Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Sourcing, summarizing, and synthesizing: Skills for effective research writing
Wendy McBride · University of Arkansas · 2023
An open educational text written by McBride.
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Writing for Inquiry and Research
Jeffrey Kessler; Mark Bennett; Sarah Primeau; Charitianne Williams · University of Illinois Library - Urbana · 2023
Writing for Inquiry and Research guides students through the composition process of writing a research paper. The book divides this process into four chapters that each focus on a genre connected to research writing: the annotated bibliography, proposal, literature review, and research essay. Each chapter provides significant guidance with reading, writing, and research strategies, along with significant examples and links to external resources. This book serves to help students and instructors with a writing-project-based approach, transforming the research process into an accessible series of smaller, more attainable steps for a semester-long course in research writing. Additional resources throughout the book, as well as in three appendices, allow for students and instructors to explore the many facets of the writing process together.
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Literature Reviews for Education and Nursing Graduate Students
Linda Frederiksen; Sue Phelps · Rebus Community · 2017
Literature Reviews for Education and Nursing Graduate Students is an open textbook designed for students in graduate-level nursing and education programs. Its intent is to recognize the significant role the literature review plays in the research process and to prepare students for the work that goes into writing one. Developed for new graduate students and novice researchers just entering into the work of a chosen discipline, each of the eight chapters covers a component of the literature review process. Students will learn how to form a research question, search existing literature, synthesize results and write the review. The book contains examples, checklists, supplementary materials, and additional resources. Literature Reviews for Education and Nursing Graduate Students is written by two librarians with expertise guiding students through research and writing assignments, and is openly licensed.
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Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proof, Version 2.1
Ted Sundstrom · Grand Valley State University · 2014
Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proofis designed to be a text for the ?rst course in the college mathematics curriculum that introduces students to the processes of constructing and writing proofs and focuses on the formal development of mathematics. The primary goals of the text are to help students: Develop logical thinking skills and to develop the ability to think more abstractly in a proof oriented setting. Develop the ability to construct and write mathematical proofs using standard methods of mathematical proof including direct proofs, proof by contradiction, mathematical induction, case analysis, and counterexamples. Develop the ability to read and understand written mathematical proofs. Develop talents for creative thinking and problem solving. Improve their quality of communication in mathematics. This includes improving writing techniques, reading comprehension, and oral communication in mathematics. Better understand the nature of mathematics and its language. This text also provides students with material that will be needed for their further study of mathematics.
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Legal Writing I & II: Legal Research and Writing & Introduction to Litigation Practice
Ben Fernandez · Ben Fernandez · 2020
Legal Writing I & II; Legal Research and Writing & Introduction to Litigation Practice contains a brief discussion of all of the topics covered in a law school courses on legal writing, including a typical first semester course on legal research, analysis and writing an objective memorandum, as well as a second semester course on persuasion and writing an appellate brief, motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment. The discussion focuses on the basics of analogical reasoning and persuasion and leaves out the minutiae. Each topic is taken one step at a time, with each step building on the step before it. The sources of law are presented first, then legal research, and reading and analyzing cases and statutes. The book covers analogizing a case to a fact pattern and marshaling the relevant facts to the elements of a statutory rule next. And then first section of the book concludes with legal citation, CRAC and CREAC, and writing a legal research memorandum. The text also includes a lot of samples and examples of how the author would write a case brief, a legal memoranda and an appellate brief, as well as an appendix with charts, outlines and exercises students can use to practice these skills. Legal Writing I & II; Legal Research and Writing & Introduction to Litigation Practice covers all the skills students need to know to work at a law firm, and everything students have to learn to begin practicing in litigation department of a firm.
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Technical Writing and Simple Statistics : For laboratory classes
Stephanie Wettstein · TRAILS · 2022
This upper division resource focuses on how to communicate results through technical writing, use Excel to perform simple statistics, and create professional charts/documents. Excel tutorials are provided for performing descriptive statistics, t-tests, and linear regression as well as using text boxes, formatting figures and captions, and using Equation Editor to insert equations. Additionally, guidance and examples of different communication components are provided along with team writing strategies and guidelines on how to hold efficient meetings. This textbook was designed for Biology and Chemistry majors for a 400 level course.
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University Academic Writing for International Students: A Usage-based Approach
Carol Lynn Moder; Alys Avalos-Rivera; Ho'omana Nathan Horton; Miriam Kinfe · Oklahoma State University · 2020
This resource is designed specifically to meet the academic writing needs of international students studying at universities in the United States. The materials in the book can be covered within a 14-week semester, but each chapter or section may also be used independently. Based on a series of needs analysis projects, this resource provides an overview of major rhetorical patterns of writing that are commonly used in university settings in the United States. These commonly required genres include descriptive and evaluative summaries, short essays, comparison and contrast assignments, literature reviews, descriptive reports, and proposals. The resource includes chapters that address the structure and purpose of these more common genres, including an awareness of the ways that the target audience and situation should shape the writing of each.
