Open Textbook Authorship Case Study

In January 2011, Charlie Mitchell, Professor of Theatre at University of Florida, phoned Susie Henderson, Project Director of the Open Access Textbooks project at the Florida Distance Learning Consortium. Charlie was eager to start writing and editing an open textbook on theatre practice. He was frustrated that his students were paying $115 for a textbook, in addition to the cost of the plays they had to buy, that was not really an adequate text for the course. As he put it, “acting hasn’t changed much in the last 150 years,” and he was displeased that his students would have to pay for what had been common knowledge for so long.

Dr. Mitchell had done some research on open textbooks and had generated interest among other theatre faculty in taking on the task of writing chapters of the text. He had explored possibilities for funding his project though his school and college to no avail. He had scoured the Web in search of information about who might be able to help him through the process, and he had landed on www.openaccesstextbooks.org where he found Susie Henderson’s contact information. Because he had concerns about digital scholarship being credited by his institution for promotion and tenure, he was interested in the FDLC’s partnership with the University Press of Florida, the imprimatur of which might be influential. He called Susie Henderson at Florida Distance Learning Consortium who informed him about the opportunities and services available to him and his colleagues. He talked about the framework for the book he envisioned, the lack of financial support, and the need for scholarship to count toward promotion and tenure. Ms. Henderson suggested that his book might be one that could be developed with the support of Orange Grove Texts Plus (OGT+), the partnership between the Florida Distance Learning Consortium and the University Press of Florida. One can follow the story on Dr. Mitchell’s blog as it continues to unfold.