• are created by educators,
• peer-reviewed by educators, and
• contribute to successful learning outcomes.

What Makes Open Textbooks Different From Other Textbook?

Why Use Open Textbooks?

Media Attributions

Planning Your Open Textbook

Setting Learning Objectives

Selecting and Organizing Your Content

• Gain attention
• Inform the learner of the objectives
• Stimulate the recall of prior learning
• Present the content
• Provide guidance
• Elicit performance (practice)
• Provide feedback
• Assess performance
• Enhance retention and transfer of learning

Opener Elements

• Overviews (or Previews)
• Introductions
• Outlines (can be in text form, bullets or graphics)
• Focus questions (knowledge and comprehension questions)
• Learning goals / objectives / outcomes / competences / skills
• A case problem or relevant real-world example
• In addition, one may use "special features" inside chapters, e.g. vignettes, photos, quotations, ...

Integrated Pedagogical Devices

• Emphasis (bold face) of words
• Marginalia that summarize paragraphs
• Lists that highlight main points
• Summary tables and graphics
• Cross-references that link backwards (or sometimes forwards) to important concepts
• Markers to identify embedded subjects (e.g. an "external" term used and that needs explanation)
• Study and review questions
• Pedagogical illustrations (concepts rendered graphically)
• Tips (to insure that the learner doesn't get caught in misconceptions or procedural errors)
• Reminders (ensuring that something that was previously introduced is remembered)

Interior Features

• Case studies
• Profiles
• Problem descriptions
• Debates and reflections
• Primary sources and data
• Models

Closers

• Conclusions and summaries
• List of definitions
• Reference boxes
• Review questions
• Self-assessment (usually simple quizzes)
• Small exercises
• Substantial exercises and problem cases
• Fill-in tables (e.g. for "learning-in-action" books) to prepare for a real world task
• Ideas for projects (academic or real world)
• Bibliographies or annotated links

Using Chapter Prototypes

1. Rule of Frameworks: Maintain a consistent structure
2. Rule of Meaningful Names: Create and use consistent titles and terminologies
3. Rule of Repetition: Repeat important concepts
4. Rule of Hierarchy: New knowledge builds on learned knowledge
5. Rule of Manageable Numbers: Limit the amount of new information introduced at one time.

References

Bates, T. (2015). Writing an online, open textbook: Is it worth it? https://www.tonybates.ca/2015/06/10/writing-an-online-open-textbook-is-it-worth-it

Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. David McKay.

Gagné, R.M., Wager, W. W., Golas, C. G., & Keller, J. M. (2005). Principles of instructional design (5th Ed.). Cengage Learning

Schneider, D.K. (2008). Textbook writing tutorial. http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Textbook_writing_tutorial

Style Sheet

Style Guide Content

Citation Style

1. What will in-text citations look like?
2. When paraphrasing, is a page number required?
3. How will you list multiple authors for an in-text citation or entry in a reference list?
4. Where will the reference list be located?
5. Will you use footnotes instead of a reference list?
6. How will you ensure that all in-text citations are noted in full in the reference list?

1. How periods are used
2. Use of italics
3. Use of brackets
4. Use of quotation marks
5. Use of spaces

Captions

Spelling

Punctuation

1. Use a serial comma, i.e., a comma placed immediately before the coordinating conjunctive (and, or, nor) in a series of three or more terms.
   1. Serial comma: There were cows, horses, and pigs in the barn.
   2. No serial comma: There were cows, horses and pigs in the barn.
2. Use commas in numerals over 999 (e.g., 1,000; 45,000)
3. In displayed lists, always start items with a capital letter. Use end punctuation, such as a period, with full sentences only.
4. Do NOT capitalize the first letter of the first word after a colon unless the colon introduces two or more sentences.
5. With em dashes (inserted in Pressbooks by adding two hyphens side-by-side), insert a space on either side.
6. Use the North American system for quotation marks: periods and commas always go inside quotation marks; semicolons and colons go outside.
7. Use double quotes for all quoted matters. Single quotation marks should be reserved to enclose quotes within quotes. (e.g., Mark exclaimed, “You have driven a stake into my heart! Now I truly understand Caesar’s words, ‘Et tu Brute?’ How could you treat me so?”)
8. Place footnote numbers outside punctuation (usually a comma or period).
9. Do not use periods in abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms, except as noted in spelling list (e.g., et al., etc., i.e. are the most common that retain the periods).
10. Do not hyphenate Latin phrases used adjectivally: ad hoc proposal, post hoc analysis.
11. For hanging hyphen constructions (15- to 19-year-olds), do not hyphenate after “to.”
12. Do not use quotes with so-called (e.g., Her so-called friend left her standing in the rain.)

