Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library is happy to provide access to the Open Textbook Library (OTL), a repository of nearly 800 open access e-books. The OTL is provided by the Open Education Network, a collection of approximately 120 higher education institutions, including the Washington Research Library Consortium, of which Himmelfarb Library is a member. The OTL seeks to provide a comprehensive repository for open access textbooks and is continually adding more titles from its partner institutions.
An open textbook is a print or digital text with an open copyright license that makes it free for anyone to use. They are usually written by faculty authors or other educators who aren’t finding the book they need and take it upon themselves to create a new resource. Authors can receive financial compensation for their work, either with a grant from their university or by open access providers, such as OpenStax. However, the most common return is less financial and more about “the satisfaction and convenience of having a textbook that’s tailor-made for your course, and affordable for your students” (Schmieder, 2018).
Open Access has no bearing on the quality of information presented. As the Open Education Network puts it, they “leave quality judgements to faculty with expertise in the subject area.” Faculty interested in using open textbooks should review them the same way they do any other potential textbook. In addition to undergoing review during publication, the Open Education Network also invites faculty to review open textbooks.
In addition, the Open Education Network provides resources for students, faculty, librarians, and others who are interested in writing their own open textbooks. They also offer publishing support for patrons of member institutions (including Himmelfarb patrons!).
Free and electronic open access resources are especially valuable right now, at a time when physical access to libraries is restricted for so many, and when buying textbooks may be a financial strain for students, faculty, and institutions. Open access resources can help fill the gaps where existing resources are lacking.
The OTL includes a broad range of subject areas, including Medicine, Engineering, Education, and Law. You can view the health science titles here or view the full collection here. The books can also be found in the Himmelfarb catalog. You can consult the Open Education Network’s FAQ page for more details. If you have additional questions about the quality of open access resources, or how to obtain OAR beyond the Open Textbook Library, you may contact imroberts@gwu.edu.
References
Open Education Network website. Accessed October 21, 2020. https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/faq
Schmieder, E. 4 Questions authors are asking about open textbooks. Textbook & Academic Authors Association website. August 21, 2018. Accessed October 21, 2020.
