Presented at OpenEd 2014 in Washington DC focused on the api development work being done to PressBooks Textbooks to enable turning a book into a platform.

1. Open Tools for
Open Publishing
Brad Payne & Clint Lalonde
OpenEd 2014, Washington DC
Nov 20, 2014
@clintlalonde @bdolor

2. Scream day 29 year 2 by Mathew used under CC-NC-ND
license
Kid in the candy store by Jared and Corin used under CC-BY-license

3. Collaborative Programs & Shared Services
open.bccampus.ca
Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of
all BC post-secondary institutions under a
collaborative service delivery framework
123
Open Education & Professional Learning
Student Services & Data Exchange

4. 1
Open Education & Professional Learning
Support & promote the development & use of Open Educational Resources
Support effective teaching & learning practices
open.bccampus.ca
Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of
all BC post-secondary institutions under a
collaborative service delivery framework
OER Global Logo by Jonathas Mello is licensed under a CC-BY 30 License

5. Online Program Development Fund (OPDF)
2003-2012
$9 million invested
153 grants awarded
100% participation across system
83% partnerships
47 credentials developed in whole or part
355 courses, 12 workshops, 19 web sites/tools and 396
course components (learning objects, labs, textbooks,
manuals, videos)
open.bccampus.ca

6. BC Open Textbook Project
open.bccampus.ca
40 free & open textbooks for highest
enrolled 1st & 2nd year post-secondary
subjects in BC
2014 – 20 for skills & training
First province in Canada
2014 – Alberta & Sask MOU
$1 million
2014 - $1 million
Visual notes of John Yap announcement, Giulia Forsythe Used under
CC-SA license

7. Don’t reinvent it by Andrea Hernandez released under CC-BY-NC-SA and based on Wheel by Pauline Mak released
under CC-BY license
open.bccampus.ca

8. Students Faculty
1. Free
2. Choice of formats
a. Web
b. Print
c. eBook
3. Can retain
1. Easy to find
2. Address Quality
3. Support Adapt/Create

9. open.bccampus.ca

10. Faculty Reviews
open.bccampus.ca
291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

11. Reviews > Adaptations
open.bccampus.ca
My Adventures Adapting a Chemistry Textbook
291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

12. Faculty Reviews
open.bccampus.ca
Faculty Reviewers

13. Choices for students (and for adapters)
open.bccampus.ca
Old Leather books, by Wyoming_Jackrabbit used under a CC-BY-NC-SA

14. open.bccampus.ca

15. Write Once
Publish Many

16. “the thing that interests me most about where we are in the
world of books, is imagining new and different kinds of models
for book publishing. To build new models, we need open
platforms that allow people to experiment with new ideas.”
Hugh McGuire,
http://codepoet.com/2013/08/29/hugh-mcguire-
interview/
The blurring lines between books and
the internet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5i
NeDwve1U
open.bccampus.ca

17. open.bccampus.ca

18. More than
a textbook

19. Why?
• Problems:
o Remixing is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy commons collection, but…
o Remixing is not easy. (search, convert, import)
o Remixing platforms offer file exports, but no public data about their collection.
open.bccampus.ca

20. Take Aways
1. There are technical barriers that limit how much remixing happens (i.e. where's the public data?)
2. There are technical solutions that unhinge those limitations.
3. API’s make the world a better place.
open.bccampus.ca

21. Definitions
Web Service:
"...a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a
network." — http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/NOTE-ws-gloss-20040211/#webservice
REST Web API (a type of web service):
"An API, or "Application Program Interface", is a set of routines and protocols that provide building
blocks for computer programmers and web developers to build software applications." —
http://code.tutsplus.com/articles/the-increasing-importance-of-apis-in-web-development--net-22368
Endpoint:
“It is typically represented by a simple HTTP URL string”.
— http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Services_Description_Language#Objects_in_WSDL_1.1_.2F_WSDL_2.0
API Response:
- typically XML or JSON format
open.bccampus.ca

22. Examples
Google Books API:
● https://www.googleapis.com/books/v1/volumes?q=open+textbooks
open.bccampus.ca

23. Examples
Creative Commons API:
● http://api.creativecommons.org/rest/1.5/license/standard/get?commercial=n&derivatives=y
open.bccampus.ca

24. Examples
Flickr API:
● https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.search&api_key=0d40771757758e84283a13d0a41&tags=text
books&safe_search=1&media=photos&format=rest
open.bccampus.ca

25. What people (like me) do with API's:
We build applications, we build lots of them:
● flickr API endpoint (api.flickr.com/services/) - over 20,000 pages of code
● google books API endpoint (googleapis.com/books/) - over 3,000 pages of code
● creative commons API endpoint (api.creativecommons.org/rest) - 179 pages of code
open.bccampus.ca

26. What would giving a textbook an API do?
Who knows? (and that’s a good thing)
● We do know that it creates the necessary environment for:
○ application development around textbooks
○ mashup development (web apps that use multiple API's)
○ development that focuses on content integration, content sharing, content searching,
remixing/curation.
● it moves towards a textbook behaving like an application framework ( a basis for creating
applications )
open.bccampus.ca

27. Specific use cases for an API
Faculty
Search for chapters or sections:
● by titles, authors, license, subjects, keywords.
Import:
● entire books
● select chapters/sections
open.bccampus.ca

28. Specific use cases for an API
Students
● An application that:
○ links student conversations/activities with textbook content
○ puts textbook content in an LMS, dynamically updated with textbook updates
○ pulls textbook content and displays it in a more accessible format, based on student
needs
○ parses and displays specific textbook content (key takeaways, exercises, videos)
open.bccampus.ca

29. Other use cases for an API
Administrators
● An application that:
○ facilitates a federated model of repositories
Libraries
● An application that:
○ dynamically adds books to their collection
○ allows for curation from multiple book collections
○ obtains updated metadata about a book
Book Stores...
Print on Demand...
Publishers...
open.bccampus.ca

30. The good news
PressBooks has an API
● http://opentextbc.ca/api/v1/books
open.bccampus.ca

31. The good news (continued)
API documentation
● http://opentextbc.ca/api/v1/docs
open.bccampus.ca

32. The great news
An application has been built that uses that API
● PressBooks Textbook
open.bccampus.ca

33. What does this mean for you?
You can build your own tools to interact with textbook data in a way that’s meaningful to you
and your use case.
open.bccampus.ca

34. Links
● https://wordpress.org/plugins/pressbooks-textbook/
● https://github.com/bccampus/pressbooks-textbook/
● http://www.slideshare.net/mackinaw/book-as-api-alistair-croll-hugh-mcguire
● http://toc.oreilly.com/2013/02/a-publishers-job-is-to-provide-a-good-api-for-books.html
● http://bccampus.ca/2014/10/23/pressbooks-plugin-developed-by-bccampus-enables-truly-open-textbook-publishing/
open.bccampus.ca

35. Thank You
Questions?
open.bccampus.ca
@clintlalonde @bdolor
#opened14