Other Style Points

Use of boldface

Use of italics

1. Use italics for words used as words (e.g., The term vocal cords is often misspelled. What do you mean by nexus?)
2. The titles of movies, TV shows, and radio programs are italicized (e.g., The Grey Fox, Definitely Not the Opera). The names of bands and music channels are regular font not italic (e.g., Bob’s Your Uncle, MuchMusic).
3. See Italics and Foreign Words.

Dashes

Em dashes ( -- )

1. The em dash is the standard for breaking a sentence or setting off parenthetical statements.
2. With em dashes, insert a space on either side.
3. In Pressbooks, the em dash is created by using two hyphens. In the Book view, two hyphens will look like one long (em) dash.

En dashes (-)

1. Use an en dash when expressing a range of years such as birth to death, e,g., 1955-2001.
2. There should be no space on either side of the en dash.
3. In Pressbooks, use one hyphen to indicate an one short (en) dash.

Spacing

Italics and Foreign Words

1. If the word is not italicized in the dictionary, then italics shouldn't be used
2. "Common" foreign words do not take italics (e.g. ad hoc, vis-a-vis)
3. In Canadian English, many French words are not italicized.

Emphasizing Words with Punctuation

1. Do NOT use boldface or quotation marks for emphasis. Boldface is reserved for key terms within the text body.
2. Use italics for words used as words (e.g., The term vocal cords is often misspelled. What do you mean by nexus?)
3. Words that are meant to alert the reader that a term or word is used in nonstandard, ironic, or other special sense should be marked off with quotation marks (e.g., “Child protection” sometimes fails to protect).
4. Words that are common expressions and figures of speech should NOT be set off in any way (and in this text, sometimes they are).

Measurements

Numbers

1. Spell out numbers from one to nine and use arabic numerals for numbers greater than nine, except as indicated in the checklist below.
2. For ordinals, spell out first through ninth unless they are part of an array that includes a higher ordinal. Ordinals greater than ninth are expressed as numerals unless they occur at the beginning of a sentence (…in the 12th century but Twelfth-century monks...). Acceptable suffixes are 21st, 32nd, 43rd, 54th.
3. Spell out fractions in running text with a hyphen (e.g., two-thirds).
4. Use commas in numbers greater than 999.
5. For percentages, use arabic numbers and the % symbol, closed up. The symbol should be repeated with each number in a range or series (the incidence varied from 1% to 4%; 6% to 7% of cases). If a sentence begins with a percent value, spell out both number and percent.
6. For temperatures, use arabic numerals and the degree symbol (37.8°C).
7. For times of day, use a colon only when a fraction of an hour is indicated (9:05 a.m.; otherwise 2 p.m.). With 12 o’clock, specify noon or midnight.
8. For number ranges in text, use “to” (50 to 100 mg) except for years (1998–99, 1999–2013) and pages (213–223), which take en-dashes.
9. For number ranges in tables and parentheses, use an en-dash (50–100 mg).
10. Always use numerals with school grades (e.g., Grade 6).
11. Use digits and abbreviations in measurements (e.g., puzzle boxes were 50 cm long, 38 cm wide, and 30 cm tall).

Use numerals rather than words

1. In addresses (Suite 2, 400 West Hastings)
2. For dates (17 May 1948)
3. As designators (day 8, chapter 10, page 9, protocol 5)
4. In figure and table designations (Figure 3, Table 6)
5. For money ($14, $9.97, 6 cents, US$200)
6. For temperatures (20°C)
7. For time of day (11 p.m., 2:45 a.m., 07:30–13:00 )
8. With units of measure (2 m, 7.2 kg)
9. With percent symbols (0.02%, 99%)
10. With “million” and “billion” ($1 million, 9.4 billion units)

Layout

Book Outline

Chapters and Boxes

Learning Objectives

Key Takeaways

Key Terms (Glossary)

Exercises

Headings

1. The default setting in Pressbooks defines the chapter title as H1, therefore all subsequent headings within a chapter should begin with H2.
2. Create a hierarchy for the sections in your chapters and note which headings you've assigned to each in your Style Sheet.
3. Decide how words in headings will be capitalized and record this decision in your Style Sheet as well.

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

Q

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

The Peer Review Process

Sharing Unpublished Works with Reviewers

Option 1: Add Peer Reviewer as a Contributor to View the Work

• Add the peer reviewer as a "Contributor" to your work in the Pressbooks software (see: Adding Users). Ensure each chapter is set to "Show in Web" from the Organize page in the left side menu of the book's dashboard so that they can see it. 
  • Once this is complete, the peer reviewer will be able to log in and view the work from the Organize page.

Option 2: Send the Peer Reviewer a PDF Copy

• Log into your book administrator dashboard and ensure each chapter is set to "Show in Exports" on the Organize page. 
•  Go to Export and export a PDF copy of your work in its entirety to email to the peer reviewer.

