Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Introduction to the Principles of Veterinary Pharmacology
Carl Ruby · Oregon State University · 2026
Advances in drug development over the past 50 years for human diseases have facilitated an increase in prescribed drugs in veterinary medicine. This textbook reorients the general principles of pharmacology from humans to animals to better engage veterinary students and practitioners. It explores the general principles of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics before applying them to clinical pharmacology, dose calculations, and toxicity. Terminology is presented simply, and drug examples are omitted to maintain clarity and focus.
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Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice: The Capability Approach Re-Examined
Ingrid Robeyns · Open Book Publishers · 2017
How do we evaluate ambiguous concepts such as wellbeing, freedom, and social justice? How do we develop policies that offer everyone the best chance to achieve what they want from life? The capability approach, a theoretical framework pioneered by the philosopher and economist Amartya Sen in the 1980s, has become an increasingly influential way to think about these issues. Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice: The Capability Approach Re-Examined is both an introduction to the capability approach and a thorough evaluation of the challenges and disputes that have engrossed the scholars who have developed it. Ingrid Robeyns offers her own illuminating and rigorously interdisciplinary interpretation, arguing that by appreciating the distinction between the general capability approach and more specific capability theories or applications we can create a powerful and flexible tool for use in a variety of academic disciplines and fields of policymaking. This book provides an original and comprehensive account that will appeal to scholars of the capability approach, new readers looking for an interdisciplinary introduction, and those interested in theories of justice, human rights, basic needs, and the human development approach.
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Interculturality for Personal Development and Organizational Leadership
Christina Page · Kwantlen Polytechnic University · 2026
Interculturality is a key competency for students and emerging professionals across a variety of fields, from business and education to health care and non-profit leadership. This book bridges academic theory with professional application, helping learners to develop self-awareness and cultural humility. This text also seeks to equip students with practical analytical and communication skills that can be immediately applied in personal and workplace situations. It also seeks to ground students in a foundation for professional leadership in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI). Drawing on both established and emerging frameworks, the text exposes students to diverse perspectives on interculturality, inviting them to critically evaluate established and emerging viewpoints through reflective exercises and case studies. Additionally, this resource integrates the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), connecting interculturality with meaningful local and global action. Learners are also prepared for meaningful action through the framework of Inclusive Innovation, using tools to foster equitable environments and lead transformative change in their workplaces, organizations, and communities.
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Musics: Diversity, Difference, and Synergies
Ted Conner · Muhlenberg College · 2026
Musics: Diversity, Difference, and Synergies is a radical re-imagining of how music can be studied. Non-Western, vernacular, and Western art music are valued equally and studied at the same level of depth. Of equal importance is the emphasis placed on hands-on doing. Scales common to Jazz and Western art music are learned by playing them on the piano. Rhythmic skills are embodied on the darbuka, a Middle Eastern goblet drum, through the study of Turkish rhythmic cycles called usuller. Pitch recognition is developed by singing paltas (pitch patterns) for Indian ragas and melodic studies for Turkish makamlar using fixed-do solmization systems. Training in moveable-do solfege for Western art music begins with conducting as a foundation. This is followed by the addition of takadimi syllables for rhythm, solfege syllables aligned with scale degrees, and, finally, pitch. Exploring improvisational practices from diverse cultures and genres is also prioritized. The study of Turkish usuller begins with basic forms that are then embellished through a series of ornamented variations that serve as models for developing improvisational skills. The preparatory exercises for ragas and tetrachord and pentachord studies for makamlar provide the foundation for improvisational techniques explored in these genres. Improvising over harmonic progressions common in Jazz is the first practical application of playing major scales on the piano. This first step is followed by the development of more focused improvisational approaches that parallel the growth of knowledge and skill sets. Another important principle in Musics is applying the pedagogical approaches used by practitioners of the musics in the cultures in which they are situated. Pedagogies are often intertwined with the epistemological and methodological frames that define the role and function of music within a culture. Developing an understanding of why and how music is practiced speaks toward an integrative model of engaging wi
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Documenting Community Stories: Arkansas Legends and Lore
Lauren Willette · University of Arkansas · 2025
Lesson Plans developed as part of Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts’ Engaging Students with Folklore Documentation: Professional Development for K-12 Educators conference hosted at University of Arkansas, Mullins Library July 17-19, 2024. Supported by funding from Arkansas Humanities Council.
