Required Inclusions and Guidelines
This section discusses aspects of working with the ROTEL Grant that are required.
Platform Options
ROTEL does not require any specific platforms. As of this writing, two primary sources are being utilized in the ROTEL project:
- PressBooks (preferred)
- PreTeXt
URL Naming Convention
The ROTEL team will assign the URL for your OER. It will be generic, related to the book title, and not include any course information. The goal for this is to ensure universality of the books without limitations toward institutions or specific courses.
Licensing and Copyright
ROTEL has four licenses available (Descriptions from the Creative Commons Licensing Website):
- Attribution (CC BY)
- This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.
- Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
- This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.
- Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
- This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
- Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)
- This license lets others remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
Due to the unique needs for each of the ROTEL OER projects, the publishing support team will meet with each authoring team individually to determine the best license for their book.
Theme Choices
For accessibility purposes, ROTEL will be utilizing Jacobs and Malala themes from the choices in PressBooks. These options address concerns about dyslexia fonts and other accessibility issues.
Heading Cascades
For accessibility purposes, it is necessary for headings to cascade numerically. Heading 1 should be the initial heading followed by Heading 2 when appropriate. Screen readers require this to be effective.
It is important to note that while PressBooks does allow for conversions from other files (such as Word files), it will still need to be reviewed for style standardization and legibility after importing. Headings are among the important things to check in this process.
Attribution
PressBooks Best Practices for Attribution.
Creative Commons licenses require attribution for each asset used. In the links above, PressBooks provides guidelines for page-level attribution stylization which will apply to all platforms. There is a built-in attribution tool for PressBooks that authors are encouraged to use. Once the option is selected in the Theme Options, uploading images will include fields for attribution. If these fields are filled in, the attribution will automatically format at the end of the page.
For any inquiries or difficulties, the publishing support team will assist.
Front Matter
ROTEL requires the following items be included in the Front Matter.
For additional options or ideas, PressBooks has a comprehensive guide to the different sections of Front Matter they provide. Please take a look at this link to determine what sections would be appropriate for your book.
Land Acknowledgement
ROTEL requires a land acknowledgement to be included in the Front Matter of the book. The following text will be placed into your book:
Land Acknowledgement Statement for the ROTEL Grant
As part of ROTEL Grant’s mission to support the creation, management, and dissemination of culturally-relevant textbooks, we must acknowledge Indigenous Peoples as the traditional stewards of the land, and the enduring relationship that exists between them and their traditional territories. We acknowledge that the boundaries that created Massachusetts were arbitrary and a product of the settlers. We honor the land on which the Higher Education Institutions of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are sited as the traditional territory of tribal nations. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from their territory, and other atrocities connected with colonization. We honor and respect the many diverse indigenous people connected to this land on which we gather, and our acknowledgement is one action we can take to correct the stories and practices that erase Indigenous People’s history and culture.
Identified tribes and/or nations of Massachusetts
Historical nations:
- Mahican
- Mashpee
- Massachuset
- Nauset
- Nipmuc
- Pennacook
- Pocomtuc
- Stockbridge
- Wampanoag
Present day nations and tribes:
- Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
- Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah
- Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe
- Assawompsett-Nemasket Band of Wampanoags
- Pocasset Wampanoag of the Pokanoket Nation
- Pacasset Wampanoag Tribe
- Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe
- Chappaquiddick Tribe of the Wampanoag Indian Nation
- Nipmuc Nation (Bands include the Hassanamisco, Natick)
- Nipmuck Tribal Council of Chaubunagungamaug
- Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag
In the event that we have an incorrect link or are missing an existing band/nation, please let us know so that we may correct our error.
Suggested readings
Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness
A guide to Indigenous land acknowledgment
‘We are all on Native Land: A conversation about Land Acknowledgements’ YouTube video
Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land (mapping of native lands)
This land acknowledgement was based on Digital Commonwealth. Please contact ROTELPST@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.
Rationale for Your Book
Include in the front matter a section that discusses your reasons for writing this work. This section should include answers to questions such as, “Why did you choose to publish this work as an OER text?”
Back Matter
ROTEL requires the following items be included in the Back Matter.
For additional options or ideas, PressBooks has a comprehensive guide to the different sections of back matter they provide. Please take a look at this link to determine what sections would be appropriate for your book.
Grant Information
The ROTEL Project is funded 100% by the U.S. Department of Education’s grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, (FIPSE). The contents of the OERs do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and an endorsement by the Federal Government should not be assumed.
The contents of this book were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
For more information about the ROTEL Project, please visit our project website.
Works Cited/References/Bibliography
ROTEL does not require a specific citation style; however, citations are required. Below is a list of links to the style guides for the most commonly used citation styles.