Review Criteria

1. Comprehensiveness: Does the text adequately cover the topic(s) addressed?
2. Content Accuracy: Is content error-free and unbiased?
3. Relevance: Is content up to date, but not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time? Is the text written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement?
4. Clarity:  Given the primary audience (see above), is the text written in lucid, accessible prose, and does it provide adequate context for any jargon/technical terminology used?
5. Organization/Structure/Flow: Are the topics in the text presented in a logical, clear, and consistent fashion?
6. Additional feedback (optional):

Additional Feedback

Crediting Reviewers in Book Metadata

• It's important that editors, authors, and other participating parties understand how the Pressbooks platform works, and how changes in the textbook will be made so that no one overwrites someone else's work.
• Like print books, starting with a standard style guide is important. As the project progresses, be sure to record styling exceptions for the textbook on a style sheet. Openly licensed textbooks have special requirements such as ensuring that all images are properly licensed and correctly attributed.
• A web-based textbook will likely make use of live links (in the body and reference lists), and multimedia. Determine at the outset who is responsible for those links and other embedded content.
• A web-based textbook and online platform can introduce additional technical challenges. Technical problems should be reported via the MacEwan Open Books email digitalscholarship@macewan.ca.

Why You Should Use Openly Licensed Materials

Understanding Creative Commons Licenses

	Attribution (CC BY) – Others can distribute, and build upon this work, even commercially, as long as credit is given to the original author or creator.
	Attribution Share Alike (CC BY-SA) – Others can distribute, and build upon this work, even commercially, as long as they credit the original author or creator and license their new creations under the identical terms.
	Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC) – Others can build upon this work non-commercially. Derivative works must acknowledge the author or creator, but do not need to be licensed under the same terms.
	Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike (CC BY-NC-SA) – Others can distribute, and build upon this work non-commercially, as long as they credit the original author or creator and license their new creations under identical terms.
	Attribution No Derivatives (CC BY-ND) – This work can be redistributed, commercially and non-commercially, as long as it is passed along unchanged, with credit to the author or creator.
	Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) - Others can download and share this work as long as credit is given to the author or creator, and the work is left unchanged and used non-commercially.
Adapted from About the Licenses by Creative Commons licensed under CC BY.  Icons by The Noun Project.

License Types for Open Textbooks

What Can You Change?

No Derivative (ND) Attribution Licenses

Using Copyright Material in Your Open Textbook

Licensing an Adaptation

Where to Include License Information

1. In the preface of the book there should be a statement that makes it clear that the book is a derivative of an original textbook.
2. Individual chapters can be covered under a separate license, if needed, by selecting this license from the Chapter Copyright License (overrides book license on this page) section at the bottom of the page for editing each chapter.
3. There should also be a list of what changes were made so readers know exactly what parts are new and what parts are from the original source.

Don't Make It Too Complicated

• You may not use screen shots of Microsoft product boot-up screens, opening screens, "splash screens," or screens from beta release products or other products that have not been commercially released.
• You may use other screen shots in advertising, in documentation (including educational brochures), in tutorial books, in videos, or on Web sites, provided that, in addition to the requirements above, you:
  • Do not alter the screen shot except to resize it.
  • Do not use portions of screen shots.
  • Do not include screen shots in your product user interface.
  • Do not use screen shots that contain third-party content.
  • Do not use screen shots that contain an image of an identifiable individual.

Adobe and Google allow the use of screenshots of their products, although you should still check the citation requirements. Others, such as Yahoo, require that you ask permission.

If the software is open-source or released under a free software license, it is usually fine to use screenshots.

Source: Statistics Canada, name of product, reference date. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada.

United States Government Websites

Taking Photographs and Video in Public Spaces

• • Start with Heading 2.
  • Use Heading 3 for sub-sections.
  • Use Heading 4 for sub-sections of sub-sections.

Before You Begin

Why Are You Including the Images You Have Selected?

• Provide an alternative text description (alt text) that explains the content that the image is conveying for students who are blind or have low vision.
• Not use colour as the only visual means of conveying information (W3C, 2008) for students who are, for instance, colour blind or have contrast sensitivity issues.

• Avoid unnecessary alternative text descriptions. 

What Do You Need To Do?

Functional Images and Alternative Text Descriptions

• Alternative text should convey the content of the image and its purpose (WebAIM, 2014).
• Leave out any unnecessary information. For example, you do not need to include information like "image of..." or "photo of..."; assistive technologies will automatically identify the material as an image, so including that detail in your alternative description is superfluous.
• Avoid redundancy of content in your alternative description. Don't repeat the same information that already appears in text adjacent to the image.
• Aim to create a brief description (one or two short sentences -- less than 125 characters) that is an accurate and concise equivalent to the information in the image.
• For more complex images requiring longer descriptions (e.g., detailed charts, graphs, maps), you can either provide the details in the text surrounding the image or provide a link to a longer text description on a separate page in the appendix. You should still include a short text description that gives the image a meaningful name and tells students how to access the longer description.