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Introduction to Speech Pathology Practice: Foundational Concepts for Australian First-year Students
Frances Cochrane; Louise Brown; Deborah Denman; Roger Newman · James Cook University · 2025
This eBook is designed for emerging speech pathology professionals. This peer reviewed resource lays a strong foundation for first-year speech pathology students by covering the core principles and concepts for speech pathology practice. The eBook begins with an exploration of the anatomy involved in communication and swallowing, offering insights into how the structures of the human body support these crucial functions. It then delves into the core aspects of communication development, covering the typical progression of speech, language and literacy skills from infancy through adulthood. It offers students a framework for understanding both typical and diversity in development, essential for effective assessment and intervention. Linguistics is another key area covered, offering insights into the structure and function of language, including syntax, pragmatics, semantics, morphology, phonology, and phonetics. This understanding is crucial for diagnosing and treating communication disorders. The eBook advocates for culturally responsive practice, outlining strategies for delivering effective and sensitive care to clients from diverse backgrounds. Additionally, the text addresses the practical application of foundational principles in assessing and treating communication and swallowing disorders.
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Español down under: Spanish for Australia and New Zealand
Ramón López Castellano; Israel Holas; Fanny Rios Rodriguez · Deakin University · 2023
This book focuses on a hands-on, student-centric approach to learning Spanish. Designed for the Australian and New Zealand environment for use at Deakin University, currently available is foundation level content, suitable for a first introduction to Spanish speaking. The resource is still in development with additional content progressing to more advanced skill levels currently under development.
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Vocal Techniques for the Instrumentalist
Amy Rosine · New Prairie Press · 2021
Vocal Techniques, the course title used at many institutions, is essentially a voice class for instrumentalists, and is often a required course for instrumental music education majors seeking all-level certification. Students take at least one Vocal Techniques course to learn proper singing technique along with basic pedagogy. Some courses include teaching techniques as they apply to adolescent singers. The focus of the course is the development of the individual singing voice. This includes breathing, tone production, articulation, musicality and textual expression and understanding. Students also develop confidence in front of groups, improve their general vocal quality, and learn that a healthy voice serves them well in general and performance classrooms. The purpose of this text is to teach instrumental music education students about vocal production as it applies to solo singing. Beginning with a foundational understanding of breathing, singers will learn about the vocal instrument (anatomy), how to create clear, pleasant, tone (phonation and resonance), pronounce words clearly (articulation and diction) and the similarities and differences of singing technique when compared to that of their major instrument. This is the first textbook to explore teaching voice as it directly pertains to playing an instrument.
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Literary Studies for a Sustainable Future: An Introductory Course with Social Justice and Ecocriticism Intersections
Lisette Espinoza Vazquez · ROTEL · 2024
Literary Studies for a Sustainable Future: An Introductory Course with Social Justice and Ecocriticism Intersections is a university literature textbook that offers a sampling of the vast array of storytelling and literary traditions from around the world. Led by course outcomes, the book’s readings, activities, and assignments aim to establish a 21st century framework. Novice literary scholars establish correlations between local and regional literature with those from distant lands on relevant concerns and topics, like those outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through songs and folklore, film clips, poetry, myth, storytelling, and satirical theater, its chapters feature key literary texts and terms to present literature as vital community-sustaining cultural expressions. Learners witness the roles literature have on climate, ecology, and social justice challenges.
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French OER 2
William Carrasco; Shahrzad Zahedi; Caren Parrish · Palomar College · 2022
This course is the second semester of French. This elementary level course is a study of the French language and French-speaking cultures, with continued emphasis on the development of communicative skills and basic structures. The course combines in-class instruction with self-paced study in the Foreign Language Laboratory.
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French OER 1
William Carrasco; Shahrzad Zahedi; Caren Parrish · Palomar College · 2022
This text is designed for the first semester of French. This elementary level course is a study of the French language and French-speaking cultures, with emphasis on the development of communicative skills and basic structures. The course combines in-class instruction and practice with self-paced study in the Language Laboratory. This beginning-level course is for students with no previous coursework in French.
