The Library publishes open educational resources (OERs) and open access textbooks to reduce the cost of higher education for students. We work with PSU faculty to publish high-quality open access textbooks designed specifically for their courses that are free to students at our university and to anyone in the world.
This brief video provides and overview of our program and includes testimonials from our authors.
Learn more about Open Access Textbooks
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Leyendas y arquetipos del Romanticismo español
Robert Sanders
This edition has been superseded. The 2nd edition is available here: https://doi.org/10.15760/pdxopen-10
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From MSA to CA: A Beginner's Guide for Transitioning into Colloquial Arabic
Lina Gomaa
This book is for students who have studied Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) for one year or more and would like to learn colloquial Arabic basics using their knowledge of MSA. It aims at transitioning learners from Novice Mid level to Intermediate Low through presenting situations useful for living in an Arab country. The book has several features including hyperlinks, practice dialogues with open answers, cultural tips, and more.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook.
Audio files are available online
Adopt/Adapt
If you are an instructor adopting or adapting this PDXOpen textbook, please help us understand your use by filling out this form.This textbook was imported into Pressbooks in February 2021, to make it easier for instructors to edit, build upon, and remix the content. Note that tables in Pressbooks are not intended for adaptation due to web browser errors resulting from sentences with both English and Arabic.
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Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1
Emiko Konomi
This is the first book in a three book series and includes Lessons 0 - 4. Book 2 and Book 3 are also available for download.
This textbook is designed for beginning learners who want to learn basic Japanese for the purpose of living and working in Japan. Unlike textbooks written primarily for students, whose content largely centers on student life, this book focuses more on social and professional life beyond school.
As a beginning level textbook, this book includes many elementary grammar patterns (Japanese Language Proficiency Test Levels 5 and 4), but the vocabulary and situations are selected specifically for working adults. Explanations are kept concise so as to only cover key points. The main focus is on oral communication and the accompanying audio is to be used extensively. This textbook can be used for self-study, as part of an online course, or as a traditional college course.
Audio files are also available online via PSU Mediaspace.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
Adopt / Adapt
This textbook was imported into Pressbooks on March 18, 2020, to make it easier for instructors to edit, build upon, and remix the content.If you are an instructor adopting or adapting this PDXOpen textbook, please help us understand your use by Telling Us You’re Using a PDXOpen Textbook.
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Introduction to Mathematical Analysis (First Edition)
Beatriz Lafferriere, Gerardo Lafferriere, and Nguyen Mau Nam
This edition has been superseded. The 2nd edition is available here: https://doi.org/10.15760/pdxopen-9
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Comprehensive Individualized Curriculum and Instructional Design
Samuel Sennott, Sheldon Loman, Kristy Lee Park, Luis F. Pérez, Michael J. Kennedy, John Romig, and Wendy J. Rodgers
This online textbook addresses the population of individuals with disabilities that experience complex lifelong needs across multiple areas in their lives. Drs. Sennott and Loman drafted this book (along with the help from some friends) with the hope of providing pertinent, practical, and current resources to future special educators who plan to serve individuals with complex disabilities.
Chapter 1: Guiding Principles for Developing Comprehensive and Meaningful Instruction for Individuals with Complex Needs by Sheldon L. Loman, provides readers with practical resources to develop their repertoire of tools for designing supports for individuals with significant needs.
Chapter 2: Naturalistic AAC Communication Intervention by Samuel Sennott, introduces the reader to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and shares specific intervention resources including the innovative naturalistic strategy: MODELER.
Chapter 3: Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis to Teach by Kristy Lee Park, provides an overview and examples of research-based approaches of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
Chapter 4: Developing Function-based Interventions by Sheldon Loman, shares a practical guide for the use of research-based critical features to design positive behavioral interventions based on the reasons why students engage in problem behaviors (i.e., function of student behavior).
Chapter 5: iOS 8 Accessibility by Luis F. Pérez, presents the latest information on the accessibility of mobile devices using the iOS 8 Apple operating system. This chapter embeds multiple video examples for improving the accessibility for mobile devices with this newest operating system.
Chapter 6: Using Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs) to Improve Vocabulary Instruction and Learning for Students with Disabilities and Their Teachers by Michael J. Kennedy, John Romig, and Wendy J. Rodgers, introduce a multimedia-based tool that can be created by teachers with technology they already have on their computers. In this chapter they provide examples of high-quality multimedia and step-by-step instructions for production.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
Adopt/Adapt
If you are an instructor adopting or adapting this PDXOpen textbook, please help us understand your use by filling out this form -
Gender and Sexualities: An Inquiry
Jason Gary Damron and Vicki L. Reitenauer
Gender and Sexualities: An Inquiry was created to accompany UNST 231 Sophomore Inquiry: Gender and Sexualities at Portland State University.
Adopt/Adapt
If you are an instructor adopting or adapting this PDXOpen textbook, please help us understand your use by filling out this form -
Spatial Thinking in Planning Practice: An Introduction to GIS
Yiping Fang, Vivek Shandas, and Eugenio Arriaga Cordero
The goals of this textbook are to help students acquire the technical skills of using software and managing a database, and develop research skills of collecting data, analyzing information and presenting results. We emphasize that the need to investigate the potential and practicality of GIS technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate its possible applications. GIS may not be necessary (or useful) for every planning application, and we anticipate these readings to provide the necessary foundation for discerning its appropriate use. Therefore, this textbook attempts to facilitate spatial thinking focusing more on open-ended planning questions, which require judgment and exploration, while developing the analytical capacity for understanding a variety of local and regional planning challenges.
While this textbook provides the background for understanding the concepts in GIS as applicable to urban and regional planning, it is best when accompanied by a hands-on tutorial, which will enable readers to develop an in-depth understanding of the specific planning applications of GIS. Chapters in this text book are either composed by the editors using Creative Common materials, or linked to a book chapter scanned copy in the library reserve. In the end of each chapter, we also provided several discussion questions, together with contextual applications through some web links.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
If you are an instructor adopting or adapting this PDXOpen textbook, please help us understand your use by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/sFg1WJhMvUzLh7ZE7
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Preadvanced Japanese
Emiko Konomi
This textbook is designed for students who have intermediate competency in Japanese, roughly at Level 2 on the ILR (The Interagency Language Roundtable) proficiency scale, and are working on reaching Level 3.
This textbook can be used for self-study, as part of online course, and in a traditional classroom setting. It is comprised of four chapters, intended to be covered in one term of a quarter system.
Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook
If you are an instructor adopting or adapting this PDXOpen textbook, please help us understand your use by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/sFg1WJhMvUzLh7ZE7