Figure 6.3.1 shows a photo of densely packed buildings on a hillside and a photo of an architecturally diverse city skyline.

How to Add Alternative Text Descriptions

How to Add Long Image Descriptions

1. Create an appendix entitled, "Appendix [X]: Figure Descriptions."
2. In the appendix, list all long image descriptions according to your numbering system, in the order they appear in your textbook.
3. Create and insert your long image description, followed by a link to the image within the chapter. See Linking Material for steps on creating links between chapters.
4. In the image caption, ensure that you include a link to the long description in the appendix.
5. Be sure to include a brief description in the image's "Alternative Text" field, within the image editor, that states that there is a long image description available.

Using Colour

Decorative Images

References

W3C. (2008). Web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20

webAccess (2012). Top ten tips for making your website accessible. http://webaccess.berkeley.edu/developer-information/top-ten-tips (archived version)

WebAIM. (2014). Alt text blunders. http://webaim.org/articles/gonewild

Before You Begin

Are Your Tables Simple or Complex?

What Do You Need To Do?

Creating Simple Tables

1. A table title or caption
2. Maximum of one row of column headers and/or maximum of one column of row headers
3. No merged or split cells
4. Adequate cell padding for visual learners.

1. Includes a title (Spring Blossoms)
2. Has one row in which cells are tagged as column headers (Colour Family, Bulbs, Shrubs, Trees), and one column (beginning on the second row) in which the cells are tagged as row headers (Pink, Yellow)
3. Contains no merged or split cells
4. Has adequate cell padding to provide space buffering around the data in each cell. (Cell padding in this table is set at "10").

• Pink, Bulbs: Tulips
• Pink, Shrubs: Flowering currant
• Pink, Trees: Ornamental plum

References

EIT Accessibility Group. (2019). Tables. http://accessibility.psu.edu/tables

Why Are You Including the Weblinks You Have Selected?

What Do You Need To Do?

Descriptions

Consider the following examples.

• Click here for information on the BC Open Textbook Project.

• Information on the BC Open Textbook Project is available online.

New Tabs/Windows

In general, it is better if links do not open new windows and tabs since that can be disorienting for people, especially people who have difficulty perceiving visual content (W3C, 2014).

However, if a link must open in a new window, it is best practice to include a textual reference. For example, Information on the BC Open Textbook Project [New Window] is available online (EIT Accessibility Group, 2019).

References

EIT Accessibility Group. (2019). Links on a web page. http://accessibility.psu.edu/linkshtml

Level Access. (2019). Ensure link text is meaningful within context. https://www.webaccessibility.com/resource-library/best-practice/?bestPractice=1301

W3C. (2014). G200: Opening new windows and tabs from a link only when necessary. http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20140916/G200

Before You Begin

What Type of Multimedia Are You Including?

• Provide a complete transcript of all speech content and relevant non-speech content in the resource.

• Provide captions of all speech content and relevant non-speech content in the resource.

• Provide audio descriptions of relevant visual materials in the resource.

What Do You Need To Do?

Transcripts

1. Speaker’s name
2. All speech content:  If there is speech that is not relevant, it is usually best to indicate that it has been excluded from the transcript. For example: “[A & B chatted while slides were loading].”
3. Relevant descriptions about the speech: Descriptions that convey emotions, mood, etc. are usually provided in brackets. For example: “Don’t touch that! [shouted].”
4. Descriptions of relevant non-speech audio: These are usually provided in brackets. For example: “[metal pipes crashing to concrete floor].” Background noise that isn’t relevant can be left out.
5. Headings and sub-headings: Where they will make the transcript more usable or easy to navigate,  headings and sub-headings can be helpful aids, especially when the transcript is long. When including these, put them in brackets to show that they were not part of the original audio. For example: [Introduction]; [Group Discussion]; [Case Study].

Video Transcript Example

What are OER? by Algonquin College Library is licensed under CC BY 4.0. [Video transcript - see Appendix A]

Captions

1. All speech content:  If there is speech that is not relevant, it is usually best to indicate that it has been excluded from the captions. For example: “[A & B chatted while slides were loading].”
2. Descriptions of relevant non-speech audio: These are usually provided in brackets. For example: “[metal pipes crashing to concrete floor]”; “[background music by XXX plays].” Background noise that isn’t relevant can be left out.

Audio Descriptions

Example:

"As you can see, metallurgical coal projection increased by 3 million tonnes over these two years."

"This chart illustrates that metallurgical coal production in B.C. increased from 23 million tonnes in 1999 to 26 million tonnes in 2001,"

References

W3C. (2008). Web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20

What Do You Need To Do?

