Open Educational Resources and Open Textbooks: UW Libraries Pressbooks

Visit to UW Libraries Pressbooks to get started and create an account. 

• Easy to use online book writing software provided by the UW Libraries. 

• Free for current UW students, faculty and staff.

• Lets you create online and downloadable (PDF, ePub, etc) books

• Write your book in Pressbooks, or easily import content from Word

• Several people can work on the same book, with different roles and permissions

• Easily apply an open license to your book and chapter

• Pressbooks hosts two monthly online webinars that are open to all users on hosted PressbooksEDU networks (including UW).
  • Getting started with PressbooksEDU Webinar for users who are new to Pressbooks and want to get started creating books.
  • Advanced PressbooksEDU Webinar for users who have some familiarity with Pressbooks and are interested in adding interactive elements and more complex activities

• The UW Libraries offers monthly Pressbooks trainings that are open to all UW faculty, staff and students.

• Interested in a Pressbooks training for yourself, your department or course? Schedule a consultation with the Open Education Librarian.

Should I be worried about UW Libraries ending its support for Pressbooks?

• No need to worry! The UW Libraries has committed funding for Pressbooks, which is no longer in “pilot.” Should you leave the university, there are various ways you can take your Pressbooks project with you. Consult with the Pressbooks librarian on your campus, or view this chapter from the Pressbooks User Guide. 

Does Pressbooks have a tool for comparing editions of similar texts to find unique sections?

• Pressbooks has a source comparison tool that can be used with cloned books. More information can be found under the heading “Enable Source Comparison” in the Pressbooks User Guide chapter on cloning. 
• If you are working with texts other than cloned books in Pressbooks, consider downloading them into Microsoft Word documents and comparing them with the Legal Blackline or View Side by Side tools as a workaround. (Note: These tools may have different names in different versions of Word.)

Could Pressbooks be used to make a digital lab book or similar materials?

• It depends on what features and functionality you need, but yes! Authors at several institutions have created lab manuals in Pressbooks for a variety of subjects: human anatomy, chemistry, fluid mechanics, art history, educational psychology, geology, entomology, etc. 

What happens to someone’s access to Pressbooks after they leave UW?

• Access to Pressbooks expires at the same time as access to other library resources and services that are tied to your UW NetID. (Read more about service expirations.)
• Books created and published on the UW Libraries Pressbooks platform will continue to be hosted on the platform after the book administrator leaves the university. We are currently developing policies to address book retention. Contact us for more information. 

How can I collaborate with non-UW authors on my Pressbooks project? 

• While UW Libraries Pressbooks accounts are only available to current UW students, faculty and staff, you can make your chapters password protected, share the password with your nonUW collaborator and enable Hypothesis so that they can read and annotate private chapters. 
• You may also consider working in a separate platform, like Google Docs or Word with your non-UW coauthor, then upload your work to UW Libraries Pressbooks.  

Can I integrate a Pressbooks book into UW Canvas?

• Yes! It is possible to import your book into your UW Canvas course using these instructions. Book chapters will become Canvas Modules in your course. Please contact us if you want guidance on this process.  

What do I need to consider if I want to use Hypothesis annotation with more than one class in the same book?

• One option is to assign a unique tag to each class and have the students tag all their Hypothesis annotations so they can be sorted and viewed easily. 
• Another option is to create a private Hypothesis group for each class, so only the students in that class (and their instructor, of course!) can view each other’s annotations.
• Read more in the Hypothesis Teacher Resource Guide and the Pressbooks User Guide chapter on Hypothesis.

Can UW Libraries help me get an ISBN for my Pressbooks project?

• The UW Libraries doesn’t facilitate acquiring ISBNs, but we suggest consulting these links: 
• Bowker ISBN FAQs
• ISBN guidance from Pressbooks
• Other Things You Need to Make Your Own Book: Optional ISBNs, etc chapter from The Indie Author’s Guide to Self Publishing.

Can UW Libraries proofread/translate/copyedit my manuscript or improve my book design?

• While UW Libraries staff don’t have the capacity to proofread or review book design, we would suggest the following:
• If you are looking for feedback on instructional content in your UW Libraries Pressbooks project, consider contacting the Center for Teaching and Learning or the OWRC 
• Consider utilizing staff support in your department for editing and design.
• Consider hiring a professional editor via ACES Editors for Hire or Northwest Editors Guild, or look for a regional translator association such as the Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society  
• Reach out to the UW Design Help Desk for a consultation 

I’m having trouble with the placement of images, figures, tables and captions.  Help!

• Consult the Fix Common Formatting Problems,  Apply Special Formatting and Media chapters of the Pressbooks User Guide. 
• Contact us if you've hit a wall with text or image formatting in your Pressbooks chapter. If we're not able to troubleshoot, we can send your question to the Pressbooks support team for guidance. 

What if I want to create something in Pressbooks that isn't OER?

• UW libraries Pressbooks is intended to be used for the creation of openly licensed course materials, and Libraries staff rovide support for faculty and students who are using Pressbooks for teaching & learning related publications.Support includes consultations and guidance for UW instructors who are using it to create course materials (such as textbooks) that save students money and are openly licensed allowing for derivative works.