Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Transportation Policies, Programs and History
Ivonne Audirac; Amber Raley; Jenifer Reiner; Soheil Sharifi-Asl · Mavs Open Press · 2024
This open text features ten chapters addressing leading topics in transportation planning, programs, policies, history and emerging transportation trends.
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The History and Culture of the Standing Rock Oyate
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction · University of North Dakota · 1995
History & Culture of the Standing Rock Oyate is a guide to the Standing Rock nation, past and present. Elders, scholars, and other experts from the nation contributed the content of this book, which was reviewed by Standing Rock Community College and published by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) for use in middle and high school North Dakota Studies classes, as well as in higher education. The Standing Rock Reservation (Lakota: Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) shares geography with southern North Dakota and with South Dakota. The capital of this sovereign nation is Fort Yates.
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The History and Culture of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction · University of North Dakota · 1997
History & Culture of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is a guide to the Turtle Mountain nation, past and present. Elders, scholars, and other experts from the nation contributed the content of this book, which was reviewed by Turtle Mountain Community College and published by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) for use in middle and high school North Dakota Studies classes, as well as in higher education. The Turtle Mountain nation is called Mikinaakwajiw-ininiwag in the Ojibwe language. This sovereign nation’s capital is Belcourt. The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation shares geography with northern North Dakota, along the border with Canada. The rest of its land base exists as parcels of trust land across Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, defying easy summarization.
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The History and Culture of the Mni Wakan Oyate (Spirit Lake Nation)
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction · University of North Dakota · 1997
History & Culture of the Mni Wakan Oyate Spirit Lake Nation is a guide to the Spirit Lake nation, past and present. Elders, scholars, and other experts from the nation contributed the content of this book, which was reviewed by Cankdeska Cikana Community College (English: Little Hoop Community College) and published by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) for use in middle and high school North Dakota Studies classes, as well as in higher education. The Spirit Lake Nation’s name in the Santee Dakota language is “Mni Wakan Oyate” (also transcribed “Mniwakaƞ Oyate”). The nation was formerly called the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe in various English-language materials. It is comprised of the Pabaksa (Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna), Sisseton (Sisíthuŋwaŋ) and Wahpeton (Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ) bands of the Dakota people. The Spirit Lake Dakota Reservation shares geography with eastern North Dakota, beside Devils Lake. Fort Totten is the capital of this sovereign nation.
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A Natural History of the Anthropocene
John Lambrinos · Oregon State University · 2024
Organized into three sections, this book—an introduction to our planet—is written in the spirt of a natural history guide. The prologue includes a chapter that outlines the basic concept of biodiversity. How we are changing biodiversity is a theme that runs through the book. The second section contains several chapters that explore the natural history of our now human-dominated world. The last section explores our changing relationship with nature.
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History and Science of Cultivated Plants
Sushma Naithani · Oregon State University · 2021
History and Science of Cultivated Plants narrates how humans transitioned from foragers to farmers and have arrived at present-day industrial agriculture-based civilization. It entails myths, historical accounts, and scientific concepts to describe how human efforts have shaped and produced easier to grow, larger, tastier, and more nutritious fruits, vegetables, and grains from wild plants. Using examples of various economically and socially important crops central to human civilization, the book describes the origin of crop plants, the evolution of agricultural practices, fundamental concepts of natural selection vs. domestication, experimental and methodical plant breeding, and plant biotechnology.
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A People’s History of Structural Racism in Academia: From A(dministration of Justice) to Z(oology)
Susan Rahman; Prateek Sunder; Dahmitra Jackson · Susan Rahman · 2022
The contents of this book were developed under an Open Textbooks Pilot grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
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American Environmental History
Dan Allosso · Minnesota Libraries Publishing Project · 2019
For too long the environment has been considered little more than a neutral background to history. This text surveys findings of the new field of Environmental History about how the environment of the Americas influenced the actions of people here and how people affected their environments, from prehistory to the present.