MathML

Image with ALT tag

LaTeX

1. Copy a piece of LaTeX code such as m &= \frac{m_0}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}} into an equation editor’s main editing window.
2. The equation should appear fully formatted. Make minor adjustments as needed.

What Role Does Colour Play in the Delivery of Your Content?

• Confirm that there is sufficient contrast between your foreground content and the chosen background colour or texture.

• Confirm that the colour of your web links is distinct from both your background colour and the colour of the surrounding text.

• Confirm that you are not using colour alone to convey this information.

What Do You Need To Do?

Contrast

Weblink Colours

• 4.5:1 contrast between the link text color and the background, and
• 3:1 contrast between the link text color and the surrounding non-link text color.

High-Contrast Mode

Use of Colour*

References

W3C. (2016). Web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, guideline 1.4.6 contrast (enhanced). http://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/visual-audio-contrast7.html

WebAIM (2015), WCAG 2.0 and link colors. http://webaim.org/blog/wcag-2-0-and-link-colors

[Intro]

What is an OER?

[Does this mean you can do anything?]

[Creative Commons]

[Not an OER]

Getting Started

Step 1: Find an Open Textbook to Adapt

• Pressbooks Directory
• BCCampus - Open Textbook Collection
• eCampus Ontario - Open Library
• Open Education Alberta
• Open Textbook Library (University of Minnesota)

1. Connect with your subject librarian or request assistance through the Library's Textbook Alternative Service.
2. Ask your colleagues if they use open textbooks
3. Ask your students to find open resources as part of a class activity.

Step 2: Check the license and file format

• Pressbooks or WordPress files (.xml or .wxr)
• HTML files (.html)
• Word document (.docx) or OpenDocument Text (.odt)
• Simple text files (.txt)
• EPUB 
• LaTeX files (if the original book includes math or science formulas and equations)

Step 3: Contact Us

Planning Your Adapted Open Textbook

Changing Your Password

1. Scroll to the bottom of the page and find the New Password field.
2. Click on the Generate Password button; Pressbooks will generate a strong password. If you wish to choose your own password, delete the suggested password and enter your own. Try to choose a password that includes numbers and/or symbols.
3. Click the Update Profile button.

Recover Password

1. Go to the login page for Pressbooks.
2. Underneath the login box, you will see a link called Lost your password? Click that link.
3. Enter your username or, if you cannot remember your username, enter your email address.
4. Click Get New Password button.
5. Check your email and follow the instructions in the email to change your password. If you do not receive an email within a few minutes, check your spam filters to make sure that the email has not been flagged as spam.

Can’t Log in to Pressbooks

Add New User

• name of your open textbook project
• user's name
• user's email address
• role they should be given: Administrator, Editor, Author or Contributor

Change a User's Role

• Users >> All Users
• Select the box beside the user's name
• Select the role you would like to change them to from the drop-down menu above (or below) the list of users
• Select Change

Add User to Book Info

• Select Book Info from the administrator dashboard left-hand menu
• Click inside the text box you want to add them to, e.g., Author(s), Editor(s), Reviewers(s)
• Select their name from the drop-down list that appears
• Select Save in the top right corner of the page

• Select Create New Contributor below the section you would like to add them to (e.g., Author(s), Editor(s), Reviewers(s))
• Enter their name as it should appear in your book information, a description (optional) and first and last name in the fields shown
• Select their name from the list of users to the right of the screen
• Select Add New Contributor
• Go back to Book Info and click inside the text box you want to add them to, select their name from the list of users that appears, and select Save

• Front Matter: Includes pages such as Acknowledgements, Dedication or Foreword
• Back Matter: Includes content such as Appendix, Afterword, or Credits
• Parts: Organizational blocks that hold Chapters
• Chapters: The building blocks of your book

Parts and Chapters

Reordering Chapters

• In the book administration area go to Appearance > Theme Options
• Under Global Options uncheck “display chapter numbers”
• Save changes [caption id="attachment_42" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Figure 3.4.1 Disable chapter numbers[/caption]

MS Word Import Instructions

Step 1. Prepare your .docx file

Step 2. In Pressbooks, go to: Left Menu/Tools—> Import

Steps 3, 4 & 5: Select your file type, choose file and upload

Steps 6, 7, 8: Select your content, decide what it is, and import

Steps 9 & 10: Rearrange your chapters (if necessary) and check them

• Everything other than basic styling is stripped out by design… so fancy fonts and such won’t get imported. Italics, bold, etc. should.
• All chapters are imported as DRAFTs. A quick way to get this listed as published is: mark all the chapters Private, then revert to Public. This will make them “published”.
• All chapters assign a Chapter Author by default (usually, your username). You’ll have to edit each chapter and delete the Chapter Author in the Chapter Metadata section.

