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Open Educational Resources (OER)

a guide for instructors and faculty to learn more about Open Education Resources, where to find them, how to use them, and how to create them

Printing and Publishing OER

Publishing

How to Use Open Author on OER Commons

  • OER Commons - Create with Open Author

    • Add your particular expertise to the wider community. Create Open Educational Resources (OER) with our publishing tool, Open Author. Open Author helps you build Open Educational Resources, lesson plans, and courses (on your own, or with others) — and then publish them, to the benefit of educators and learners everywhere. Learn more about creating on OER Commons and get started.

  • Libretext

    • Curate your own book using a wide selection of existing open resources and adding your own content.

  • Pressbooks​

    • Easily create professional print and ebook editions of your book.

 

Printing

OER need not be electronic, although "open" and "online" are often confused. Given that accessibility is often an issue with online resources and there are many reasons that a student may want a printed version of an online text, it is a best practice to provide students with the option of purchasing a printed version of their text. Depending on how the resource is licensed, "profiting" from the creation of a printed resource may be prohibited. It is, however, appropriate for the costs associated with printing, shelving, and selling to be recouped. While some colleges have established model approaches to making this happen, others struggle with ensuring options for printed OER are available. To find out more, contact the Gavilan Bookstore to see what your options are.

 

Print-On-Demand (POD) Options

Various providers will print your OER resource for you. When selecting a POD provider, be sure to confirm the associated charges and the expected time for the resource to be delivered. The services provided by the various providers will vary.

Consider discussing print options with the Campus Printshop.

  • Montezuma Publishing     Housed at SDSU, this POD provider understands OER and the appropriate distinction between a for-profit bookstore and an OER-provider.

  • Lulu Printing    Create, publish, and sell your books for free.

  • BR Printers     A great option for bulk purchases as they have reasonably priced color and fully bound options. 

  • Amazon Print on Demand

"Publishing and Printing" by Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI), Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 / A derivative from the original work