Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Bioethics: A Coursebook
Daan Kenis; Mayli Mertens; Franlu Vulliermet; Varsha Paleri · Open Book Publishers · 2025
This coursebook offers an expansive exploration of bioethics, an interdisciplinary field examining ethical, social, and legal dilemmas in medicine, life sciences, and beyond. It challenges conventional boundaries, embracing Van Rensselaer Potter’s vision of bioethics as a global, holistic ethics of life—integrating human health, environmental considerations, and transdisciplinary insights. Through engaging discussions, thought experiments, and case studies, the book empowers students to critically reflect on ethical questions without dictating rigid answers. Topics range from the historical roots of ethical thought to cutting-edge debates in molecular biology, such as epigenetics and exposomics, demonstrating how interconnected human, animal, and environmental health truly are. Central themes include the limits of scientific knowledge, the biases shaping research, and the evolving interplay between moral philosophy and empirical science. Students will encounter key philosophical frameworks—ontology, epistemology, and ethics—woven into practical bioethical applications. Feminist philosophy, experimental bioethics, and embedded ethics enrich this perspective, urging readers to question assumptions, embrace diverse viewpoints, and connect ethical principles with real-world science. Targeted at students in philosophy, biology, biomedical sciences, and bioengineering, this book is a toolkit for future thinkers, fostering a nuanced understanding of how ethical science advances humanity in a complex, ever-changing world.
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Institutional Racism in the United States Revisited
Carmichael Peters; Louis Knowles; Rodè Cramer; Glennan Keldin · Chapman University · 2024
This book aims to examine the current state of systemic racism in the United States as compared to baseline data collected in 1969. Using recent findings in the fields of history, economics, education, political science and public health, the work reveals the ways in which systemic racism in the US has and has not been addressed in the past five decades.
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Interpersonal Communication: Context and Connection
Hilary Altman; Kristine Clancy; Elizabeth Coleman; Liz Encarnacion · Academic Senate for California Community Colleges · 2023
Interpersonal Communication: Context and Connection provides an engaging overview of interpersonal communication grounded in theory, research, and practical application, with an eye to the lived experience of college students. The first three chapters provide the foundation of interpersonal communication with an examination of the theoretical and conceptual background of communication, self, and perception. The next section of the book examines unique features of messaging, with an exploration of listening, verbal, and nonverbal communication. Chapters 7, 8, and 9 explore dynamic factors that shape interpersonal relationships, including emotions, climate, and conflict. The final chapters of the book delve into communication in context through building and maintaining relationships, the dark side of communication, and workplace relationships.
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Introduction to College Research
Walter Butler; Aloha Sargent; Kelsey Smith · Academic Senate for California Community Colleges · 2021
This book acknowledges our changing information landscape, covering key concepts in information literacy to support a research process with intention. We start by critically examining the online environment many of us already engage with every day, looking at algorithms, the attention economy, information disorder and cynicism, information hygiene, and fact-checking. We then move into an exploration of information source types, meaningful research topics, keyword choices, effective search strategies, library resources, Web search considerations, the ethical use of information, and citation.