• Highlight the text
• Click on the "link" icon in the tool bar

• Add the URL for the external source you want to link your text to
• Click on the Add Link button.
  • Optionally, click the settings wheel icon to set the link to open in a new tab. This is typically only done if linking to external content and should be followed with a textual reference, e.g., [New Tab] to let readers know.
• Remember to Save the page.

How to Link Text Within a Chapter

• First, place your cursor by the text or image to which you want to link
• Then click on the anchor icon (in the third line of the tool bar).

• Enter a word to describe your anchor (e.g., punctuation) in the Name field that appears and click the OK button.

• This action will produce an anchor.

• Highlight the text that you want to link to the anchor
• Click on the "link" icon in the tool bar

• Add # (pound sign) and the word you used to describe your anchor (e.g., #punctuation)
• Click on the Add Link button.
• Remember to Save the page.

How to Link Text Between Chapters Within the Same Book in Pressbooks

• Go to the chapter that contains the anchor
• Click the View Chapter link at the top of the page

• Copy the URL for the chapter

• Click on the "link" icon in the tool bar

• Add the URL for the chapter with the anchor with http:// (e.g., http://openbooks.macewan.ca/authorsguide/chapter/what-are-open-textbooks/)
• After the forward slash (/), add # (pound sign) and the word you used to describe your anchor (e.g., #punctuation)
• With chapter URL and anchor word, the final URL would be, in this example:
  • http://openbooks.macewan.ca/authorsguide/chapter/what-are-open-textbooks/#punctuation
• Click on the Add Link button.
• Remember to Save this page.

How to Add an Image

Complete this task by clicking on the Insert into chapter button in the bottom right corner.

1. All images are centred
2. The width does not exceed 500 pixels
3. The length does not exceed 500 pixels

1. Add text for the image's caption. (See Add Captions to Images and Add Image Attribution Statements for details.)
2. Under DISPLAY SETTINGS, select "Center". We recommend that you centre images.
3. Using the "Size" dropdown list, determine if any of the sizes are the correct size for your image. If not, then select "Custom Size"...

Add Captions to Images

• Click anywhere on an image you have added.
• Locate and click on the pencil icon that appears in the upper left corner of the image.
• Enter description in the Caption field.
  • Add a clear description of the image in the Alternative (Alt) Text field for accessibility. See "Alternative Text Descriptions."
• Click on "Update" and then Save the page.

What to Include in a Caption

Add Image Attribution Statements

Who Gets Attribution for an Image?

Attributing Creative Commons Licensed Images

Including an Image Source Statement

Uploading a Video File

Uploading an Interactive Video 

Embedding Streaming Videos (YouTube, Vimeo)

Media Attributions

Uploading an Audio File

Toads and frogs in pond, village, light distant chatter from villagers by Felix Blume licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal License

Instructions for Adding H5P Elements to Your Book

1. Navigate to the H5P Content menu and select Add New.
2. Select a content type from the dropdown menu.
3. If not already installed, click Get and follow the steps indicated (if necessary).
4. Enter the information for your quiz/activity etc.
5. Click on Create when you’re done!

Now that you’ve created your element, you can add it to your chapter. To do so:

1. Copy the shortcode displayed in the top right of the screen.
2. Navigate to the chapter where you would like to add the element.
3. Paste the shortcode into place (you can do this in the visual editor, no need to switch to text).
4. Save your chapter.
5. View the web version to see the element in action.
6. Export other desired formats to see the fallback message (e.g., how the H5P appears in a PDF, which is typically a link to the content online).

Here’s an example of creating a simple multiple-choice question: [caption id="attachment_80" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Figure 3.11.1 Find the “Add New” option under the H5P Content menu.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_84" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Figure 3.11.5 Paste the shortcode into your chapter where you want your quiz to appear.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_87" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Figure 3.11.7 Display in PDF[/caption] [caption id="attachment_87" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Figure 3.11.8 Display in epub[/caption]

How to Add LaTeX Equations

• [la​tex]latex code here[/lat​ex]
• $latex latex code here$

Example 1:

Example 2:

Using LaTeX syntax in H5P elements

• \(some LaTeX\)
• $$some LaTeX$$
• \[some LaTeX\] 

Additional Resources

• LaTex in WordPress
• LaTeX reference guides
• MathJax (SPSCC Pressbooks Tutorial)

Easy Option: Create a Cover Using the Pressbooks Cover Generator

[caption id="attachment_669" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Figure 3.13.2 Cover overview options[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_671" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Figure 3.13.3 Text and colour settings[/caption]

Advanced Option: Create and Upload a Book Cover Image

• The title of your work
• The names of any authors and editors
• Optionally, include one of the following MacEwan University logos in the top left corner
  • MacEwan logo (light background)
  • MacEwan logo (dark background)

Generating a Printable Book Cover

• Log in and go to Export >> Cover Generator in the side menu.
• Delete the title and author information, except for those labelled “Spine”
  • In the empty fields, enter   (this will stop the generator pulling in the information from your Book Info again)
• Fill in the “About” section that will appear on your back cover
• Change your theme if desired
• Upload your ebook cover as the Front Cover Background Image
• Complete the page count and paper size as normal
• Choose your background and font colors for the spine and back cover
• Select Make PDF Cover

Before publishing your work, be sure to review and update the information in the Book Info section in the left side menu of Pressbooks (visible to book administrators when logged in). This information communicates to readers what your book is about, will make it more discover-able to search engines, conveys copyright information, and ensures contributors receive credit.

