Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, has joined the growing
list of institutions turning to open educational resources (OER) to address the
issue of rising costs for course materials. The Open and Affordable Textbook
(OAT) project is offering grants to faculty and department groups as an
incentive to replace traditional textbooks with free or low-cost alternatives.
The project, funded by the Office of Information
Technology and administered by Rutgers University Libraries, will award grants
of $1,000 to 12 groups from across the entire system. The university estimates
the program will save its students as much as $500,000 in the first year.
A class in aggregate economics has already started
putting together an open textbook. The required printed textbook has a new list
price of $89.99, with the e-book version available for $69.99. Using the
library’s Springer e-book collection, a PDF version of the book can be accessed
for free and the paperback copy can be purchased for $24.99.
