Librarians Attend SEC Exchange to Discuss Open Education Textbooks

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U of A representatives at the SEC Exchange in Gainesville, FL in July.

Last month, as part of the 2016 SEC Exchange meeting of student governments from around the conference, University Libraries faculty met with students to discuss concepts of Open Education and the use of Open Education Resources.  

Marei Houpert, Agriculture, Food, and Life Sciences graduate assistant; Lora Lennertz, director for Academic and Research Services; and Elaine Thornton, Distance Education librarian, along with ASG officers and representatives Connor Flocks, president; Maggie Benton, vice president; Shelby Cormack, treasurer; Jase Rapert, secretary; Spencer Bone, senator; and assistant director for Student Government Leadership, Michael McAllister, discussed Open Education textbooks and the potential impact adopting these resources could have on the students at U of A.

Open Education textbooks are textbooks already in the public domain or those introduced with an open license. "Open" means anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and share these resources. Broader use of Open Education textbooks may help lower overall textbook cost for students. The bonus is, these textbooks are developed by a broad community of educators and are often electronic or printed on demand, so the information they present can be vetted, improved, and quickly revised as necessary.

The University Libraries and the University Bookstore are working with stakeholders across campus to help instructors find quality Open Education textbooks so they can rely on the resources in their classrooms. The potential cost savings for students is significant.

This year's SEC Exchange was held at University of Florida, July 22-23. The annual conference provides attendees the opportunity for collaboration, discussions of governing issues and ideas, as well as relationship development.