• Other contributors: Be sure to list Editors, Translators, Reviewers, Illustrators, and other Contributors as appropriate. Each of these people must first be added to the User section in the left side administrator menu.

• Copyright Year: Enter the year of publication.
• Copyright Holder: This is typically the author(s). When publishing with MacEwan Open Books, authors retain copyright.
• Copyright License: Select a Creative Commons license that allows for reuse and adaptation by others (CC-BY, CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-SA, or CC-BY-NC-SA).
  • We encourage CC BY-NC when possible.
• Copyright Notice: In addition to selecting a Copyright License as noted above, we recommend adding a preferred citation for your work that will also appear on the main information page about your open textbook:
  • Please cite this work as follows: [add citation including MacEwan Open Books as the publisher]

Define an Audience and Reading Level

Links

Citations

Visual Resources and Media

Using Pressbooks

1. Headings
2. Bold / Italics / Underline
3. Bullets / Numbers
4. Blockquotes
5. Text alignment and justification
6. Links
7. Textboxes and sidebars
8. Special characters
9. Tables
10. Anchor links
11. Superscripts and Subscripts
12. Footnotes
13. Glossary Terms

1. Learning Objectives (LO)
2. Key Takeaways (KT)
3. Exercises (EX)

• The title of the work
• A link to the content (can be embedded in the title text)
• Author(s)/creator(s)/Copyright holder(s)
• License type

Attribution Statement Examples

Audio Example

Image Example

Video Example

Examples at the End of a Chapter or Section

• Organizing content
• Images/Charts/Graphs/Maps
• Tables
• Weblinks
• Multimedia (video and audio)
• Formulas (math and scientific)
• Colour contrast

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Open Textbooks

Access Rather Than Accommodation

• Do I have visual materials (images, figures, tables) that present core concepts that not all students may be able to see or understand?
• Do I have multimedia (audio, video) materials that present core concepts that not all students may be able to hear, see, or access?
• Do I have documents that present core concepts in a format that not all students may be able to access?

References

Bird, S. A., & Williams, J. N. (2002). The effect of bimodal input on implicit and explicit memory: An investigation into the benefits of within-language subtitling. Applied Psycholinguistics, 23(4), 509-533. https://doi.org/10.1017.S0142716402004022

Open Textbook Completion Checklist

Export Option Instructions

• Go to the Export page listed in the left menu in the Pressbooks dashboard.
• At minimum we recommend selecting:
  • PDF (for print)
  • PDF (for digital distribution)
  • EPUB
  • Pressbooks XML
  • Common Cartridge with Web Links
    • *This format enables users to embed chapters of your textbook into their Learning Management System (LMS). For assistance using this, contact digitalscholarship@macewan.ca
• Once selected, click on Export Your Book and these options will be available to users from your book’s homepage once published.

Ready to Publish?

• Assign a digital object identifier (DOI) and International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
• Archive a PDF version of your book with Library and Archives Canada, and in MacEwan’s research  repository, RO@M. (If you do not want it archived in RO@M at this time, just let us know.)

After You Publish

Making Post-Publication Edits

Share Your Work

• Merlot II
• OER Commons
• Open Textbook Library

Printing Options

Developing Supplementary Resources

Teaching Slides

Test Banks

Creating Supplementary Resources with Development Sprints

References

Lalonde, C. (2015). Early findings from BC faculty survey on open educational resources. https://web.archive.org/web/20201026041259/https://open.bccampus.ca/2015/05/26/early-findings-from-bc-faculty-survey-on-open-educational-resources/ (archived version)

Why Are Open Textbooks Important For MacEwan University?

Help Resources

Getting Started

Creating Content

Getting Your Work Publication-Ready

Chapter Title (Heading 1)

Chapter Overview (Heading 2)

Chapter Topics (Heading 3)

1. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
2. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
3. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
4. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet

Chapter Introduction (Heading 2)

Section (Heading 2)

Subsection (Heading 3)

Key Point (Heading 4)

Recommended Reading (Heading 4)

Self Test (Heading 2)

1. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit?
2. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit?
3. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit?