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Supporting English Language Learners in First-Year College Composition
Breana Bayraktar; Elaine George; Nataliya Schetchikova · Virginia's Academic Library Consortium (VIVA) · 2023
Supporting ELLs in FYC is organized around five key essays, selected to coordinate with the essay styles commonly taught in first-year/first-semester composition courses. This organization is planned to offer instructors the flexibility to best support the pacing of the composition course. There are 2 expository, 1 narrative, and 2 argument essays. Each module includes one essay, with accompanying activities and supporting materials. Expository: Sweet, Sour & Resentful Expository: Why Rituals Are Good Narrative: Prison to Professor Argument: Fake News Argument: Misinformation
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Processes: Writing Across Academic Careers
Christopher Iverson; Dan Ehrenfeld · Milne Open Textbooks · 2023
Processes: Writing Across Academic Careers is an edited collection featuring writing from students, faculty, and staff at Farmingdale State College, a State University of New York (SUNY) campus on Long Island. Each contributor reflects on their own writing as well as writing in their fields/disciplines. Namely, they reflect on their writing processes, hence the name of the book. The FSC Writing in the Disciplines committee curated excerpts of published or unpublished work from faculty, students, and administrators across departments and offices. The result is Processes: Writing Across Academic Careers, a collection of writing samples and reflections on the processes that made those pieces of writing possible. This book shows that, while writing looks and functions differently in different disciplines, college communities center on writing. From the college president to the faculty to the students, each member of the community grapples with writing, even in disciplines not considered to be writing-intensive. The text features compositions from nursing, STEM and health sciences, education, and history and culture. The examples span from reflections on the role of writing in one’s academic career, examples of professional writing in the sciences, research papers, conference proposals, to laboratory reports. The examples of published or works-in-progress are accompanied by thoughtful reflections on how the author crafted their work. The collection presents an opportunity for scholars to acknowledge the centrality of writing in their everyday work. Students learning how to write in college and about writing conventions in their specific disciplines will gain an overview of writing they will encounter in their academic career and an appreciation for the multitudes of ways writers work. Perfect for introductory writing courses, and useful modularly for any class that touches on writing or information literacy, this text is a unique, honest, and practical resource for any u
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Symbiotic Posthumanist Ecologies in Western Literature, Philosophy and Art: Towards Theory and Practice
Peggy Karpouzou; Nikoleta Zampaki · Peter Lang · 2023
Through the burgeoning fields of Posthumanities and Environmental Humanities, this edition examines the changing conception of human subjectivity, agency, and citizenship as shaped by the dynamic interplays between nature, technology, science, and culture. The proposed ‘symbiotic turn’, (the awareness of the multitude of interactions and mutual interdependencies among humans, non-humans and their environment) aspires to explore the complex recompositions of the “human” in the 21st century. By organizing and promoting interdisciplinary dialogue at multiple levels, both in theory and practice, Symbiotic Posthumanist Ecologies is suggested as a new narrative about the biosphere and technosphere, which is embodied literarily, philosophically, and artistically.
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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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Resultados Científicos de la Investigación Multidisciplinaria desde la Perspectiva Ética
Vernaza Arroyo; Girard David; Mina Bone · Editorial Grupo AEA · 2022
El presente manuscrito es resultado de investigaciones multidisciplinarias bajo diferentes perspectivas científicas-académicas, mediante la confrontación de criterios de diferentes autores bajo un enfoque descriptivo que señala la importancia de ética en varios escenarios actuales como son la discriminación del trabajo dentro del caso de estudio en Santo Domingo, se resalta la importancia de los principios éticos en los negocios globales, se analiza la perspectiva ética de la publicad en empresas ecuatorianas bajo un enfoque de responsabilidad social, se aborda temáticas como la ética laboral desde la perspectiva de un mercado cambiante, al igual que la ética en organizaciones sociales y por último se abordan el tema el impacto del comportamiento de los individuos dentro de las organizaciones empresariales. Estos estudios se realizan desde una mirada científica y se la acerca a la realidad ecuatoriana.
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La política petrolera en el gobierno de la revolución ciudadana: El caso del Campo Sacha
Nelson García-Osorio · Editorial Grupo AEA · 2022
En la primera parte, se realiza un resumen del manejo del petróleo a partir de 1972 hasta la actualidad, así como también se describe la política petrolera aplicada por los gobiernos, desde la administración del doctor Oswaldo Hurtado hasta la administración del señor Guillermo Lasso. En la segunda, se analiza el entorno jurídico en el contexto de los recursos naturales especialmente del petróleo, en el marco de la Ley de Hidrocarburos y de la Constitución de la República del Ecuador. Y en la tercera, se analiza la producción en el Campo Sacha, adjudicada a ORNCEM mediante el contrato de servicios específicos y de acuerdo a sus dos contratos modificatorios. Se concluye con algunas consideraciones que se deben tomar en cuenta y que llaman a la reflexión cuando se proponen y ejecutan contratos cuyo beneficio no es el mejor para el país. Por otro lado, los bosques son grandes “limpiadores” de dióxido de carbono, al ser destruidos se anula su potencial de absorción y, por lo tanto, contribuyen al calentamiento global del planeta por el incremento de gases de efecto invernadero, razón por la cual, se debe contrarrestar la deforestación.
