Joe Moxley's story

Joe Moxley's story

by Sylvia Currie -
Number of replies: 3

The Open Textbook Publishing article found int he Resources section was brought to my attention by my colleagues Frank Fucile and Clint Lalonde.

In this article, Joe Moxley talks about his experiences creating the Writing Commons. It started as a textbook published by Pearson. Joe received copyright back from Pearson, and then released it as an open textbook.

There are many layers to Joe Moxley's story -- the thought processes around choosing licenses, the desire to create community around a resource, the need to work through priorities, and the transformation of roles.

What are your reactions to Joe's story?

Any surprises?

Would your story be different?

Tip: Time challenged? Skip down to "Faculty Members as Content Creators".

In reply to Sylvia Currie

Re: Joe Moxley's story

by Annie Swihart -

While reading this article I was amazed to learn that the very things bookstores are trying to do to lessen the cost of textbooks (i.e., used books, and rental programs) for students is in fact driving up the cost. 

It was also interesting to me that Joe choose the most restrictive CC license. Especially since most open-education supporters recommend using the CC BY-SA license. 

In reply to Annie Swihart

Re: Joe Moxley's story

by Sylvia Currie -

Annie's observation causes us to dig down to a new layer:

It was also interesting to me that Joe chose the most restrictive CC license

Interesting indeed! Joe chose to license his work ND (no derivative works) which essentially prevents ohters from altering or or building upon his work.

What are the implications of choosing this license?

In reply to Annie Swihart

Re: Joe Moxley's story

by Clint Lalonde -

While the ND does limit the resource, I can understand why he chose the license. I think that, for those who have never released anything under a CC license, it can feel like a daunting and quite intimidating task to give up control of what you create. 

I like that Joe included his reasoning - like he felt it was a good first step. I wonder if, as time goes by, he will review his decision as he gets more comfortable with the idea of having an openly licensed resource?

I think it's important that the ND clause doesn't neccesarily mean that the original author is opposed to someone modifying their content. Sometimes it is just a matter of contacting the author and asking if you can make a derivative. I can see that some authors may want to include an ND as a way to make contact with people who are using their resource. I know that Joe is creating a communtiy around his resource. Maybe his strategy with the ND caluse is also to make contact with people to ask them to come into his community? As far as sustainability models go, it seems like a pretty decent strategy.