Open SUNY Textbooks

SUNY faculty and libraries innovate to solve problems of high-cost textbooks by producing high-quality open textbooks

SUNY Faculty and libraries published two free online open textbooks today for Open SUNY Textbooks; Literature, the Humanities and Humanity by Theodore Steinberg, and Native Peoples of North America by Professor Susan Stebbins, Ph.D. are being released as part of Open Access Week, a global event now in its sixth year that aims to promote open access in scholarship, research, teaching, and learning. 

Open SUNY Textbooks is an open access textbook publishing initiative established by State University of New York libraries and supported by SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grants. This initiative publishes high-quality, cost-effective course resources by engaging faculty as authors and peer-reviewers, and libraries as publishing infrastructure. The pilot launched in 2012, providing an editorial framework and service to authors, students and faculty, and establishing a community of practice among libraries. The first pilot is publishing 15 titles in 2013, with a second pilot to follow that will add more textbooks and participating libraries.

Participating libraries in the 2012-2013 pilot include SUNY Geneseo, College at Brockport, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Fredonia, Upstate Medical University, and University at Buffalo, with support from other SUNY libraries and SUNY Press.  

The Open SUNY Textbook program will publish 15 books this fall on subjects such as Anthropology, Business, Computer Science, Education, English, Geological Sciences, Mathematics, Music Education, and Physics. Open SUNY Textbooks will be made available for download at www.opensuny.org. 

The two books released this week are:

• “Literature, the Humanities and Humanity,” written by SUNY Fredonia Distinguished Teaching Professor Ted Steinberg, a professor at the college for more than 40 years. The book focuses on the reading and teaching of literature and will be used most frequently by English education majors.
• “Native Peoples of North America,” written by SUNY Potsdam Professor of Anthropology Dr. Susan Stebbins. The textbook is an anthropological introduction to the Native peoples of what are now the United States and Canada, focusing on presenting both historical and contemporary information from anthropological categories such as language, kinship, economic and political organization, religion and spirituality and art.

W. Jeffrey Bolster

On October 16, 2013, the Stephen B. Luce Library as part of its Library Lecture series welcomed W. Jeffrey Bolster, author of The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail.  Bolster, a Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire, has published extensively on the human relationship with the sea.  He is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, notably the highly distinguished 2013 Bancroft Prize for the aforementioned book. His lecture chronicled man’s devastating impact on the population of the Atlantic waters off the New England shoreline from the 1800s and thereafter.

An engaging speaker, Bolster provided the audience with fascinating historical documents to illustrate the challenge that generations have faced and subsequent will continue to face with regard to the depleting marine stocks of the Atlantic waters and beyond. The well attended event culminated with a question and answer session, followed by a brief book signing.

Upcoming Library Lecture Series: W. Jeffrey Bolster

SUNY Maritime  Stephen B. Luce Library

Library Lecture Series:  Navigate Your Course @ Your Library

W. Jeffrey Bolster, author of The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail.

October 16, 2013 @ 1345

W. Jeffrey Bolster is a Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire where his research interests include maritime history, African-American history, environmental history and Atlantic history.  He has published extensively on the human relationship with the sea.  His numerous publications to date include 5 books and a multitude of articles and reviews.  He is the recipient of many awards and prizes, notably the highly distinguished 2013 Bancroft Prize for his most recent book, The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail.  An avid public speaker, Bolster is steadfast in his commitment to sharing his books and related topics with all.

 

Since the Viking ascendancy in the Middle Ages, the Atlantic has shaped the lives of people who depend upon it for survival. And just as surely, people have shaped the Atlantic. In his innovative account of this interdependency, W. Jeffrey Bolster, a historian and professional seafarer, takes us through a millennium-long environmental history of our impact on one of the largest ecosystems in the world.

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