BCcampus has chosen Simon Fraser University Document Solutions as the print-on-demand provider for the B.C. Open Textbook project.

“We had our first meeting this week and hope to have the PoD service up and running by the end of November,” said BCcampus client service manager Clint Lalonde. “It will be in time for faculty and students to order printed copies of textbooks for the January term.”

One of the primary goals of the Open Textbook project is to provide flexible and affordable access to higher education resources in B.C. by making available 40 openly-licensed textbooks. These texts (15 reviewed texts so far) will be available for selection by B.C. faculty, and digital versions of the texts will be free of charge to students.

However, we know that many students still prefer printed copies of their textbooks. It was important to provide print copies to students on demand for a low cost.

BCcampus issued a call for proposals over the summer of 2013 for the print-on-demand needs of the project. With help from staff in the Ministry of Advanced Education, we selected the vendor based on which one could most closely match their services to our needs, while ensuring the cost to students is cost recovery only.