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None of us is as smart as all of us.
— a Japanese proverb[1]
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The Claremont Colleges Open Education team has overseen the production of fifteen open textbooks and four major adaptations during its initial publishing phase. Inviting collaborators to participate was left to the authors who proposed the textbooks ideas to us. It was felt that, as the subject-matter expert, this individual was most qualified to make these decisions. From the sidelines, our project managers watched the interplay between the primary author and their contributors. We learned what worked and what didn’t, and how problems could be avoided in the future.
The biggest lesson learned was the importance of establishing expectations for your contributors before writing begins. If you decide to invite one or more colleagues to provide material to your textbook, determine the parameters of the author relationship sand then clarify with each author the following points:
- Who will own copyright
- Disclose the type of open-copyright licence that will be used to release the book. Be prepared to answer concerns and questions for colleagues not familiar with open textbooks.
- Decide if contributing authors will be compensated for their efforts. Be clear about how much they will be compensated or paid.
- Provide written details about their contribution, including:
- the topic — be specific
- length of their work by word count
- layout of the contributing piece including sections and subsections, number and type of images, tables, graphs, or other support resources
- the timeline and deadline for the first and subsequent drafts
- the timeline and deadline to review questions from the copy editor and make revisions
Use a contract or written agreement to clearly describe these expectations so there are no misunderstandings.
I also warrant as follows:
- that I hold the copyright to the work, I am submitting and have the full power and authority to make this agreement;
- that the work does not infringe any copyright, nor violate any proprietary rights, nor contain any libelous matter, nor invade the privacy of any person or third party.
- "Proverbs," http://web.mit.edu/levitsky/www/proverbs.html (accessed October 26, 2017). ↵