you posted on our progress.
“Last night a DJ saved my life…" by Michael Verhoef is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

13. Chelle Batchelor bchelle@uw.edu
Here’s my contact information, thanks much!