Q. What are open textbooks?

Open Textbooks are a source of information which includes learning, teaching, and research materials in a variety of formats and mediums, designed specifically for the use of students, in a particular subject or field of study which is developed based on an instructional sequence or syllabus and geared towards meeting specific quality and learning requirements within an organized curriculum. This source of information is published by the copyright holder either under an open licence or into the public domain – whereby rights have been waived or expired - allowing for no-cost access, reuse, repurposing, adaptation, and redistribution by others.

(Adapted from: UNESCO 2003a and UNESCO IBE 2006, UNESCO 2021, and BCcampus Open Education Self-Publishing Guide).