[okfn-discuss] opentextbook.org

Tue Feb 13 14:47:06 UTC 2007

<quote who="Rufus Pollock" date="Tue, Feb 13, 2007 at 12:42:53PM +0000">
> Steve Coast (of OpenStreetMap) started up a site called opentextbook.org 
> a couple of years ago. Due to all his activity on OpenStreetMap he 
> hasn't much time to do stuff on the textbook site and he has now been 
> kind enough to transfer the domain to the Open Knowledge Foundation.
> 
> I think it would be great to reinvigorate this project. As a starting 
> point I'd suggest that we make otb into a simple listing site whose 
> purpose is to point to existing **open** material. This has the 
> advantage that it would be easy to setup and very easy for people to 
> contribute to (all you'd want is people to post about open textbooks 
> they'd come across). In the medium term we could then look to creating a 
> proper textbook package consisting of a selected textbook (or textbooks) 
> on particular areas and perhaps archiving material that we find (e.g. 
> I've currently got a econometrics textbook in latex someone was kind 
> enough to send over).
> 
> What do people think and is there anyone who'd be interested in 
> participating (for example by being finding and posting about open 
> material)?

I know a number of people working on similar projects. The closest thing
to a project with traction that I know if is Wikibooks.

Regards,
Mako

-- 
Benjamin Mako Hill
mako at atdot.cc
http://mako.cc/

Creativity can be a social contribution, but only in so
far as society is free to use the results. --RMS