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Online Library Resources & Services

Textbook Solutions – Supporting Better Student Access to Course Materials

Context:

As many faculty are aware, a lot of Hostos students have difficulty accessing course materials due to the high cost of many commercial textbooks. During the COVID-19 emergency, they lost access to a lifeline—the Hostos Library’s Reserve Textbook Collection. When the Library is able to safely re-open, we will not be able to offer the short-term loans of reserve textbooks because of the time needed to quarantine between check-outs.

Some Ways the Hostos Library Can Help:

ZTC/OER Textbooks

For several years Hostos faculty have been adopting, or sometimes even developing new "Zero Textbook Cost" (ZTC) or "Open Educational Resources" (OER) textbooks. These ZTC/OER textbooks are all electronically available and free to Hostos students. So far, we have published 37 OERs created or adopted by Hostos faculty, from Allied Health to the Visual & Performing Arts Performing Arts.

In recent years faculty from across the nation have been busy writing or curating quality ZTC/OER textbooks, many of them developed for student populations from community colleges. I have developed an online guide with some places to start searching for OER materials.

Electronic E-books

the Hostos Library provides access to about 700-thousand e-books. Many of these are available to an unlimited number of users at a time, making them great candidates for use in a course. You can begin exploring e-books with a keyword search in OneSearch (be sure to use the "Full Text Online" and "Books" filters). The library can help you decode the subscription type to determine availability for course use.

Other Materials

You can use OneSearch or access individual library databases to discover articles, book chapters, videos, reports, and other kinds of materials that are available free to Hostos students via subscription.

Maximizing Access to Your Commercial Textbook

If you will continue to use your commercial textbook, you can scan individual chapters that will be required for your course, and upload these to Blackboard for your students. NOTE: you may upload only one chapter at a time, and take down the previous chapter before posting a new reading.

  • Check out the Library's Reserve Scanning Project - set up to help fill a need during the COVID-19 emergency, since physical library books are not available.

For More Information and Help:

If you need support identifying, collecting, or provide access to any of these textbook alternatives, please email Linda Miles (lmiles@hostos.cuny.edu), or reach out to the library faculty member designated as liaison to your discipline.