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Open Textbooks and Resources for Faculty

A guide to exploring open textbook options as well as other open education resources for GW faculty

Contacts at GW Libraries

For more information about affordable course material options or to schedule a consultation, contact us at open@gwu.edu 
 

Open@WRLC Grant Awardee

 

Congratulations! Elizabeth Chacko

Professor of Geography and International Affairs 

Recipient of the Open@WRLC $2,000 Faculty Transformation Grant 

 

 

 

 

Why Do We Need Open Textbooks?

The high cost of textbooks continues to negatively impact student access, success, and completion...

Graph showing the impact of textbook costs to students

Source:  Florida Virtual Campus, 2018 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey:  Results and Findings

Benefits of Open Textbooks

Image showing the benefits of using open textbooks

"GW Open Textbooks" by GW Libraries can be reused under the CC BY license

Open Textbooks:

  • textbooks that are freely available with nonrestrictive licenses
  • cover a wide range of disciplines
  • available to download and print in various file formats from several web sites and OER repositories
  • range from public domain books to existing textbooks to textbooks created specifically for OER.
  • solve the problems of the high cost of textbooks, book shortages, and access to textbooks as well as providing the capacity to better meet local teaching and learning needs.
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