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Open Educational Resources

Let's make an OpenCCBC!

Basic Questions

Questions about the textbook:

  • In what file format(s) is the open textbook currently available?
  • How much content needs to be changed: a few sentences or entire chapters?
  • Do illustrations, graphs, or charts need to be changed?

Questions about your resources and plans:

  • How comfortable are you with technology? Do you have access to software or other help you may need?
  • Is it important that your version of the textbook be available in multiple formats?
  • Do you plan to share your adapted textbook only with your students or with a wider audience?

Steps to Modify a Textbook

Step 1: Check License

First, confirm that the open textbook you want to adapt has a license that allows modification and redistribution on the scale you need.

Step 2: Identify Format

For this step, you’ll want to identify the format of the open textbook you’d like to modify. Below are examples of the different files types and the platforms needed to read them.

File Type

How Do I Read It?

Example
PDF Adobe Reader Beyond Lean:
Simulation in Practice
HTML Any internet browser Human Relations
EPUB eBook readers (except Kindle), iPhone and Android apps, Firefox and Chrome add-ons, Google Play books Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom
MOBI (.AZW3) Kindle eBook Financial Accounting
Pressbooks (.WXR) Any internet browser Financial Accounting
OpenStax Any internet browser Anatomy and Physiology

Step 3: Assess Editability

Now that you’ve identified the format type of the open textbook you’d like to edit, you can assess the editability of that format. Use the chart below as a general guide. Click the link for Step 3 to find more about formatting illustrations and mathematical characters and equations and to consult the Format Guides for more details on each format.

Format

How Editable?

Recommendation

Software/Expertise
PDF Minor changes are easy. Easy to move sections and pages. Impossible to repaginate or make major changes. Make only minor changes, obtain
native file, use Microsoft Word,
or copy/paste into another format.		 Moving pages around requires Adobe Acrobat Pro DC ($).
HTML Highly editable. Requires comfort with software tools and markup language. Requires HTML expertise and/or software. Requires coding expertise or
Adobe Dreamweaver ($).
EPUB Highly editable. Requires comfort
with software tools.		 Edit as EPUB. Pressbooks (see below), calibre (no cost); Sigil (no cost). XML-based format.
MOBI (.AZW3) Requires conversion to other format. Highly editable. Requires comfort with software. (See EPUB) Convert into EPUB to edit. (See EPUB) Many online tools;
(See EPUB)
Pressbooks
(.WXR)		 Highly editable. Requires access to and comfort with Pressbooks platform. Obtain .WXR file. Edit in Pressbooks or export and edit as EPUB. Requires access to Pressbooks. Access and support via Open Textbook Network;  free account also available.
OpenStax Editable in OpenStax Connexions Legacy Editor. Legacy Editor is best for minor changes, like making a custom edition with selected chapters of a larger work. Not recommended for a major edit or rewrite. Requires Connexions Legacy Editor (no cost).

Step 4: Determine Access

Offering multiple formats of your open textbook is a key way to ensure greater access to it. Go to the Accessibility guide to make sure that your OER is meeting all accessibility standards.

Step 5: Publish Textbook

This step is applicable if you plan to publish your edited textbook for use beyond your classroom. 

  • Give Attribution for the content and media using Creative Commons
  • Make the textbook findable in a repository
  • Solicit feedback if desired from peers or the OER community