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Handbook for Mindful Technical Writing: A Practical Guide for University Students and Professionals
Dawn Atkinson; Stacey Corbitt · Montana Technological University · 2026
Welcome to the Handbook for Mindful Technical Writing: A Practical Guide for University Students and Professionals. This handbook was developed to make advanced writing instruction more accessible, practical, and adaptable for a wide range of learners and professionals.
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Technical Writing Essentials: Introduction to Professional Communications in the Technical Fields
Suzan Last · University of Victoria · 2019
This open textbook is designed to introduce readers to the basics of technical communication: audience and task analysis in workplace contexts, clear and concise communications style, effective document design, teamwork and collaboration, and fundamental research skills.
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Introduction to Technical Writing: A Rhetorical Approach
Moe Folk · The Pennsylvania Alliance for Design of Open Textbooks (PA-ADOPT) · 2025
Introduction to Technical Writing: A Rhetorical Approach is an eTextbook designed to help students learn important basic skills in technical writing and technical communication. The textbook focuses on developing practical knowledge by showing students how to apply rhetorical concepts to the process of technical writing. Each chapter provides students an in-depth look at a required skill for technical writing and examines it through a writing assignment, student sample, and rubric.This eTextbook provides images and videos to help make the concepts come alive for both students and new instructors of technical writing.
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Making Meaning With & Through Writing: An Approach to Research Writing
Ilknur Sancak-Marusa · The Pennsylvania Alliance for Design of Open Textbooks (PA-ADOPT) · 2025
Academic writing is an act of intellectual translation which converts raw ideas into academic discourse to bridge the gap between writer and reader. However, writing is often viewed as a mechanical skill rather than an intellectual craft. This brief text reframes academic writing as a translation process that transforms complex thoughts, research findings, and abstract concepts into purposeful, persuasive writing. Using the writing process as the foundation, each chapter aims to provide a practice to navigate the recursive nature of writing. To that end, fundamental translation principles are utilized to analyze audience needs, understand scholarly articles, synthesize and craft arguments that resonate across disciplinary boundaries. Writing isn’t separate from thinking as it allows us to refine our ideas and share them with others in meaningful ways. Embracing this connection between writing and its impact, positions an individual as an active participant rather than a passive observer in conversations that shape disciplines and the world-at-large. This writing guide seeks to equip students with the essential tools needed to engage meaningfully in the communities they serve and soon will discover.
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Writing for Digital Media
Cara Miller · PALNI · 2024
This textbook focuses on writing and digital media. Increasingly, writing is published on digital platforms like social media, websites, and blogs, and this online writing performs a variety of personal, professional, academic, and civic functions. The textbook discusses these functions from a critical and rhetorical perspective and provides practical skills and strategies that students can put into practice in their own digital writing.
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Workplace Writing: A Handbook for Common Workplace Genres and Professional Writing
Anna Goins; Cheryl Rauh; Danielle Tarner; Daniel Von Holten · New Prairie Press · 2016
This handbook is designed for a generalized business writing course that seeks to meet the needs of a variety of student majors and career interests. In it you will find: descriptions and discussions of common genres, both routine and formal, print and electronic, and in-class activities and sample assignments. You will also find commentary on how to adapt the writing process to the rhetorical constraints of a workplace as well as how to think about, conduct, and use research outside an academic setting. Throughout you will note a persistent emphasis on audience awareness and direct style
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Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in Technical and Professional Writing
Adam Pope · University of Arkansas · 2018
This book presents technical writing as an approach to researching and carrying out writing that centers on technical subject matter. Each and every chapter is devoted to helping students understand that good technical writing is situationally-aware and context-driven. Technical writing doesn’t work off knowing the one true right way of doing things—there is no magic report template out there that will always work. Instead, the focus is on offering students a series of approaches they can use to map out their situations and do research accordingly.
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Writing for Electronic Media
Brian Champagne · Rebus Community · 2017
Welcome to Writing for Electronic Media, an OER textbook. OER stands for Open Educational Resource, which means it’s free for all who access. Since it is electronic, I will do what I can to keep it updated with the changing media. People’s viewing habits are changing as they migrate to mobile sources, social media, and kitten videos.Television News is still a dominant #1 source, and radio is still the safest way to stay informed in your car. Hopefully, you already have some journalism background. This book does not teach the who, what, when, where, why, and how of reporting; its goal is to teach how to present the journalism you already know via electronic media, primarily television.
