Textbooks are a vital component in many higher education contexts. Increasing textbook prices, coupled with general rising costs of higher education have led some instructors to experiment with substituting open educational resources (OER) for commercial textbooks as their primary class curriculum. This article synthesizes the results of 16…

This research aims at analysing technical specifications in a sample of Egyptian and French electronic storybooks (e-storybooks), to identify similarities and differences in technical specifications of children's e-storybooks and create a verified analysis list to be used for evaluation of e-storybooks. For this purpose, 32 e-storybooks in CD…

School librarians are experts at so many things: navigating the seas of digital information to find an elusive article, creating interactive forums in which kids learn to collaborate and create, and, of course, critically selecting materials. Some have been reading and reviewing books for so long they can smell a stinker from a mile away or…

This article describes an approach to developing student reading materials that support middle school learners in a project-based, inquiry curriculum for grades 6 through 8. Reading materials are designed to encourage sense making beyond the classroom, as students read and write about science as it takes place in a classroom and as it occurs in…

The demands of special interest groups from the conservative right and the liberal left have resulted in more restrictive censorship in American education. (RL)

Integrates strategies and suggestions from professional books and articles to provide educators with an overview of components of the textbook selection process. Organizes the smorgasbord into three sections: the salad bar (initial screening), the main course (examination of textbooks), and the dessert bar (plans for implementation of the textbook…

Provides five key questions teachers need to answer in order to determine whether a textbook can be used effectively in the classroom. (FL)

Raises questions about the readability criteria used by publishers and editors of reading textbooks in selecting and assembling materials for middle grade reading texts. (RL)

Presents ERIC documents that examine what goes into the textbook selection process, the outside influences on book selection, and some criteria that are used in the selection of books. (MKM)

Describes one statewide process of basal series selection and outlines the concerns of eight groups involved in the process. (FL)