How to Use This Guide

This is a curated list of resource links to help with OER creation. To find a topic use the “find” function on your computer by pressing CRTL+F (PC) or CMD+F for (Mac) and entering your keyword, eg. “H5P” or “attribution”.

Accessibility

Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition

by Amanda Coolidge, Sue Doner, Tara Roberston and Josie Gray, BC Campus,  CC BY-4.0

An invaluable resources for any educational content creator, we recommend that your refer to it first when exploring accessibility for your textbook. Below are some highlighted topics covered by the book.

Accessibility Statements

A fantastic section explaining the purpose of the accessibility statement providing guidelines and examples to assist with the creation of yours!

Best Practices: Images

Cover important topics such as Functional Images, Alt tags, and most importantly, Long Image Description creation for complex images such as tables, diagrams and infographics.

Alternative Text in Presbooks from Accessible Digital Content Training

by Jessica Blackwood and Kate Brown, All Rights Reserved.

A quick reference with visual to show you how to add alt-text to your Pressbook images.

BCCampus OER Accessibility Criteria

by BC Campus, CC BY-4.0

This PDF is a fantastic checklist to use before publication to see if your textbook meets all accessibility requirements. It breaks down all accessibility requirements by category: colour; image; links; platform-specific; etc.

Artificial Intelligence (AI or A.I.)

Generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) & Chat GPT

by Centennial College Libraries, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Created by the informed and insightful library staff at Centennial College, this guide is the perfect place for those new to the subject of genAI. Includes information on APA citation.

Generative Artificial Intelligence Guidelines for Faculty 

by Centre for Faculty Development and Teaching Innovation, Centennial College, CC BY-NC 4.0

Generative AI is a powerful tool that can provide great assistance to an OER creator, however, it remains a tool. As such, GenAI is only as good as the individual using it; therefore it is critical that any creator is an informed user, understanding where, when and how GenAI is appropriate. Please review these guidelines before employing any form of AI.

Attribution

Adaptation Guide 

by Lauri M. Aesoph, BC Campus, CC BY-4.0

Another helpful publication courtesy of BC Campus, the Adaptation guide walks users through how identify, alter and publish open content. Of specific interests are the chapters on:

Attribution Statements

A common feature at the end of an open textbook chapter, anyone who is building an OER out of multiple open sources will want to be well-versed with these statements. This entry offers many examples for reference.

Adaptation Statements

Different from an attribution statement, an adaptation statement can be found at the beginning of textbook. This statement is most often used when an open textbook is adopted but features revisions specific to regional standards, e.g. Introductory Business Statistics with Interactive Spreadsheets – 1st Canadian Edition.  

Best Practices for Attribution

by Creative Commons, CC BY-4.0

This page from the Creative Commons Wiki is a robust reference to use if you are ever in doubt about your attribution. With plenty of examples, the entry breaks down the T.A.S.L formula of attribution and highlights common attribution pitfalls. A must-read!

Self-Publishing Guide

by Lauri M. Aesoph, BC Campus, CC BY-4.0

An indispensable guide for any OER creator, this open text walks through every step of the open publishing process. The resources provide on attribution are especially helpful:

Citation vs. Attribution

Knowing when to cite, when to attribute, and when to do both can be a major point of confusion for OER authors. A difference of academic integrity and legal rights, citations and attribution are broken down into their case uses.

Resources: Captions and Attributions

An exhaustive list of examples of image, diagram and table captions for various scenarios. This chapter also includes great links to various attribution generators.

Open Attribution Builder [Website]

by Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, CC BY-4.0

While no auto generator is perfect, this attribution builder can you check your credits and take some of the guesswork out of open textbook creation. Input your data and see what the builder suggests!

H5P

Create Interactive Content with H5P from Pressbooks User Guide

by Pressbooks, CC BY-4.0

A step-by-step guide on how to activate H5P plugins and create interactives using the integrated Pressbooks system.

eCampusOntario H5P Studio [Website] 

eCampusOntario provides an account for H5P Studio so you can adopt, adapt or create your own H5P activities for your pressbook, LMS and beyond!

How to Complete Meta Data [sic] in H5P Studio [YouTube]

by Open Learning Conestoga College, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

If creating or adapting a H5P element, you will need to know how to check the licence information for copyright permissions and understand how to update the activity’s metadata. This clear and concise video will walk you through the elements in eCampusOntario H5P studio.

HTML

Edit Content with the Visual & Text Editors from Pressbooks User Guide

by Pressbooks, CC BY-4.0

A straightforward forward on navigate your content on Pressbooks using the visual and text (HTML) editors. Scroll through the chapter to find “HTML BASICS“.