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Leading in Health and Social Care
Sheree Lloyd; Richard Olley; Eleanor Milligan · Griffith University · 2023
This comprehensive textbook captures best international practice and is focused on the practical needs of leaders in health and social care. The text includes chapters that address evolving and innovative practices in leadership, ethics, leading people and human resource management, cultural safety for First Nations peoples, innovation, digital health, finance and resource management, systems thinking, change, evaluation and safety and quality. As an open educational resource, leaders, managers, students, policymakers and all readers interested in improving healthcare systems can access the book. The choice to publish on an open platform demonstrates our commitment to building a strong, transparent, and connected community of practice for health service leaders across many disciplines and across the world. We hope this pragmatic and contemporary textbook will reach a broad audience with an interest in strengthening the discipline of health service leadership and building fit-for-purpose healthcare systems that meet the needs of the diverse communities we serve. To achieve this we want the text to be free and widely available. To achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, health and quality education are key and this open educational resource (OER) is available for all to use to guide their practice and the strengthening of health and social care systems.
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Foundations of Aural Skills
Timothy Chenette · Utah Education Network Digital Press with Pressbooks · 2022
Foundations of Aural Skills is a research-based, accessible, relevant, creative, inclusive, empowering textbook for teaching introductory aural skills. The first seven chapters provide thorough instruction in aural fundamentals, allowing students to build their foundations from a variety of starting points. The following chapters address the traditional tasks of sight-reading and dictation, but also improvisation, mimicking music you hear (“playback”), transcription, and ensemble skills. The final two chapters add some basic form- and chord-listening skills. Every section includes creative activities that learners can try out on their own or do in class. Embedded playlists for practicing listening skills include a diverse range of music that will connect with students’ preferences and allow them to experience music they haven’t worked with before. While the text is primarily designed for a first semester or year of instruction, it also includes some instruction on modulation, chromaticism, and mixed meter, and future additions/development will make these advanced applications more robust.
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The European Experience: A Multi-Perspective History of Modern Europe, 1500–2000
Jan Hansen; Jochen Hung; Jaroslav Ira · Open Book Publishers
The European Experience brings together the expertise of nearly a hundred historians from eight European universities to internationalise and diversify the study of modern European history, exploring a grand sweep of time from 1500 to 2000. Offering a valuable corrective to the Anglocentric narratives of previous English-language textbooks, scholars from all over Europe have pooled their knowledge on comparative themes such as identities, cultural encounters, power and citizenship, and economic development to reflect the complexity and heterogeneous nature of the European experience. Rather than another grand narrative, the international author teams offer a multifaceted and rich perspective on the history of the continent of the past 500 years. Each major theme is dissected through three chronological sub-chapters, revealing how major social, political and historical trends manifested themselves in different European settings during the early modern (1500–1800), modern (1800–1900) and contemporary period (1900–2000). This resource is of utmost relevance to today’s history students in the light of ongoing internationalisation strategies for higher education curricula, as it delivers one of the first multi-perspective and truly ‘European’ analyses of the continent’s past. Beyond the provision of historical content, this textbook equips students with the intellectual tools to interrogate prevailing accounts of European history, and enables them to seek out additional perspectives in a bid to further enrich the discipline
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The Bible and Music
James McGrath · PALNI · 2023
The Bible and Music by Dr. James F. McGrath provides an introduction and overview of the various ways that music and the Bible have been and continue to be connected. Part 1 focuses on history, presenting what we know about how music in the Ancient Near East sounded, how markings in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible have been interpreted as musical symbols, how chanting of biblical texts has featured liturgically in synagogues and churches, the impact of the Protestant Reformation, and musical developments in North America as enslaved Africans encountered biblical texts and stories. Part 2 focuses on specific texts in Jewish and Christian scripture and looks at how they have been interpreted through the process of setting them to music, including the soundtracks of cinematic depictions of biblical narrative and allusions to the Bible in popular music. Part 3 focuses on composers from the Middle Ages all the way down to the present day. Throughout the book, musical examples are not merely mentioned but embedded so that reading and listening may be seamlessly combined. The book does not presume prior knowledge of either music or the Bible, and additional links within the text provide definitions and further explanations for those who need or desire them.
