Open Textbooks: Trends and Opportunities - Pierre Gorissen, Classroom Aid

Open textbooks can remove at least some of the problems associated with electronic books. An open textbook is an electronic textbook, published under an open licence, that can be shared online by the author/authors or via a commercial or non-profit publisher. The open licence allows it to be downloaded, printed, or read online without additional payment (Keller). The general assumption is that if the book is to meet the definition of “open textbook” users must at least be able to use it without paying to do so, to copy and distribute it for non-commercial use, and to convert it to a different format to the original. Rightholders also often permit content to be added or removed, thus making it possible to create new, d erivative works on the basis of the open textbook. Commercial use can also be permitted. http://classroom-aid.com/2013/07/18/open-textbooks-trends-and-opportunities/