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Formatting and Release Preparation

Textbook Success Program: Session 10

© Rebus Community. 2022. These slides are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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Reminders

  • determine the review process(es) for your project
  • establish review workflows
  • adapt or create a review guide
  • assign reviewers
  • write project-specific questions to guide the reviewers
  • reflect on the management of bias in the review process

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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash, shared under their free license.

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Agenda

  1. Formatting Content
    1. Process overview
    2. Frontmatter and backmatter
    3. Metadata
    4. Review final versions
  2. Release Planning
    • Create promotional materials
    • OER Promotion as Teamwork
    • Celebrate!

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Publishing Process Overview

Project Scoping

Growing & Managing Teams

Creating and Editing Content

Feedback and Review

Storytelling and Communications

Preparing for Release

Adoptions and Post-release

Accessibility and Inclusive Design

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Session Outcomes

Program-level Learning Outcomes

1. Rebus’ Collaborative Open Publishing Approach

2. Contribute to OER community

3. Accessible, Equitable, Inclusive learning experiences

4. Project Progress

5. Open Approaches and Tools

6. Capacity Building

7. Open Education Leadership

1. Plan formatting workflow, based on assigned roles, institutional capacity, external resources & collaborators

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2. Determine output formats and appropriate considerations in learning design to ensure equal access to the content

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3. Prepare all members in your team to fulfill their responsibilities regarding formatting and release duties

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4. Build in the creation of metadata into the formatting process to make your resource discoverable

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5. Expand and build on existing promotional storywork to support the eventual release of your OER

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I = Introductory steps to build skills, knowledge, attitudes�D = Developing skills, knowledge, attitudes

A = Advancing skills, knowledge, attitudes

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Formatting Content

  • Work bit by bit
  • Format main content
  • Then, add additional pieces: non-textual elements, frontmatter and backmatter and metadata
  • Review final versions

Collaboration is key!

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Document your formatting plan

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash,

shared under their free license.

  1. See example Pressbooks workflow & adapt to team needs
  2. Provide your collaborators with:
    • Sample chapter and Style guide
  3. Formatting gets easier as you go
    • Focus on accessibility of items and include attribution
    • Review layout in all formats of your OER

Note: Format on a rolling basis to meet your target timeline.

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Possible frontmatter and backmatter items

Frontmatter sections (e.g.)

  • Instructor note how to use this book
  • Acknowledgements or dedication (contributors)
  • Praise for the book

Backmatter sections

  • Additional resources for students
    1. Glossary and/ or index
    2. Supplementary learning materials
    3. Exercise solutions/answer key
  • Additional resources for instructors
    • References
    • Endnotes
    • Appendix
  • Information for adapters
    • Adoption and Feedback Forms
    • Licensing and Attribution Information
    • Review & Accessibility Statements

View example sections from Introduction to Philosophy: Epistemology

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Don’t forget about metadata

  • Metadata ensures your resource is discoverable
  • Repositories listing created from it
  • Include key book details: book description, keywords, subject categories, license details, collaborator names

Magic Book by Made x Made from the Noun Project. Licensed CC BY.

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Review final versions

Conduct a visual test where you focus on layout in web, PDF, and ebook formats. Include:

  • Checking links
  • Ensuring images are displayed correctly
  • Verifying that embedded videos play
  • Checking table formats
  • Double check naming conventions and associated title formatting
  • If you haven’t already, complete an accessibility review

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Pull a final set of exports and make sure they are available for download.

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Release Planning

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Add visual appeal with a book cover

Why are book covers important?

  • Gives your digital resource a “face”,
  • Garners interest from potential adopters
  • Should appeal to both educators and students

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What can you include on your cover?

  • Book title
  • Author or editor names
  • Blurbs of reviews
  • Open license and logo
  • Review Information

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Look at the digital and print book covers for Introduction to Philosophy of Mind.

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Submit to Open Repositories

  • Pressbooks Directory

Make sure book is public and visible in catalogue!

  • Open Textbook Library

Sample Listing - will showcase key book info

  • BCcampus OpenEd

Approval required for accessibility & review info

  • MERLOT & OER Commons

You can upload materials to this site

  • Institutional and state-wide repositories.

Check with your librarian.

Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash

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Your OER Release Announcement

Revisit your storytelling & communications template:

  • What is the OER about?
  • Who it is for?
  • Is it cohesive?
  • What makes the resource special?
  • Pictures of the cover and headshots of the team
  • Share it in listservs, across the department and college, throughout your team’s professional network, conferences.

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Note: Coordinate with team to prevent cross-posting.

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Example

Note: Click on image for url link.

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Collaborate to create

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  • Short blurbs,
  • book descriptions,
  • and testimonials

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Lastly, pause and celebrate: you did it!

  • Creating an OER is no easy feat
  • Important that you did so using collaborative and equitable approaches
  • Stop to process what you’ve accomplished!

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Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

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Host a Release Event or OER Launch Party

A release event is an opportunity to share the OER with a wider audience:

  • Celebrate with others in the state, discipline, or #OE community
  • Invite people from your professional networks to learn more
  • Engage your department, university leaders and administration

Example

Note: Click on image for url link.

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Activity: Release Planning Activity

This activity will have you think through steps in the release planning for your projects.

Instructions:

  1. Work individually [camera off] or in teams [breakout rooms]
  2. Copy the Release Planning Template for your team
  3. Think through the items in your template.
  4. Share back: What steps have you identified as important? What challenges do you anticipate?

Picture credit: Public Domain via svgsilh.com

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Next week: Post Release and Adoption