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Arguments in Context
Thaddeus Robinson · Muhlenberg College · 2021
Arguments in Context is a comprehensive introduction to critical thinking that covers all the basics in student-friendly language. Intended for use in a semester-long course, the text features classroom-tested examples and exercises that have been chosen to emphasize the relevance and applicability of the subject to everyday life. Three themes are developed as the text proceeds from argument identification and analysis, to the standards and techniques of evaluation: (i) the importance of asking the right questions, (ii) the influence of biases, cognitive illusions, and other psychological factors, and (iii) the ways that social situations and structures can enhance and impoverish our thinking. On this last point, the text includes sustained discussion of disagreement, cooperative dialogue, testimony, trust, and social media. Overall, the text aims to equip readers with a set of tools for working through important decisions and disagreements, and to help them become more careful and active thinkers.
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Howdy or Hello?: Technical and Professional Communications
Matt McKinney; Kalani Pattison; Sarah LeMire; Kathy Anders · Texas A&M University · 2021
Technical writing courses introduce you to some of the most important aspects of writing in the worlds of science, technology, and business—in other words, the kind of writing that scientists, nurses, doctors, computer specialists, government officials, engineers, and other professionals do as a part of their regular work. The skills learned in technical writing courses can be useful in other fields as well, including education and social sciences.
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Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar!
Jeannette Okur · COERLL · 2021
Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar! was developed for intermediate level Turkish language courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Intermediate learners and their instructors may use it for different purposes: self-study, classroom instruction, tutoring, or as a pastime. The lessons in Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar! integrate reading, listening and viewing comprehension, writing and speaking practice, grammar, vocabulary, and cultural activities. Dozens of audio and video clips of Turkish speakers describing their lives, their culture, and their country support and enhance these activities. The Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar! textbook, interactive H5P exercises, and YouTube channel comprise a media-rich open educational resource (OER) developed by Dr. Jeannette Okur at the University of Texas at Austin and published by the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning under the U.S. Department of Education Title VI Grant #P229A180003, with additional support from the UT Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services and the UT Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
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Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion
Beau Branson; Christina Hendricks · Rebus Community · 2020
Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion introduces some of the major traditional arguments for and against the existence of God, as well as some less well-known, but thought-provoking arguments for the existence of God, and one of the most important new challenges to religious belief from the Cognitive Science of Religion. An introductory chapter traces the connection between philosophy and religion throughout Western history, and a final chapter addresses the place of non-Western and non-monotheistic religions within contemporary philosophy of religion.
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Technical Writing @ SLCC
Department of English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies · Salt Lake Community College · 2020
What is technical writing? You can think of it as writing about specialized topics or you could also think of it as using technology to communicate your ideas. A science lab report, a specification, a change order for building construction, or patient education materials–just to name a few–are all considered technical writing. Similarly if you design a webpage or a brochure this can also be considered technical writing. Academic writing, the writing you do for school, generally is informative or persuasive writing and usually only comes in a few different genres. In technical writing, on the other hand, one is often documenting what was done (such as a science experiment or auto repair invoice). Therefore the format of the writing is often as important as the content. This leads to an emphasis on usability and accessibility for your documents. Finally, although citing your sources is important in all writing, you will find that in some fields of technical writing, such as the sciences and engineering, it is one of the more important considerations of your writing.
