There was a report (PDF) released by the members of the Student Public Interest Research Groups (Student PIRGs, 2010), a network of campus-based advocacy groups which stated that textbook companies are taking advantage of a skewed market in which students are required to buy books assigned to them for university and college courses. Cost-saving measures can be a big motivation for students.
However, educators too are showing an interest in open textbooks. Open educational resources (OER) including open textbooks may provide a new opportunity for educators to form their own communities of practice around the creation and maintenance of digital resources in their disciplines.
However, there isn’t a lot of research about lived experiences of educators as a part of open textbook review, adoption or implementation processes. This is a research theme I am exploring.
I am a Masters student in the Department of Education studies at Royal Roads University. As a part of my thesis, I am conducting research about the implementation of open textbooks in post-secondary learning environments. To explore this issue, I need research participants.
If you are an educator or librarian and have been involved in the implementation of open textbooks at any stage of development, you are welcome to participate.
If you have an interest in being interviewed for my study, please contact me by email at Danielle.Paradis@royalroads.ca  I’ll provide additional details on the study and will try to arrange an interview time at you convenience using Skype or Google Hangouts.