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An Introduction to Logic: From Everyday Life to Formal Systems
Albert Mosley; Eulalio Baltazar · Smith College Open Educational Resources: Textbooks · 2019
An introduction to the discipline of logic covering subjects from the structures of arguments, classical and modern logic, categorical and inductive inferences, to informal fallacies. Over 30 years of development provides a sound empirical based pedagogy throughout the text. Examples in ordinary language using familiar examples avoids the suggestion of an alien cultural imposition. A focus on the basic representational techniques of classical and modern logic. Students introduced to basic concepts of set theory, using Venn diagrams to represent statements and evaluate arguments. Students introduced to basic concepts of propositional logic and the use of truth-tables. Students introduced to basic concepts of predicate logic and the use of mixed quantifiers. Students introduced to the relationship between logic diagrams, circuit diagrams, and gate diagrams in computer science. Students introduced to the use of logic in ordinary and scientific contexts. Students provided a historical introduction to the development of modern probability theory and its relationship to logic. Students introduced to basic concepts of statistical inference, with non-technical treatments of hasty and biased statistical generalizations. And a unique treatment of stereotypical thinking in terms of statistical syllogisms. Students introduced to basic notions in analogical and causal inference. Exercises requiring both passive (recognition) and active (construction) skills. Exercises including locutions and examples from standard English and ethnic dialects of English (African-American, Hispanic-American, etc) Answers for sample exercises provided, making the text closer to a self-teaching module
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People Learning and Development
Monica Affleck · Kwantlen Polytechnic University · 2021
Are you interested in the topic of people learning and development or are tasked to implement learning and training opportunities in your workplace? We invite you to use this resource full of information and tools to help support people and organizations in their learning journey. Learning happens everywhere, and you will explore the different modes of learning on and off the job. But is a training program actually the right solution to address a performance issue in your organization? Learn how to conduct a needs analysis to help you decide what is in the best interest of the organization and people. Training and learning opportunities have to be properly designed to be effective and deliver the results you expect. Find out how adults learn and what motivates them to develop their skills. Discover how learning supports the performance management process and how to ensure that learning gets transferred into the workplace. The ultimate goal of training and development is to increase productivity, employee engagement, and to make a positive impact on the organization’s bottom line. So, evaluating training and development programs is critical to determine the company’s return on investment (ROI). You will find all of this and more in this resource to help you invest in and reap the benefits of talent development in your company. Remember, this is an interactive resource. We invite you to answer the questions at the end of each chapter to test your knowledge.
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Intermediate College Writing: Building and Practicing Mindful Writing Skills
Dawn Atkinson; Stacey Corbitt · Montana Technological University · 2026
Welcome to Intermediate College Writing: Building and Practicing Mindful Writing Skills, an open textbook designed for use in university-level courses that focus on cultivating study skills alongside effective academic and workplace writing skills. It offers a no-cost alternative to commercial products, combining practical guidance with interactive exercises and thoughtfully designed writing opportunities. This textbook’s modular design and ample coverage of topics and genres means that it can be used flexibly over semester-long or stretch courses, allowing instructors and students to select the chapters that are most relevant for their needs. By blending new material with reviews of key topics, such as academic integrity, the chapters provide fresh perspectives on matters vital to the development of strong writing skills. The book adapts, builds upon, and expands material covered in our other two open textbooks, Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction to the Fundamentals (Atkinson & Corbitt, 2021)1 and Advanced-Level Writing in the University Classroom and Beyond: Mindful Practices for Technical, Business, and Scientific Communication (Atkinson & Corbitt, 2024). If you would like to access a Word Document version of this text please email Author, Stacey Corbitt, scorbitt@mtech.edu.
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Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí!
Jenny Ceciliano; Lisa Notman · Portland State University Library · 2021
Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí! focuses on the development of communication skills in interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes while centering student voices. Activities engage learners in real exchanges of information on topics that are relevant to adult students. In addition to language-acquisition learning outcomes, this text supports learning outcomes in diversity, equity, inclusion, cultural sustainability, and social justice.
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Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction to the Fundamentals
Dawn Atkinson; Stacey Corbitt · Montana Technological University · 2026
Welcome to Mindful Technical Writing: An Introduction to the Fundamentals, an open textbook designed for use in corequisite course pairings of developmental writing and introductory technical writing, or indeed in other lower-division college writing courses that focus on building study skills alongside effective workplace and academic writing skills. It offers a no-cost alternative to commercial products, combining practical guidance with interactive exercises and thoughtfully designed writing opportunities. This textbook is organized into units, though its chapters are modular so that instructors can select and assign readings and exercises for their particular classes rather than be tied to a fixed route through the material. Its Creative Commons licensing allows instructors to customize chapters for specific learners and educational contexts, and the built-in activities can be modified and supplemented as desired to suit teaching preferences. The book’s ample coverage of topics and genres means that it can be used flexibly over semester-long or stretch courses. If you would like to access a Word Document version of this text please email Author, Stacey Corbitt, scorbitt@mtech.edu.