Open Source Texts

OpenMind Publishing Group is taking its
first step to replace traditional textbook publishing with a personalized,
online process. OpenMind today announced the first-ever program that
carries the open source model into the textbook publishing industry.

For more information on OpenMind Publishing Group and/or to see a
demonstration please visit www.ompg.com or 919-688-4555.

Read on for the Full Press Release

OpenMind Publishing Group is taking its
first step to replace traditional textbook publishing with a personalized,
online process. OpenMind today announced the first-ever program that
carries the open source model into the textbook publishing industry.

For more information on OpenMind Publishing Group and/or to see a
demonstration please visit www.ompg.com or 919-688-4555.

Read on for the Full Press Release

\”I believe I speak for all of my peers when I say that we were looking
forward to the day when textbook publishing catches up with all of the new
alternatives to publishing including multi-media CD-ROMs and the Internet,\”
said Dr. Martin Starr, Management Professor with the Crummer Graduate School
of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fl. \”Sure there are
companies that offer books online, but OpenMind is the only one that
provides a two-way interaction allowing us – the professors – to dictate
what we teach our students.\”


How does it work? The company has recruited 25 political science professors
to participate in a five-week, \”New User\” program. The professors will
review and modify political science content – textbooks, journal articles,
cases studies and more. Then they will customize their own textbook by
drawing materials from this content base and integrating their own
materials. Finally, they will receive the completed books along with a
questionnaire requesting their thoughts and feedback. Professors will then
have the option to distribute the textbooks to their students at a cost
savings of 70 percent compared to traditional textbooks.


College textbook publishing is a $5.5 billion industry that fails to satisfy
nearly half of its customers. Why? To sell more books, publishers edit
original content provided by authors to meet perceived mass-market needs.
These strategies often add to the price of the book while adding little
value to the teaching quality. Even when a textbook is required reading, 25
to 30 percent of students do not make that purchase because of the hefty
price tag.


\”This is just our first step to return control of textbook content and the
publishing process back to the academic community. And already over 1,200
professors have signed up to participate in OpenMind programs,\” said Paul
Elliot, CEO of OpenMind. \”Our business model allows us to offer textbooks
at a third of the price, give professors the control they desire and still
capture a share of a very lucrative market.\”

OpenMind founders were inspired by the software industry\’s open source
model, a model quite the opposite from the traditional \”proprietary\” way of
developing software – in which any and all changes must come from the vendor
and the user is beholden to their supplier for new features, patches or bug
fixes. In contrast, in the open source model, anyone can access the code
and make changes. Linux, for example, is collectively improved upon by the
enthusiasm of a virtual army of worldwide programmers who make changes to
the code and then release it again. This results in a better, more reliable
product that costs less to both build and maintain.


Through the OpenText Project at www.opentextproject.org, educators
contribute and review academic content that is made available at no cost and
with no copyright restrictions. OpenMind then leverages the rich content
source provided by the OpenText Project and provides tools and technologies
at www.ompg.com to allow professors to easily personalize textbooks and
learning aids to match their course syllabus. OpenMind, in turn, sells
these rich, dynamic textbooks and learning aids to students – via the
Internet, CD-ROM, or print – at a cost savings of approximately 70 percent
less than traditional textbooks.


About OpenMind

OpenMind is leading the initiative to replace traditional textbook
publishing with an automated, online process that returns the power of
teaching to professors and enriches the learning experience for students.
OpenMind has transformed and provided the new footprint for textbook
publishing by providing a real-time dynamic process through an open source
environment where textbooks are free to the academic community – free of
exclusivity and legal restrictions and free of the finality associated with
the content printed in a traditional hard-copy textbook.


For more information on OpenMind Publishing Group and/or to see a
demonstration please visit www.ompg.com or 919-688-4555.