Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Entomology 311 Lab Manual
Melissa Scherr; Daniel Adams; Baylee Bullock · Oregon State University · 2019
Labs in this book supplement the information gained in lecture, as well as providing some perspective and experience with hands-on applications of ideas in pest management. The labs are presented in week-by-week order, so the pre-labs and reading for week 1 are labeled “Pre-Lab 1” and “Week 1 Reading”. Pre-Labs are assignments to be done before lab meets, and will be due at the beginning of Lab. Complete the labs using your textbook, web resources, or the reading assigned for the week. Readings are short 1-3 page “chapters” covering background topics pertinent to the upcoming lab, particular groups of insects/arthropods, or methods used in Pest Management. This should be read before coming to Lab each week. Lab Assignments need to be printed and brought to class so that they can be completed as a group in Lab. It is sometimes helpful to read through the assignment ahead of time to get an idea of the subject matter for the week.
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Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa
John Wilson; Richard Primack · Open Book Publishers · 2019
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region.
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Introduction to Soil Science
Amber Anderson; Rivka Fidel · Iowa State University Digital Press · 2025
This textbook introduces readers to introductory soil science topics including the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils; soil formation, classification, and global distribution; soil health, soils and humanity, and sustainable land management. The second edition brings forward new information about soil water and soil chemistry alongside updates to the core chapters.
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Fish, Fishing, and Conservation
Donald Orth · Virginia Tech Publishing · 2023
Fish, Fishing, and Conservation is a 389-page, peer-reviewed open textbook intended for undergraduate students who are exploring majors in Fish & Wildlife. It is also relevant to a general audience or for use in courses which explore social and ethical aspects of fish, fishing and conservation. People, places, and approaches to fishing are as varied as the diverse fish fauna that exist on the planet. As conservation planners recognize the value of substantial engagement of stakeholders in decision making and ineffectiveness of rigid top-down management approaches, Fish, Fishing, and Conservation asserts that all peoples must play a role in conservation. Through case studies, engaging narrative and graphics, and exercises, the text explores major motivations for fishing and non-fishing related values, responsible fisheries practices, the rights of all people to decide how to manage and conserve fish, their habitats, and how they are utilized in the context of overfishing as a pressing global problem for which appropriate solutions are not easily found nor implemented. Introductory chapters examine fish, fishing, and why fish matter and examine the role of values in driving conservation initiatives. Fish and their unique sensory capabilities are described along with a review of recent studies to examine issues of pain, sentience, and learning in fishes living in a foreign, underwater world. The text incorporates these new findings in conservation and management leading readers to evaluate and adopt suitable approaches to ethical reasoning which consider the welfare needs of wild and cultured fishes. Later chapters focus on the role of gender in fishing, conservation organizations, recreational fishing, and a focus on specific fisheries that reveal the principles of conservation and management as they play out in major controversies. Additionally, the textbook contains audio recordings of professional profiles by Virginia Tech students. These are linked at the beginnin
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Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook
Kathleen Reed; Devon Johnson · Virginia Cooperative Extension · 2023
Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook is a guide for all gardeners in Virginia. It covers a variety of topics important for beginning and experienced gardeners, including soil health, native plants, and integrated pest management. This manual provides an understanding of the basics of gardening in Virginia and helps to build a strong foundation of gardening knowledge. Resources for additional reading can be found at the end of each chapter. We encourage readers to take a deeper dive into the topics that interest them and continue their learning journey. Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) is the outreach and engagement branch of Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, Virginia’s land-grant universities. Through VCE, Extension agents, specialists, and volunteers work to share knowledge and advance the wellbeing of all Virginians. This handbook serves as the main training text for new Extension Master Gardener volunteers.
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Conservation techniques
Marcia Meixler; Mark Bain · Rutgers University Library Press · 2022
This book fosters the recognition of options for making progress toward increased environmental conservation through an understanding of the underlying science and practice of a variety of conservation techniques. Today, there are expected benefits from integrated science and practice, and many people are promoting this as the way forward to improve our environment. Over time, trends emerge regarding the best way to conserve the environment, but so far an outstanding solution has not emerged. Each conservation technique has its foundational concepts, limitations, and implementation issues. Reviewing a collection of techniques provides a basis for considering which approach will be best for any specific environmental challenge. This book should advance the recognition of the challenges managing the environment, techniques that can be used to address the challenges, and the ways they might help foster the integration of science and the practice of ecological conservation. This book is intended for students and management professionals who might benefit from a vision and guiding path that leads toward achieving ecological conservation for the long-term. This book is unique in the Open Educational Resources (OER) space as it seeks to present a range of conservation techniques with differing science concepts and applications.
