Open Tools for Open PublishingBrad Payne & Clint Lalonde

OpenEd 2014, Washington DC

Nov 20, 2014

@clintlalonde @bdolor

Scream day 29 year 2 by Mathew used under CC-NC-ND

license

Kid in the candy store by Jared and Corin used under CC-BY-

license

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Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of

all BC post-secondary institutions under a

collaborative service delivery framework

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Open Education & Professional Learning

Student Services & Data Exchange

Collaborative Programs & Shared Services

open.bccampus.ca

1

Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of

all BC post-secondary institutions under a

collaborative service delivery framework

OER Global Logo by Jonathas Mello is licensed under a CC-BY 30 License

Support & promote the development & use of Open Educational Resources

Support effective teaching & learning practices

Open Education & Professional Learning

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Online Program Development Fund (OPDF)

2003-2012

$9 million invested

153 grants awarded

100% participation across system

83% partnerships

47 credentials developed in whole or part

355 courses, 12 workshops, 19 web sites/tools and 396

course components (learning objects, labs, textbooks,

manuals, videos)

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BC Open Textbook Project

40 free & open textbooks for highest

enrolled 1st & 2nd year post-secondary

subjects in BC

2014 – 20 for skills & training

First province in Canada

2014 – Alberta & Sask MOU

$1 million

2014 - $1 million

Visual notes of John Yap announcement, Giulia Forsythe Used under

CC-SA license

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Don’t reinvent it by Andrea Hernandez released under CC-BY-NC-SA and based on Wheel by Pauline Mak released

under CC-BY license

Students Faculty

1. Free

2. Choice of formats

a. Web

b. Print

c. eBook

3. Can retain

1. Easy to find

2. Address Quality

3. Support Adapt/Create

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open.bccampus.ca

Faculty Reviews

291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

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Reviews > Adaptations

My Adventures Adapting a Chemistry Textbook291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

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Faculty Reviews

Faculty Reviewers

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Choices for students (and for adapters)

Old Leather books, by Wyoming_Jackrabbit used under a CC-BY-NC-SA

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Publish Many

Write Once

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“the thing that interests me most about where we are in the

world of books, is imagining new and different kinds of models

for book publishing. To build new models, we need open

platforms that allow people to experiment with new ideas.”

Hugh McGuire,

http://codepoet.com/2013/08/29/hugh-

mcguire-interview/

The blurring lines between books and

the internet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5i

NeDwve1U

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More than a textbook

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Why?

• Problems:

o Remixing is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy commons collection, but…

o Remixing is not easy. (search, convert, import)

o Remixing platforms offer file exports, but no public data about their collection.

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Take Aways

1. There are technical barriers that limit how much remixing happens (i.e. where's the public data?)

2. There are technical solutions that unhinge those limitations.

3. API’s make the world a better place.

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Definitions

Web Service:

"...a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a

network." — http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/NOTE-ws-gloss-20040211/#webservice

REST Web API (a type of web service):

"An API, or "Application Program Interface", is a set of routines and protocols that provide building

blocks for computer programmers and web developers to build software applications." —http://code.tutsplus.com/articles/the-increasing-importance-of-apis-in-web-development--net-22368

Endpoint:“It is typically represented by a simple HTTP URL string”.

— http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Services_Description_Language#Objects_in_WSDL_1.1_.2F_WSDL_2.0

API Response:- typically XML or JSON format

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Examples

Google Books API:

● https://www.googleapis.com/books/v1/volumes?q=open+textbooks

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Examples

Creative Commons API:

● http://api.creativecommons.org/rest/1.5/license/standard/get?commercial=n&derivatives=y

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Examples

Flickr API:

● https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.search&api_key=0d40771757758e84283a13d0a41&tags=text

books&safe_search=1&media=photos&format=rest

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What people (like me) do with API's:

We build applications, we build lots of them:

● flickr API endpoint (api.flickr.com/services/) - over 20,000 pages of code

● google books API endpoint (googleapis.com/books/) - over 3,000 pages of code

● creative commons API endpoint (api.creativecommons.org/rest) - 179 pages of code

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What would giving a textbook an API do?

Who knows? (and that’s a good thing)

● We do know that it creates the necessary environment for:

○ application development around textbooks

○ mashup development (web apps that use multiple API's)

○ development that focuses on content integration, content sharing, content searching,

remixing/curation.

● it moves towards a textbook behaving like an application framework ( a basis for creating

applications )

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Specific use cases for an API

Faculty

Search for chapters or sections:● by titles, authors, license, subjects, keywords.

Import:● entire books

● select chapters/sections

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Specific use cases for an API

Students

● An application that:

○ links student conversations/activities with textbook content

○ puts textbook content in an LMS, dynamically updated with textbook updates

○ pulls textbook content and displays it in a more accessible format, based on student

needs

○ parses and displays specific textbook content (key takeaways, exercises, videos)

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Other use cases for an API

Administrators● An application that:

○ facilitates a federated model of repositories

Libraries● An application that:

○ dynamically adds books to their collection

○ allows for curation from multiple book collections

○ obtains updated metadata about a book

Book Stores...

Print on Demand...

Publishers...

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The good news

PressBooks has an API

● http://opentextbc.ca/api/v1/books

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The good news (continued)

API documentation

● http://opentextbc.ca/api/v1/docs

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The great news

An application has been built that uses that API

● PressBooks Textbook

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What does this mean for you?

You can build your own tools to interact with textbook data in a way that’s meaningful to you

and your use case.

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Links

● https://wordpress.org/plugins/pressbooks-textbook/● https://github.com/bccampus/pressbooks-textbook/● http://www.slideshare.net/mackinaw/book-as-api-alistair-croll-hugh-mcguire● http://toc.oreilly.com/2013/02/a-publishers-job-is-to-provide-a-good-api-for-books.html● http://bccampus.ca/2014/10/23/pressbooks-plugin-developed-by-bccampus-enables-truly-open-textbook-

publishing/

Thank YouQuestions?

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@clintlalonde @bdolor

#opened14