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Languages and Worldview
Manon Allard-Kropp · University of Missouri - St. Louis · 2020
Asking and answering questions about what culture entails and examines the fundamental properties and intertwining nature of language and culture. This text explores linguistic relativity, lexical differences among languages and intercultural communication, including high and low contexts. Changes to a variety of OER works were made by Manon Allard-Kropp in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies to tailor the text to fit the needs of the Languages and World View course at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Materials from the original sources have been combined, reorganized, and added to by the current author, and any conceptual or typographical errors are the responsibility of the current author.
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Arguing Using Critical Thinking
Jim Marteney · Academic Senate for California Community Colleges · 2020
There is a quote that has been passed down many years and is most recently accounted to P.T. Barnum, “There is a sucker born every minute.” Are you that sucker? If you were, would you like to be “reborn?” The goal of this book is to help you through that “birthing” process. Critical thinking and standing up for your ideas and making decisions are important in both your personal and professional life. How good are we at making the decision to marry? According to the Centers for Disease Control, there is one divorce in America every 36 seconds. That is nearly 2,400 every day. And professionally, the Wall Street Journal predicts the average person will have 7 careers in their lifetime. Critical thinking skills are crucial. Critical thinking is a series learned skills. In each chapter of this book you will find a variety of skills that will help you improve your thinking and argumentative ability. As you improve, you will grow into a more confident person being more in charge of your world and the decisions you make.
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The Western World: Daily Readings on Geography
Joel Quam; Scott Campbell · College of DuPage · 2020
In essay format, this textbook considers examples of various sub-categories of Geography in combination with five regions of the Western World.
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An Introduction to Philosophy
Russ Payne · BCcampus · 2023
The goal of this text is to present philosophy to newcomers as a living discipline with historical roots. While a few early chapters are historically organized, the goal in the historical chapters is to trace a developmental progression of thought that introduces basic philosophical methods and frames issues that remain relevant today. Later chapters are topically organized. These include philosophy of science and philosophy of mind, areas where philosophy has shown dramatic recent progress. This text concludes with four chapters on ethics, broadly construed. Traditional theories of right action is covered in a third of these. Students are first invited first to think about what is good for themselves and their relationships in a chapter of love and happiness. Next a few meta-ethical issues are considered; namely, whether they are moral truths and if so what makes them so. The end of the ethics sequence addresses social justice, what it is for one's community to be good. Our sphere of concern expands progressively through these chapters. Our inquiry recapitulates the course of development into moral maturity. Over the course of the text, the author has tried to outline the continuity of thought that leads from the historical roots of philosophy to a few of the diverse areas of inquiry that continue to make significant contributions to our understanding of ourselves and the world we live in.
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Analyzing meaning: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics
Paul Kroeger · Language Science Press · 2018
This book provides an introduction to the study of meaning in human language, from a linguistic perspective. It covers a fairly broad range of topics, including lexical semantics, compositional semantics, and pragmatics. The chapters are organized into six units: (1) Foundational concepts; (2) Word meanings; (3) Implicature (including indirect speech acts); (4) Compositional semantics; (5) Modals, conditionals, and causation; (6) Tense & aspect.Most of the chapters include exercises which can be used for class discussion and/or homework assignments, and each chapter contains references for additional reading on the topics covered.As the title indicates, this book is truly an INTRODUCTION: it provides a solid foundation which will prepare students to take more advanced and specialized courses in semantics and/or pragmatics. It is also intended as a reference for fieldworkers doing primary research on under-documented languages, to help them write grammatical descriptions that deal carefully and clearly with semantic issues. The approach adopted here is largely descriptive and non-formal (or, in some places, semi-formal), although some basic logical notation is introduced. The book is written at level which should be appropriate for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate students. It presupposes some previous coursework in linguistics, but does not presuppose any background in formal logic or set theory.