Background
Wise OSU Library Open Textbook Intiative
The Wise OSU Libraries’ Open Textbook Initiative was made possible through a generous initial funding from Dr. James Wise.
The high cost of textbooks is a major concern for OSU students and their parents. The goal of the Wise OSU Libraries’ Open Textbook Initiative was to encourage faculty to consider open textbooks for adoption in their classroom. It is hoped that faculty will be willing to experiment and innovate to find less costly learning materials for their students. The initiative offered faculty a stipend of up to $5,000 to develop or adopt an alternative to a traditional textbook.
Open textbooks are textbooks that have been funded, published, and licensed to be freely used, adapted, and distributed. These books have been reviewed by faculty from a variety of colleges and universities to assess their quality. These books can be downloaded for no cost, or printed at low cost. All textbooks are either used at multiple higher education institutions; or affiliated with an institution, scholarly society, or professional organization.