Glossary (Heading 2)

References (Heading 2)

What is Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Examples of generative AI tools

Ways You Could Use Generative AI in Your Open Textbook Creation Process

• To create question sets, case studies, and other types of instructional resources.
• To analyze a photo to create alt text for accessibility purposes.
• To create illustrations and photo-realistic images for both decorative and instructional purposes.
• To generate scripts that can be used for videos and podcasts.
• To create instructional videos.
• To generate sentences, paragraphs, and chapters for a textbook.
• To analyze and create summaries of longer sections of text.
• To automate the creation of an audio version of text, usually for accessibility purposes.
• To translate text to another language.

Prompt Engineering Tips

• Instruction: ensure you give detailed instructions in your prompt. It can help to phrase the prompt as a task.
  • Think of tasks in terms of verbs like create, summarize, formulate, synthesize, generate, etc.
• Context: adding context in your prompt can help the Generative AI give a more relevant and tailored response.
  • You can add context by explaining your role, the AI's role, or the expected outcome.
• Persona: ask the AI to take on a persona to guide the response.
  • You can ask the AI to take on the persona of an expert or an instructor: "Act as an Expert" or "Act as an Instructor of [x] subject].
• Tone and Style: include directions for the tone, style, or format you would like for the AI's response.
  • For example, you can ask for a bulleted list of 10 questions styled in an educational tone.
• Examples: providing examples can help ensure the AI gives the type of result you are looking for.
  • You can give a pre-existing example of the type of output you need.

Intentional vs. Unintentional Use

Considerations and Risks

1. Lack of transparency. The source of the training data and the programming logic used by many generative AI tools is not always made available to the public. Indeed, even the companies that develop the tools may not be able to explain exactly how they work, or how they arrived at the outputs they did.
2. Bias. Because there is a lack of transparency in how the tools are constructed and what data is used to train them, this can lead to biases being present in the output.
3. Accuracy. Generative AI systems can sometimes produce inaccurate or made-up answers (also referred to as hallucinations).
4. Intellectual property (IP) and copyright. As the Canadian legal landscape continues to evolve around copyright considerations regarding use of copyright-protected content to train AI models, as well as the copyright status of generated output content, email copyright@macewan.ca for up-to-date information.
5. Sustainability. Generative AI uses massive amounts of electricity to operate, which has led to examinations as to how environmentally sustainable generative AI is.

Guidelines and Recommendations

1. Be cautious with your use of AI generated content. AI generated content is an area that is in considerable flux and best practices may change as the field evolves.
2. Review and assess all AI generated content for accuracy, appropriateness, and usefulness before including it in your open textbook. Only use generative AI to generate content for areas or subjects where you have the appropriate level of knowledge or understanding to verify the accuracy of the output content.
3. Review AI generated content for bias, including language or images that reinforce cultural or societal stereotypes around race, ethnicity, colour, ancestry, place of origin, political beliefs, religion, marital status, family status, ability, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, and class and/or socioeconomic status.
4. Be transparent about your use of generative AI. Just like attributing the reuse of open content, consider including statements within your open textbook that let others know that you have used generative AI in the creation of the open textbook. This may include:
   1. what content was generated
   2. what tools were used to generate the content, including links to the tool,
   3. how you used that tool (i.e., what prompts was the tool given that generated the content)
   4. the date the content was generated
   5. what steps were taken to review the content to ensure it was valid and correct.
5. Avoid generating content that may include content that is protected by a trademark or patent (i.e., logos, recognizable characters, etc.).

References

Bommasani, R., Klyman, K., Longpre, S., Kapoor, S., Maslej, N., Xiong, B., Zhang, D., & Liang, P. (2023). The Foundation model transparency index (arXiv:2310.12941). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2310.12941

Gartner. (n.d.). Generative AI: What is it, tools, models, applications and use cases. Gartner. Retrieved July 5, 2023, from https://www.gartner.com/en/topics/generative-ai

Lalonde, C. (2023, March 6). ChatGPT and open education. https://bccampus.ca/2023/03/06/chatgpt-and-open-education/

Li, P., Yang, J., Islam, M. A., & Ren, S. (2023). Making AI less “thirsty”: Uncovering and addressing the secret water footprint of AI models (arXiv:2304.03271). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2304.03271

Sabzalieva, E.,, & Valentini, A. (2023). ChatGPT and artificial intelligence: A quick start guide. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000385146.locale=en

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2023). Guidance for generative AI in education and research. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000386693

University of Waterloo Copyright Advisory Committee. (2023, August 15). Generative artificial intelligence. https://uwaterloo.ca/copyright-at-waterloo/teaching/generative-artificial-intelligence

Images

Links

Tables

Multimedia

• • Transcript includes:
    • speaker’s name
    • all speech content
    • relevant descriptions of speech
    • descriptions of relevant non-speech audio
    • headings and subheadings

Formulas

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