Final Steps
14 Publish and Distribute
Once you’ve completed your adaptation, you will need to decide who to share your work with — your students, your colleagues, the bookstore and library at your institution, the open community — and how to do this. Also, what file types will you provide, what ancillary resources will you/could you include, and how will you ensure longevity for your work.
File types
Students like flexibility when it comes to their textbooks. Some may prefer printed versions of the textbook, others will prefer using a website. Still others will like to use an e-reader or e-reading software. To make your book as accessible as possible, consider making your textbook available in multiple formats so students have the ability to choose the format that works for them. Also remember to include editable files so that others can use your work to create their own adaptations. Pressbooks allows a variety of files to be export from your book, both editable (.xml, .odt, .html, .epub) and less editable (.pdf) files.
Share
For students, you can distribute your adapted textbook by:
- Providing them with a link to the online version
- Downloading copies of the book and placing them on another website (e.g., an LMS, Dropbox, or Google Documents), and share that link
- Placing copies of the textbooks file on your faculty website and sharing the URL with your students so they can download a copy
- Connecting with your bookstore and asking for print copies to be made available for your students
For colleagues:
- Place copies of the textbooks file, including a link, on your faculty website
- If your library agrees to, include your adapted open textbook in your library collection (print copies and/or an online version) and share this with your colleagues
For your institution’s bookstore:
- Provide them with a link to the online version
- Place copies of the textbooks file, including a link, on your faculty website
- Ask if they will provide print copies for your students
- If your bookstore has a print-on-demand service, ask if they can set this up for your book
For your institution’s library:
- Ask if they will add your adapted textbook to the library’s collection
For your teaching and learning centre:
- Ask if they would like a copy
- Ask if they have any suggestions on how to distribute your adapted textbook
Consider sharing your work with the larger open community. One way to do this is by adding your adapted textbook to an established repository or open textbook collection. Some of the following repositories require a resource to undergo a formal review before being accepted:
Ancillary resources
Consider providing ancillary resources for your adapted open textbook or asking colleagues with whom you share your adaptation, to share back any supplemental materials they develop for the book. These might include:
- PowerPoint slides
- Test bank questions and answers
- Images
- Videos
- Student exercises
The future of your adaptation
Now that you’ve completed your adapted open textbook — whether the changes were minor or major — here are some question you might ask yourself:
- How will I track who’s using my book?
- How am I going to keep my textbook current?
- Do I want feedback on my work? How will I collect this?