Site Licenses, Er, Inclusive Access, Will Save Textbook Publishing
Summary
Joseph Esposito proved that point with what he calls "inclusive access": I have been involved with a number of projects over the years to reduce the cost of textbooks, most of which focused on open educational resources (OER), which may be the topic of a future post. The more promising approach, however, may be what is being termed “inclusive access,” a terrible phrase because it brings in a whiff of a political agenda for what is essentially a matter of business. In inclusive access, publishers work directly with institutions to come up with discounted digital versions of core texts. OER, or open educational resources, are curricula which have been released under a creative commons license for students and teachers to use or modify at no cost. The University of Minnesota, for example, had a site license pilot five years ago and an open textbook library today.