Benedetta Calonaci explores whether the systematic adoption of open textbooks in university courses could represent a crucial improvement towards the right to education for millions of students. Her presentation will outline the current Italian situation of open textbooks in the social sciences, as seen from the observation point of an academic library. Ongoing trends and elements of resistance will be highlighted, as well as good practices and key factors that can lead to an “open” and “digital” transition, with profound consequences for both universities and society. Professor Giovanni Puccetti then describes a new open access collaborative project at the University of Milan, which includes an open access Mathematics textbook. This project also includes a Moodle platform to build assignments and exams, with materials and sources made freely available on the web. Finally, Andrea Angiolini, a publisher, will discuss how open textbooks and open educational resources in the higher education market are in an unstable balance between maximum inclusion and economic / organisational sustainability. He will argue that the real challenge is to propose effective and suitable study tools both for curricula and for the needs that societies express. Mira Buist-Zhuk will moderate the roundtable.
Programme
14:00-14:15 – Welcome and introductions
14:15-15:00 – Benedetta Calonaci – “E-textbooks and OER in social sciences: state-of-the-art and trends as from the experience of an Italian academic library”
15:00-15:30 – Professor Giovanni Puccetti – “Open Access textbooks: yes we can (must)”
15:30-15:45 – Break
15:45-16:30 – Andrea Angiolini – “Toward a higher education of patrons?”
16:30-17:45 – Roundtable
Speakers
- Benedetta Calonaci, Collection Management and Development Librarian, University of Florence Social Sciences Library
- Professor Giovanni Puccetti, Professor at the University of Milan. He specializes in Mass Transportation problems, Quantitative Risk Management with an emphasis on Risk Aggregation and Dependence Uncertainty.
- Andrea Angiolini, Editorial Director, il Mulino Publisher
- Mira Buist-Zhuk, Academic Information Specialist, University of Groningen Library
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