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The History of Our Tribe: Hominini
Barbara Welker · Open SUNY · 2017
Where did we come from? What were our ancestors like? Why do we differ from other animals? How do scientists trace and construct our evolutionary history? The History of Our Tribe: Hominini provides answers to these questions and more. The book explores the field of paleoanthropology past and present. Beginning over 65 million years ago, Welker traces the evolution of our species, the environments and selective forces that shaped our ancestors, their physical and cultural adaptations, and the people and places involved with their discovery and study. It is designed as a textbook for a course on Human Evolution but can also serve as an introductory text for relevant sections of courses in Biological or General Anthropology or general interest. It is both a comprehensive technical reference for relevant terms, theories, methods, and species and an overview of the people, places, and discoveries that have imbued paleoanthropology with such fascination, romance, and mystery.
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Psychology: The Science of Human Potential
Jeffrey Levy · BCcampus · 2019
The first chapter provides an overview of the textbook and reviews the history of psychology and its methodology. Psychology is described as a science studying how hereditary (nature) and experiential (nurture) variables interact to influence the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals. The remainder of the text will be organized in sections entitled “Mostly Nature” (Biological Psychology; Sensation & Perception; Motivation & Emotion), “Mostly Nurture” (Direct Learning; Indirect Learning (i.e., observational learning and language); Cognition), and “Nature/Nurture” (Human Development; Personality; Social Psychology; Maladaptive Behavior; Professional Psychology and Human Potential).
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Race, Crime and Injustice
Shanell Sanchez, PhD; Jessica Peterson, PhD · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2025
Welcome to the Race, Crime, and Justice Open Educational Resource! This book was developed with a diversity, equity, and inclusion framework. This course is about race, so our primary focus will be on the experiences of people of color (POC) in the criminal justice system. An important aspect of this book is the various spotlight examples we weave throughout the chapters to demonstrate the application of materials. We hope to increase awareness of the experiences of people of color, both historically and in modern day, and the criminal justice system. Throughout history, people of color have had routinely negative experiences with the criminal justice system at every level. A person’s race and ethnicity can determine how one interacts with and experiences the criminal justice system. People of color have faced various barriers and challenges when attempting to make meaningful changes to a system that has operated in a repressive manner since it began.
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Introduction to Human Services: An Equity Lens
Elizabeth Pearce; Martha Ochoa-Leyva · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2025
Introduction to Human Services: An Equity Lens exemplifies equity, diversity, and inclusion while providing a foundational understanding of the human services field, including core principles and theories and the characteristics and skills needed for the field. Features include ethical codes of conduct, the whitewashing of the history of helping professions, and a transitory chapter into internship settings. An emphasis is placed on the relationship between the complexity of social problems, services, systems and programs that comprise human services. The text prepares students who are considering or are committed to the Human Services field to participate in more advanced courses and practicum experiences.
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North Dakota Native American Essential Understandings
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction · University of North Dakota · 2015
History & Culture of the Mandan Hidatsa & Sahnish (Arikara) is a guide to the Three Affiliated Tribes nation, past and present. The book is divided into three sections: one for each tribe. Elders, scholars, and other experts from the nation contributed the content of this book, which was reviewed by Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College and published by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) for use in middle and high school North Dakota Studies classes, as well as in higher education. The MHA nation is known as the following in its languages: Mandan: Miiti Naamni, Hidatsa: Awadi Aguraawi, Arikara: ačitaanu' táWIt. The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation shares geography with western North Dakota, with land on either side of the Missouri River basin. New Town is this sovereign nation’s capital.
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A Casebook for Comparative Politics
Mark Johnson; Angela Pashayan; Daniel Pedreira; Matthew Schuster · Opendora · 2025
This book is intended to serve as a companion text for courses in Comparative Politics, Introduction to Political Science, and similar subjects. The target audience is lower-division undergraduates. Each chapter constitutes a single country (case), with material on seven (7) major topics: History, Identity, Culture and Civil Society, Participation, Formal Institutions, Political Economy, and Foreign Relations.
