FYI….
[cid:8644EFE6-9CE2-47D1-99F3-EDA6CA6E7342]
Mr. James B. Greenberg
Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center
Milne Library
SUNY College at Oneonta Oneonta, New York 13820
email: [log in to unmask]
phone: 607-436-2701
fax: 607-436-3677
Twitter: greenbjb
"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"
From: <Hatch>, Hatch Carey <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Reply-To: Mark McBride <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 11:23 AM
To: Mark McBride <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: [fact2] FW: News Release: SUNY’s First Open Access Textbooks Now Available – For Free
Colleagues,
I wanted to share this exciting news with you all.
[circle]<http://www.suny.edu/>
Carey B. Hatch
Associate Provost for Academic Technologies and Information Services
The State University of New York
State University Plaza - Albany, New York 12246
Tel: 518.320.1456 Fax: 518.320.320.1554
Be a part of Generation SUNY: Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/generationsuny> - Twitter<http://www.twitter.com/generationsuny> - YouTube<http://www.youtube.com/generationsuny>
From: SUNY Communications
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 11:11 AM
To: SUNY Communications
Subject: News Release: SUNY’s First Open Access Textbooks Now Available – For Free
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SUNY’s First Open Access Textbooks Now Available – For Free
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013
Contact: David Doyle; [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>; 518-320-1311
Albany – The State University of New York today announced that the system’s first two Open SUNY Textbooks have hit the virtual bookshelves and are now available to English education majors and Introduction to Anthropology students – for free. Because the books are “open,” they can be also accessed by anyone, world-wide.
Open SUNY Textbooks will be a critical component of Open SUNY<http://open.suny.edu/>, which will expand access to online courses offered within the 64-campus system, improving completion rates among students while also offering fully online degree opportunities. Open SUNY, which will be launched in early 2014, has the potential to be the world’s largest, most comprehensive distance-learning environment.
“Open SUNY Textbooks will cut costs for our students while enhancing the quality of the textbooks used in some of SUNY’s most popular electives and majors, while also allowing our faculty to reach a world-wide audience with their expert work,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “This program an exciting first-look into what Open SUNY will accomplish.”
“Digital textbooks are the future of the academic publishing world,” said Carey Hatch, SUNY associate provost for academic technologies and information services. “The average college student nationally spends $1,200 on textbooks per year, and Open SUNY Textbooks position us to cut those costs for our students while expanding their opportunities and options for completing their degree, which is still the most effective way to save students money.”
The Open SUNY Textbook program will publish 15 books this fall on subjects such as Anthropology, Business, Computer Science, Education, English, Geological Sciences, Mathematics, Music Education, and Physics. Open SUNY Textbooks will be made available for download at www.opensuny.org<http://www.opensuny.org>.
The two books released this week are:
* “Literature, the Humanities and Humanity,” written by SUNY Fredonia Distinguished Teaching Professor Ted Steinberg, a professor at the college for more than 40 years. The book focuses on the reading and teaching of literature and will be used most frequently by English education majors.
* “Native Peoples of North America,” written by SUNY Potsdam Professor of Anthropology Dr. Susan Stebbins. The textbook is an introduction to the Native peoples of what are now the United States and Canada, focusing on presenting both historical and contemporary information from anthropological categories such as language, kinship, economic and political organization, religion and spirituality, and art.
“My profession has done a great job of taking literature away from people, of making it seem inaccessible. This is my answer to that,” said Dr. Steinberg. "As my career is winding down, I would like to give literature back, make people realize that they can read literature and enjoy it. I really believe in this project and the book.”
"Dr. Susan Stebbins is ahead of the curve on the kind of project that will support Open SUNY, help students by providing a more affordable higher education, and promote a better, more sustainable information environment for libraries, students, faculty and researchers, regardless of campus affiliation," said SUNY Potsdam Director of Libraries Jenica P. Rogers.
Funded by the SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant program, Open SUNY Textbooks is designed to encourage faculty to publish e-textbooks in partnership with their campus library. Participants in the program also include peer reviewers, student assessors, instructional designers, and consultation from the publisher, SUNY Press.
SUNY will look to expand the program year after year, adding more titles from more SUNY campuses, and beginning to develop interactive textbooks. A catalog of forthcoming Open SUNY Textbook titles is available online<http://opensuny.org/omp/index.php/SUNYOpenTextbooks/catalog/download/1/10/52-2>.
"Studies have shown that students, at times, are not purchasing required textbooks, not registering for classes, and even dropping courses because of textbook costs,” said Cyril Oberlander, director of the SUNY Geneseo Milne Library and principal investigator of Open SUNY Textbooks. “SUNY Libraries are working with faculty to reduce costs to students, promote authorship, invest in readership, and support teaching and learning."
These first two books are being released as part of Open Access Week<http://www.openaccessweek.org/>, a global event now in its sixth year that aims to promote open access as the new norm in scholarship and research.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 463,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs, and more than 1.8 million NYS citizens in professional development and personal enrichment programs, on 64 college and university campuses. There are nearly 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu<http://www.suny.edu>.
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