Good questions to pose and get us thinking :)

I have reviewed the BC Campus Open Textbook review criteria and compared this to our informal list of criteria. They are very similar. I would like to comment on three specific criteria from the list.

The first is the notion of longevity of the resource. With print editions of a textbooks we have run into a couple of different situations that have become problematic. If we have adopted a specific text [as it has met all other criteria we are looking for] and a new edition is published, publishers will not distribute an older version and students are left scrambling to find the resource. This became an issue for cohorts of students whose start time in the program is offset [every 6 months a new cohort is started]. For faculty, it contributed to the workload as curriculum was shifted [reading lists updated, etc] to accommodate the new edition. Isn't this a great opportunity to suggest shifting to OERs??

A second criteria that I would like to comment on is the concept of interface. This is extremely important when considering the needs of diverse learners. If a text resources [traditional text or OER] does not provide the same information reframed in several different formats [text, images, case studies, etc] I would be less likely to adopt the resource. Here is another situation where OERs can offer significant opportunities - especially if the attribution license allows for additional revision.

A third criteria that is extremely important within nursing is the relevance of the content. While the human body does not change how we deliver care does. Working within the complex dynamic system of healthcare requires us to be current at all times. This is another prompt to shift to OERs!

What I am quickly learning is that while the criteria for selecting appropriate resources may be the same, there appear to be more benefits with OERs.

Interoperability is very important Carla I agree. For true inclusion we need to consider good old fashioned paper copies. Many students still prefer that. I'm in healthcare too and yes, flexiblity to update is hugely important, and also to recontextualise techniques for your hospital / region which might be different somewhere else :)

I agree that having the material available in multiple formats is important. I would also add that OERs need to be formatted for the medium in which they are intended. For example, if I'm asking my students to read online, then I need to make sure that what I'm asking them to read is formatted for online reading. Just pdfs of lots of text or even text on the screen isn't sufficient. Look at this page as an example. The designer followed appropriate web writing practices and broke up the text with color graphics, bullets, etc. These sorts of things cost a lot when you speak of printing them but nothing when you think about designing for the web. These materials can and should be created with 21st century readers in mind. (You can tell I'm a little frustrated at how many supposed e-texts are really just pdfs)

The one class I teach that has been the most problematic for finding an appropriate textbook is our composition course one level below college level. This is partly because in 2011 we integrated our composition and reading classes. The textbook therefore needs to include both reading and writing concepts and strategies. Some teachers are still using two textbooks to do this. The other big consideration for me is sufficient readings (professional essays/articles with some student work) which allow me to build thematic units. Once a year I teach a section of this course as part of a learning community with a developmental math class so I have to "supplement" heavily to have readings which help me integrate these two classes. Finally, so many textbooks are still structured around and emphasize the rhetorical modes, which is not my approach in teaching composition--I expose them to the modes but they do not serve as the structure for my class. I also need some attention to grammar but not an overwhelming number of pages that are basically like a workbook. I've yet to find a book that has everything I need and not too much of what I don't. An open textbook seem like the perfect solution--plus it will provide greater student access often restricted by cost.

I also teach at least one composition section each semester, so I face some of the same issues as you (though I've not taught the remedial/developmental level in some time). Getting quality readers to accompany the compositional rhetoric is a tough thing in an OER because so many things are copyrighted. I've tried a few strategies that may work:
1. If your college has a journal of student writing, you could use this as your reader - depending on its cost and quality, of course.
2. Work with your library to create a reading list of recent news and journal articles from your library's databases. They aren't open in the strict sense, but they are free to your students who have already paid their fees AND you won't have to recreate it every year since the library can provide you with persistent links.

I also HATE composition texts that are organized around rhetorical modes which is what publishers still want to do, so I like that an OER like Writing Commons or Writing for Success (Saylor text) allows me to reorganize material.

One of the projects I'm working on for the BC Open Textbook project is a series of course packs (workbooks/textbooks) with accompanying readers for ABE Adult Fundamental Literacy in English courses. As we began this project, we quickly recognized that there were no (at least we couldn't find any) readers suitable that are also openly licensed...so we're creating them. We're very excited about this project.