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Monitoring Animal Populations and their Habitats: A Practitioner's Guide
Brenda McComb; Benjamin Zuckerberg; David Vesely; Christopher Jordan · Oregon State University · 2020
We designed this book to offer a comprehensive overview of the monitoring process, from start to finish. Although there are books that deal with sampling design and the quantitative analysis of population data, there are few that provide practical advice covering the entire evolution of a monitoring plan from incorporating stakeholder input to data collection to data management and analysis to reporting. This book strives to present an overview of this process. We also acknowledge that any such effort tends to reflect the interests and expertise of the authors, and as such, there is a distinct emphasis on monitoring vertebrate populations and upland habitats. Although many of our examples tend to focus on bird populations and forested habitats, we have made an attempt to cover other taxa and habitat types as well, and many of the recommendations and suggestions that we present are applicable to a diversity of monitoring programs. This book was written to fill a practical need and also to embrace a set of values that we hold dear. We wanted a book that could be used in a classroom because we feel that students in natural resources programs need to know how to design a monitoring program when they enter the workforce. We also realize that many former students now in the workforce did not have that training and may find this book of value to them.
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Introduction to Environmental Science
Caralyn Zehnder; Kalina Manoylov; Samuel Mutiti; Christine Mutiti · University System of Georgia · 2018
This course uses the basic principles of biology and earth science as a context for understanding environmental policies and resource management practices. Our planet is facing unprecedented environmental challenges, from oil spills to global climate change. In ENSC 1000, you will learn about the science behind these problems; preparing you to make an informed, invaluable contribution to Earth's future. I hope that each of you is engaged by the material presented and participates fully in the search for, acquisition of, and sharing of information within our class.
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Health Sciences Collection Development: An Overview of Fundamental Knowledge and Practices
Medical Library Association Collection Development Caucus; Karen Gau; Iris Kovar-Gough · Virginia Commonwealth University · 2023
This work was created by members of the Medical Library Association’s Collection Development Caucus to provide librarians with key concepts about health sciences collection development. The chapters provide an overview of the responsibilities and tasks involved in the development and management of health sciences collections; it is recommended that readers refer to the references and further reading sections in each chapter for a more detailed look at each topic. The first edition was published in 2019 and was updated with a second edition in 2023. This updated edition has a new section on unique collection genres; addresses Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in collections; incorporates significant updates to and expansion of previous content; and includes a glossary. New additions to each chapter, as applicable, include key communities and online courses for professional development.
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Tea Time Linear Algebra Explorations in Mathematics
Leon Brin · Leon Q. Brin · 2022
This creation is an all-purpose open source textbook for linear algebra classes of all ilks. Inside you will find a complete and engaging introduction to linear algebra, making it a perfect primary resource for classroom study. Take a ride through the landscape of linear algebra from basic mechanics through inner product spaces. 386 pages Over 1000 exercises with over 200 detailed solutions and hundreds more answers Over 250 illustrations Nearly 150 live SageMathCell links Open source Now with online homework and course management at MyOpenMath! Presented in a conversational style with plenty of motivation, illustrations, applications, and theory, this text should be a comfortable read for most beginning mathematicians. Readers and instructors alike will appreciate the numerous detailed exercise solutions accompanying each section. Examine the distribution of bicycles in the Capital Bikeshare system, model an un-preheated oven baking brownies, reproduce sounds via Fourier series, explore reptiles like the one decorating this cover, and more. Read proofs of the rank and nullity theorem, the determinant expansion formula, existence and uniqueness of solutions of linear systems and others. It's all here in Tea Time Linear Algebra.
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Introduction to Financial Mathematics Concepts and Computational Methods
Arash Fahim · Florida State University · 2019
Introduction to Financial Mathematics: Concepts and Computational Methods serves as a primer in financial mathematics with a focus on conceptual understanding of models and problem solving. It includes the mathematical background needed for risk management, such as probability theory, optimization, and the like. The goal of the book is to expose the reader to a wide range of basic problems, some of which emphasize analytic ability, some requiring programming techniques and others focusing on statistical data analysis. In addition, it covers some areas which are outside the scope of mainstream financial mathematics textbooks. For example, it presents marginal account setting by the CCP and systemic risk, and a brief overview of the model risk. Inline exercises and examples are included to help students prepare for exams on this book.