HTML Tutorial [Website] 

by W3Schools, all rights reserved.

Pressbooks allows you to easily revise your content using the visual editor, however, some formatting features or issues can only handled by looking at the underlying text-based code. HTML is best learned through practice, however, not every OER creator has had the opportunity to work with this code. W3schools is an educational website with plenty of free coding material to help get started with HTML or troubleshoot a wonky bit of formatting.

Images

Edit Images from Pressbooks User Guide

by Pressbooks, CC BY-4.0

This chapter acts as an instruction guide for how to upload and edit images using the media library in Pressbooks.

Images and Files from Pressbooks Guide

by BC Campus OER Production Team, CC BY 4.0

A fantastic overview of all things images in Pressbooks, this chapter includes: a video tutorial on how to add and format images; file specifications; accessible images details; attributions; captions; and optimization instructions for web and print.

How to Use Google Reverse Image Search to Fact Check Image [YouTube]

by Common Sense Education, all rights reserved.

Not sure if you can use an image in your open textbook? Use Google’s Reverse Image function to check its source and copyright status. This video provides a step-by-step walkthrough on how to use this handy resource. Please note, while Google Reverse Image search can be very helpful, it cannot always successfully source the origin of more generic image such as charts and diagrams.

Textbook Cover

Note to team – we’ll have to develop a textbook cover template that folks can use. Once we do I can develop instructions.

Licensing

 Creative Commons [Website]

A website OER creators and users frequently visit, Creative Commons.org is the home of all license deeds, descriptions, logos and links. Bookmark it!

Comparison of free and open-source software licenses [Wikipedia]

Additional reading. While the vast majority of licenses encountered in the open education community will based on the Creative Commons platform, there are MANY more open licenses, especially in the world of computing. This Wikipedia article documents the many variations that users may encounter.

What are Creative Commons Licenses? [YouTube]

by U of G Library, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

One of the best videos out there on the nature of copyright and the purpose of Creative Commons licensing system. Succinct and clear, viewers will understand the basics of CC licenses in under 2 minutes. Highly recommended to beginners.

Media / Video

Display Embedded Media from Pressbooks User Guide

by Pressbooks, CC BY-4.0

The “Embed” function is a fantastic way to feature content from platforms like YouTube, H5P studio or Google Maps in your open textbook. This chapter provides instructions on how to embed media and explains which file types are supported on the platform. Please note, contrary to what this chapter states about H5P, this function is available to all Centennial College users of Pressbooks – refer to the H5P section.

Media from Pressbooks User Guide

by Pressbooks, CC BY-4.0

This chapter reviews how to upload and manage media in your Pressbooks library. Covers important topics including media metadata, how to edit images and delete media.

Videos, Audio, and Interactive Media from Pressbooks Guide

by BC Campus OER Production Team, CC BY 4.0

Another great resource from the team at BC Campus. This specific chapter provides a variety of topics: embedding; captions; audio; youtube and copyright. Handy for users who learn better with videos.

Pressbooks

eCampus Ontario Pressbooks [Website]

A complimentary Pressbooks account is available to Centennial College users through eCampus Ontario. Here is a video demonstration of how to log in.

• • To access your account click “Get Started” or “Sign In”
  • On the LOG IN page, scroll down to “Institutional Log In”
  • In the “Find Your Institution” search bar type in “Centennial College”
    • There will be two options – choose the one on the bottom
  • You will be redirected to Centennial’s myLogin
  • Use your centennial credentials to sign in

PressbooksEDU: Clone Books and Chapter [YouTube]

by Pressbooks, all rights reserved.

In under two minutes, learn how to clone an entire pressbook or, simply, a single chapter.

Pressbooks – Playlist [YouTube]

Prefer to learn on your own from video tutorials? Browse Pressbooks’s YouTube playlists on a variety of subjects.

Pressbooks User Guide

by Pressbooks, CC BY-4.0

The penultimate resource for any Pressbooks troubleshooting, you’ll see links to this guide throughout this annotated guide.

Pressbooks Webinar & Events [Website]

Every month Pressbooks hosts two FREE webinars for beginner and advanced Pressbooks users. These are perfect if you’re just getting started or want a refresher on the basics.

Tables

Create Tables from Pressbooks User Guide

by Pressbooks, CC BY-4.0

A step-by-step walkthrough on how to create a table in your textbook with screen captures of the Pressbooks’s interface to assist.

Tables from Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition

by Amanda Coolidge, Sue Doner, Tara Roberston and Josie Gray, BC Campus,  CC BY-4.0

This chapter provides helpful guidance on how to format tables in Pressbooks so that they are accessible to all users of all abilities.

Table Captions from Self-Publishing Guide