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The Mass Media Landscape
Dave Bostwick; Alyssa Riley; Dominique Valle · University of Arkansas · 2024
The Mass Media Landscape is a compilation of lessons to help audiences understand the evolution of U.S. mass media and disruptive media technologies. It includes overviews of media law, media ethics and media literacy. Chapters contain interactive exercises, review quizzes, writing assignments, and multimedia content. Following are four points of emphasis: Media literacy extends beyond the ability to identify misinformation and disinformation or follow reliable news sources. A crucial part of media literacy is understanding mass media history. Media literacy skills help both consumers and professionals create and publish reliable content, including on social media, in an ethical manner and with an understanding of long-term effects and potential consequences. All students, not just those who seek careers in the industry, benefit from learning about media history, media law, media ethics, and media literacy.
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Introduction to the Pedagogy of New Literacies and Applied Critical Thinking
Kacy Lovelace · Marshall University · 2024
This textbook is an introduction to information and new literacies instruction in a variety of libraries and other information-related organizations and for a variety of patrons (including K-12, ESL, special needs learners, and adult learners). Topics include the history and theoretical bases of literacy instruction, instructional program development, and pedagogical and evaluation techniques. Featuring hands-on assessments for students pursing an Instructional Technology and Library Science emphasis, this text introduces new literacies, provides a comprehensive look at literacy instruction, literacy instruction improvement, and literacy instruction lesson planning with a focus on critical thinking.
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Romance Lands and Conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Jerry Johnson · Montana State University · 2023
To fully grasp the significance of this story we explore the history of the West, the development of Yellowstone National Park, something about the discipline of conservation biology and related policy sciences, Grizzly bear recovery, and eventually the contemporary economy and social setting of the region. The Greater Yellowstone is a model of how to build a regional system of international importance and local well-being.
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Conflict, War and Revolution: the problem of politics in international political thought
Paul Kelly · LSE Press · 2022
Violence and war were ubiquitous features of politics long before the emergence of the modern state system. Since the late 18th century major revolutions across the world have further challenged the idea of the state as a final arbiter of international order. This book discusses ten major thinkers who have questioned and re-shaped how we think about politics, violence and relations between states – Thucydides, Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Clausewitz, Lenin and Mao, and Schmitt. Conflict, war and revolution have generally been seen in political thought as problems to be managed by stable domestic political communities. In different ways, all the paradigmatic thinkers here acknowledge them instead as inevitable dimensions of human experience, manifested through different ways of acting politically – while yet offering radically distinct answers about how they can be handled. This book dramatically broadens the canon of political thought by considering perspectives on the international system that challenge its historical inevitability and triumph. Drawing on history, theology, and law as well as philosophy, Paul Kelly introduces thinkers who challenge fundamentally the ways in which we should think about the nature and scope of political institutions and agents. He illuminates many troubling contemporary conflicts with a critical and historical perspective. This book is primarily intended for second year and upwards undergraduate students in general political theory and international theory, and advanced international relations students. Each chapter is also downloadable on its own for use in courses considering only some of the ten theorists covered. Written in an accessible way Conflict, War and Revolution will also interest advanced general readers with interests in the historical thought underpinnings of political ideas and today’s international politics.
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Introduction to Political Science Research Methods
Josh Franco; Charlotte Lee; Kau Vue · Academic Senate for California Community Colleges · 2020
Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, authored by Dr. Josh Franco, Dr. Charlotte Lee, Kau Vue, Dr. Dino Bozonelos, Dr. Masahiro Omae, and Dr. Steven Cauchon, is an Open Education Resource textbook licensed CC BY-NC that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.
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Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach
Deborah Amory; Sean Massey; Jennifer Miller; Allison Brown · State University of New York Press · 2022
Designed for an introductory course, this textbook takes a cross-disciplinary approach to the study of LGBTQ+ issues that helps students grasp core concepts through a variety of different perspectives. Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies offers accessible, academically sound information on a wide range of topics, including history, culture, and Queer Theory; an exploration of LGBTQ+ relationships, families, parenting, health, and education; and how to conduct research on LGBTQ+ topics. The book explores LGBTQ+ issues from the ancient world to contemporary global perspectives. Employing an intersectional analysis, the textbook highlights how sexuality and gender are simultaneously experienced and constructed through other structures of inequality and privilege, such as race and class. The text supports multiple learning styles by integrating visual elements, multimedia resources, discussion and project prompts, and resources for further research throughout the textbook.