email sent to List of Teaching Faculty
April 30, 2020
April 30, 2020
Good morning, colleagues.
This is a reminder email about textbook options for Summer and Fall 2020.
First, a cautionary note: we know that this semester (Spring 2020) many students are relying on temporary free access to electronic versions of their textbooks. We librarians have worked diligently to connect faculty and students with these resources. In many cases these textbooks are only available because the publishers have temporarily opened up access during the height of the COVID-19 emergency, and there is no certainty that this access will continue into Summer and Fall.
We wanted to make you aware of some other textbook resources, in case you are in a position to consider alternatives:
First, a cautionary note: we know that this semester (Spring 2020) many students are relying on temporary free access to electronic versions of their textbooks. We librarians have worked diligently to connect faculty and students with these resources. In many cases these textbooks are only available because the publishers have temporarily opened up access during the height of the COVID-19 emergency, and there is no certainty that this access will continue into Summer and Fall.
We wanted to make you aware of some other textbook resources, in case you are in a position to consider alternatives:
- Through a grant-funded program, Hostos faculty have been developing “Open Educational Resources” (OER) textbooks by researching and curating collections of openly licensed resources. So far, we have published 28 OERs created by Hostos faculty, including works for Hostos courses in Anthropology, Biology, Capstone, Chemistry, Dental Hygiene, Education, English, History, Community Health, Latin American Studies, Math, Psychology, Sociology, and Visual & Performing Arts.
- In addition, in recent years faculty from across the nation have been busy writing or curating quality OER textbooks, many of them developed for student populations from community colleges. I have developed an online guide with some places to start searching for OER materials, but you can also contact me directly if you’d like some additional support as you begin exploring your options.
If you are interested in continuing to use your current textbook, you also have a couple of options:
- You can scan individual chapters of your textbook and post these in Blackboard for students. Please note that there are various apps available for scanning with a device to create a PDF, such as TurboScan (available via Apple or Google Play).
- You might also consider contacting the publisher to request access for your students.
Please feel free to reach out to me for more information, or to contact the library faculty member designated as liaison to your discipline.
Best regards,
Linda
Linda Miles
MLS, MA, PhD
Assistant Professor – Librarian
Hostos Community College, CUNY
718-518-4212
@lmiles