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Studying the Bible: The Tanakh and Early Christian Writings
Gregory Eiselein; Anna Goins; Naomi Wood · New Prairie Press · 2019
Studying the Bible: The Tanakh and Early Christian Writings is a university-level, textbook introduction to the study of the Bible, its literary forms, and historical and cultural contexts. This textbook is a companion to the Bible courses taught in the English Department at Kansas State University, in particular ENGL 470 The Bible, though it is available for use in other courses and contexts. This textbook examines the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Tanakh) and the early Christian writings of the New Testament. It is an introduction to the analysis of biblical texts, their histories, and their interpretations. The emphasis throughout this textbook is on the literary qualities of these biblical texts as well as their cultural and historical contexts.
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Public Speaking and Democratic Participation: Speech, Deliberation, and Analysis in the Civic Realm
Jennifer Abbott; Todd McDorman; David Timmerman; L. Jill Lamberton · PALNI · 2025
The second edition of Public Speaking and Democratic Participation: Speech, Deliberation, and Analysis in the Civic Realm equips students to effectively participate in and transform their communities through speech. Drawing on the ancient study of rhetoric, the textbook teaches students informative and persuasive speaking skills to develop and empower their public voice. Unique to this textbook, content is also provided on the democratic practices of deliberative discussion facilitation and rhetorical analysis. Together, these abilities help students recognize divisive civic discourse, counter social injustice, and nurture a healthier and more inclusive society.
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American Literatures Prior to 1865
Scott Peterson · University of Missouri - St. Louis · 2022
This work was created as part of the University Libraries’ Open Educational Resources Initiative at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. A web version of this text can be found at https://umsystem.pressbooks.pub/alpt1865/. This anthology of American Literatures Prior to 1865, is organized chronologically into four units, focusing on Colonial Literature, Literature of Native American Perspectives and Discovery, Literature of Nineteenth Century Reform, and Literature of the New Nation. It includes introductions to the many authors included to enhance the reader's contextual understanding of the chosen texts. This anthology is essential reading for any student or scholar of Early American literature.
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Compact Anthology of World Literature II
Anita Turlington; Matthew Horton; Laura Getty · University System of Georgia · 2022
The Compact Anthology of World Literature, Parts 4, 5, and 6 is designed as an e-book to be accessible on a variety of devices: smart phone, tablet, e-reader, laptop, or desktop computer. Students have reported ease of accessibility and readability on all these devices. To access the ePub text on a laptop, desktop, or tablet, you will need to download a program through which you can read the text. We recommend Readium, an application available through Google. If you plan to read the text on an Android device, you will need to download an application called Lithium from the App Store. On an iPhone, the text will open in iBooks. Affordable Learning Georgia has also converted the .epub files to PDF. Because .epub does not easily convert to other formats, the left margin of the .pdf is very narrow. ALG recommends using the .epub version. Although the text is designed to look like an actual book, the Table of Contents is composed of hyperlinks that will take you to each introductory section and then to each text. Texts from a variety of genres and cultures are included in each unit. Additionally, each selection or collection includes a brief introduction about the author and text(s), and each includes 3 – 5 discussion questions. Texts in the public domain--those published or translated before 1923--are replicated here. Texts published or translated after 1923 are not yet available in the public domain. In those cases, we have provided a link to a stable site that includes the text. Thus, in Part 6, most of the texts are accessible in the form of links to outside sites. In every case, we have attempted to connect to the most stable links available.
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Reading Rhetorical Theory
Atilla Hallsby · University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing · 2022
This is a textbook that was originally designed for a 3000-level large lecture course on “Rhetorical Theory” at the University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities. An interdisciplinary tradition, rhetorical theory describes how speech, representation, and power are managed by techniques and technologies of communication. The plan of this book moves from rhetoric as an art of speech to rhetoric as a technology of power. The early chapters provide definitions and context for rhetoric as speech, middle chapters (e.g., on signs, symbols, visual images, argumentation, and narrative) describe rhetoric as representation, and the concluding chapters (e.g., on settler colonialism, secrecy, and digital rhetoric) elaborate on rhetoric as a technology of power. Of course, there is considerable overlap across these areas: the chapter on “rhetoric and ideology” sets the stage for later understandings of rhetoric as power; the chapter on “the rhetorical situation” hearkens back to the introductory understanding of rhetoric as speech. The book includes (audio and/or video) recordings with each chapter, as well as guidelines for proposed written assignments. Students using this resource should gain a thorough understanding of what rhetoric is, how it was practiced historically and today, and the ways that rhetoric wields an invisible influence over contemporary public and political life. Additionally, this book is designed for use across a variety of modalities, including in-person, online (synchronous/asynchronous), and hybridized formats. Additional resources (PowerPoint slides, quiz/exam questions) are also available to confirmed instructors upon request.