Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

The Affordable Materials Project in conjunction with Subject Librarians went on a Listening Tour to learn about faculty course materials practices, challenges, and concerns.  During the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022, AMP members and librarians spoke with faculty teaching high enrollment, introductory courses that typically use commercial textbooks.

We had conversations about how textbooks and homework systems are chosen and used and what services might promote the use of high-quality, low-cost textbooks and open educational resources (OER).   The Listening Tour’s findings and recommendations are now available here.

Finals are rough, especially during the summer. With summer sessions ending next week, save some time during finals and turn your textbook into an audiobook. Listen while you’re at the gym, walking to class, or doing your laundry. There are a bunch of different ways to convert that book into an audiobook. Check out your options below:

• Here’s what Goodreader says: If you have an iPhone and the latest version of iOS, there is a text to speech system built into it. Go to Settings –> General –> Accessibility –> Speech. Turn on Speak Screen.

This method will allow you to use any e-reading app you want, such as Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Barnes and Noble Nook, iBooks and hundreds of others.  All you have to do is swipe downwards from the top of the screen to initiate the playbook controls and your e-book will be narrated by Siri.

• If you have an Android, click here for instructions.
• Lifewire recommends turning your text to MP3s through simple conversion programs. Click here for instructions.

This finals season, work smarter, not harder! Falvey Library is here to help.

(This blog is was originally published November 28, 2018, in a slightly altered form.)