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Into the LibreVerse: Start Here

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Overview: Open Education without the Profit

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This is a free course to introduce you to all that is contained in the LibreTexts ecosystem, which we call the LibreVerse. Any logged-in user can obtain the certification. 

Purpose over Profit

LibreTexts is a non-profit that aims to empower faculty to use free or low-cost alternatives to textbooks, homework, and other educational resources to free students from financial burdens associated with education. Many know us as a textbook library, but we are much more. 

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the four facets of the LibreTexts Platform, also known as the LibreVerse.

  • Define OER and use it to distinguish OER from other sources. 

  • Define how LibreTexts values attribution and authorship over ownership. 

  • Be able to efficiently search the LibreTexts Libraries.

  • Identify the use cases for each of the LibreTexts Services.

Open Education Without the Profit

If you are logged in and enrolled in this course, you may complete the Certification at the end of this to earn the 
LibreTexts Certified User badge. This course is structured to give a basic overview of the entirety of the LibreVerse, and we have additional training courses you may enroll in to continue the training and certification processes.

LibreTexts is primarily focused on Open Content over Open Source Technology. We make sharing content extremely easy while maintaining the licensing and attribution of images, pages, books, paragraphs, and questions. We allow for embedding of OER licensed H5P into textbooks and into homework problems while maintaining licensing. We allow for perusal of OER question banks by verified instructors and for embedding of those questions into textbooks, homework sets, or linked through their home institution's LMS. At its heart LibreTexts is a community of passionate educators who create quality materials and share them willingly with care for attribution and licensing. 

In order to take down the for-profit model for publishing textbooks, we need to be more than just quality textbooks. We need to have the technologies that publishing companies bundle with their books. Thus: we house many technologies such as homework databases, homework systems, interactive H5P websites, threaded audio-visual discussion technology, interactive viewers, and much more.

Some of the technology we house here at LibreTexts is off-the-shelf. Although, in reality almost none of it really is truly off-the-shelf without some major tweaking by our development team. We partner with engaged faculty to create new tools like Discuss-It within ADAPT. We partner with state-wide agencies like California Education Learning Lab and the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) to build a compatible and accessible homework system: ADAPT. Throughout our decades-long growth we have worked with education researchers to evaluate effectiveness of our tools, we have co-written grants to build new software technologies, and disseminate new pedagogies.
Launching in 2025, the LibreTexts Academy expands on the existing professional development services offered by LibreTexts like Office Hours and LibreFest. With guided cohort trainings, in-person workshops, and these courses through Academy Online we aim to lower the learning curve for all faculty looking to reduce costs for their students!

 

LibreTexts Overview

LibreTexts is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and providing free educational resources. It operates as an open-access platform, offering a vast collection of high-quality textbooks and educational materials across various disciplines. The platform is designed to be collaborative, allowing educators and students to contribute and customize content to fit their specific needs.

Purpose over Profit

The goal of "Purpose over Profit" in the context of LibreTexts emphasizes the organization's commitment to prioritizing educational accessibility and quality over financial gain. This philosophy ensures that resources remain free for users, fostering an inclusive educational environment. By focusing on purpose, LibreTexts aims to democratize education, reduce costs for students, and empower educators worldwide with adaptable and comprehensive teaching tools.

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