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The Office of the Presidency: Powers and Responsibilities
Jakob Miller · Jakob Miller · 2025
Popular imagination gives the President of the United States vast, sweeping power. The Constitution tells a different story. This book is about the gap between the two. The Office of the Presidency: Powers and Responsibilities is a free, introductory political science textbook for undergraduate students. It examines the American presidency through the lens of the leadership dilemma — the persistent gap between what the public expects presidents to accomplish and what the office actually empowers them to do. Each chapter explores a key dimension of presidential power: the constitutional origins of the office, nominations and campaigns, the tools and limits of executive authority, the relationship with Congress and the courts, war and foreign policy, and the presidency's management of public opinion and the media. Throughout, the focus is not on the presidents who have held the office, but on the office itself — its surprising constraints, its creative expansions, and the enduring tension between expectation and reality that has shaped every presidency from Washington to the present.
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Mental Disorders and the Criminal Justice System
Anne Nichol; Kendra Harding; Monica McKirdy · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2025
This is an introductory textbook exploring the management and treatment of people with mental disorders throughout the criminal justice system.
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Critical Perspectives on Technology and the Family
Susan Walker · University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing · 2022
From the perspective of a long time family practitioner, researcher, and educator, and technology innovator, this textbook offers the first comprehensive view of technology in the family for college students, professionals and the public. Each chapter offers content and a complete reference list, learning activities, ideas for critical blog posting and additional readings. The beginning chapters cover foundational information about our societal use of information and communications technology, family theories and ways of understanding families, and how families differ in their use and access to ICT. The main body of the book (chapters 4-10) covers elements of the family from couple relationships and dating apps, to children’s use and impacts on development from early childhood through young adulthood, use by parents and in the parent-child relationship, shared use by family members, and then topics important to family life: work-family balance and health and financial management and technology. The end of the book pivots to look closely at use by family professionals, the competencies needed to integrate technology into practice, and policy as a proactive and systemic avenue for change. End of book material include an additional reading list and recommended web content, social media and thought leaders. The authors lends her ideas on teaching for critical thinking with an overview at the beginning of the book, and classroom assessment ideas (actually short ways to engage learners in critical thinking activities).
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Educational Psychology
Kelvin Seifert; Rosemary Sutton · University of Manitoba · 2009
Chapters in the text can be assigned either from beginning to end, as with a conventional printed book, or they can be selected in some other sequence to meet the needs of particular students or classes. In general the first half of the book focuses on broader questions and principles taken from psychology per se, and the second half focuses on somewhat more practical issues of teaching. But the division between “theory” and “practice” is only approximate; all parts of the book draw on research, theory, and practical wisdom wherever appropriate. Chapter 2 is about learning theory, and Chapter 3 is about development; but as we point out, these topics overlap with each other as well as with the concerns of daily teaching. Chapter 4 is about several forms of student diversity (what might be called individual differences in another context), and Chapter 5 is about one form of diversity that has become prominent in schools recently—students with disabilities. Chapter 6 is about motivation, a topic that is heavily studied by psychological researchers, but that also poses perennial challenges to classroom teachers. Following these somewhat more basic psychological chapters, we turn to several lasting challenges of classroom life—challenges that seem to be an intrinsic part of the job. Chapter 7 offers ideas about classroom management; Chapter 8, ideas about communicating with students; Chapter 9, about ways to assist students' complex forms of thinking; and Chapter 10, about planning instruction systematically. The book closes with two chapters about assessment of learning: Chapter 11 focuses on teachers' own efforts to assess students, and Chapter 12 focuses on standardized measures of assessment. We have organized material and features in ways that we hope will allow for a variety of students, instructors, and institutions to use the book. For instructors and courses that seek a strong focus on research and the research process, for example, we have included an extra “ch
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MAT 117: Mathematical Problem Solving in Liberal Arts
LibreTexts
In the contents: 08: Money Management · 11.07: Money Management
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Intercultural Communication
Talita Pruett · Bakersfield College
In the contents: 7.02: Intercultural Conflict Management
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Forest Measurements: An Applied Approach
Joan DeYoung · Mt. Hood Community College
In the contents: 05.6: Application of LCR and Crown Class in Forest Management
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Rain or Shine: An Introduction to Soil Physical Properties and Processes (CRPSCI 036)
Tyson Oschner · Coalinga College
This book is a multi-faceted learning resource for people who want or need to learn introductory concepts of soil physics. Soil physics is a scientific discipline focused on using the principles and techniques of physics to understand: the properties of the soil, the processes which occur in and on soils, and how those properties and processes were, are, or would be affected by changes in environment or management. "Rain or shine near Chilcott, Somerset, UK" by Edmund Shaw. CC BY-SA 2.0
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Developmental Studies 101 and 103
Laura Gilbert · Community College of Allegheny County
In the contents: 1.2: Time Management and Procrastination