Open Textbooks

Species-Habitat Associations: Spatial data, predictive models, and ecological insights

by Jason Matthiopoulos, John Fieberg, and Geert Aarts

Ecologists develop species-habitat association (SHA) models to understand where species occur, why they are there and where else they might be. This knowledge can be used to designate protected areas, estimate anthropogenic impacts on living organisms and assess risks from invasive species or disease spill-over from wildlife to humans. Here, we describe the state of the art in SHA models, looking beyond the apparent correlations between the positions of organisms and their local environment.

"The Death of Ivan Ilich": An Electronic Study Edition of the Russian Text

by Gary Jahn

The Russian text of "The Death of Ivan Ilich" is presented for study in various formats: accompanied by an English translation; fully glossed, with explanatory and interpetive annotations; and supplemented by introductory remarks and an extensive bibliography.

A Guide to Good Reasoning: Cultivating Intellectual Virtues

by David Carl Wilson

A Guide to Good Reasoning has been described by reviewers as “far superior to any other critical reasoning text.” It shows with both wit and philosophical care how students can become good at everyday reasoning. It starts with attitude—with alertness to judgmental heuristics and with the cultivation of intellectual virtues. From there it develops a system for skillfully clarifying and evaluating arguments, according to four standards—whether the premises fit the world, whether the conclusion fits the premises, whether the argument fits the conversation, and whether it is possible to tell.

Quantitative Ecology: A New Unified Approach

by Clarence Lehman, Shelby Loberg, and Adam Clark

Introduces and discusses the principles of ecology from populations to ecosystems including human populations, disease, exotic organisms, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity and global dynamics. The book also reformulates and unifies ecological equations making them more accessible to the reader and easier to teach.

• Exercises and other supplementary materials

Introduction to Design Equity

by Kristine Miller, Ph.D.

Why do affluent, liberal, and design-rich cities like Minneapolis have some of the biggest racial disparities in the country? How can designers help to create more equitable communities? Introduction to Design Equity, an open access book for students and professionals, maps design processes and products against equity research to highlight the pitfalls and potentials of design as a tool for building social justice.

Immigrant and Refugee Families: Global Perspectives on Displacement and Resettlement Experiences, 2nd ed.

co-edited with equal contribution by Jaime Ballard, Elizabeth Wieling, and Catherine Solheim

Offers an interdisciplinary perspective on immigrant and refugee families' challenges and resilience across multiple domains, including economic, political, health, and human rights.

Information Strategies for Communicators

by Kathleen Hansen and Nora Paul

The definitive text for the information search and evaluation process as practiced by news and strategic communication message producers. Currently used at the University of Minnesota; JOUR 3004W/V, Information for Mass Communication.

An Introduction to Cooperation and Mutualism

by Michael Boland

This textbook introduces readers to the idea of cooperation and mutualism. Cooperatives and mutuals are participatory organizations in which members participate in control and governance, receive economic benefits through patronage refunds or net income, and become owners through equity.

• Print on demand version
• English language version
• Spanish language version

Linear Regression Using R

by David J. Lilja

Linear Regression Using R: An Introduction to Data Modeling presents one of the fundamental data modeling techniques in an informal tutorial style. Learn how to predict system outputs from measured data using a detailed step-by-step process to develop, train, and test reliable regression models. Key modeling and programming concepts are intuitively described using the R programming language.

Mapping, Society, and Technology

by Steven Manson

Learn how to read, use, and create maps and along the way explore how maps reflect the relationship between society and technology. Mapping is an essential form of scientific and artistic inquiry as well as a trillion dollar business.

Business Communication for Success

Business Communication for Success provides a comprehensive, integrated approach to the study and application of written and oral business communication to serve both student and professor with a clear outcome product.

Exploring Business

Exploring Business introduces students to business roles and concepts in an exciting way. This text will help you decide whether business is right for you and, if so, what areas of business you’d like to study further.

Financial Accounting

This book is intended for an undergraduate or MBA level Financial Accounting course. It covers the standard topics in a standard sequence, utilizing the Socratic method of asking and answering questions.

Human Resource Management

This text teaches the HRM strategies and theories that any manager needs to know about recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating people from the perspective of a general manager in addition to an HR manager.

Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harness Technology

Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology is intended for use in undergraduate and/or graduate courses in Management Information Systems and Information Technology.

Mastering Strategic Management

You can expect Mastering Strategic Management to cover all of the traditional topics that standard strategic management texts cover, but in an exciting way that will assist you in engaging your students in your course. See for yourself by checking out the book online today.

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior takes a more experiential angle to the material to meet students' needs. The OB Toolbox feature brings life to the concepts and allows students to not only see how the OB theories unfold, but to practice them, as well.

Principles of Economics

Principles of Economics aims to teach considerable range and depth of Economic concepts through an approachable style and methodology. This book is intended for a two-semester course in Economics taught out of the social sciences or business school.

Principles of Macroeconomics

The goal of this textbook is to help students understand how real individuals actually work with economics. In this textbook, the authors illustrate the practicality and relevance of economics with a variety of new illustrations and insights.

Principles of Management

Principles of Management teaches management principles to tomorrow’s business leaders by weaving three threads through every chapter: strategy, entrepreneurship and active leadership. Suits the needs of both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Principles of Marketing

Principles of Marketing teaches the experience and process of actually doing marketing. It carries five dominant themes throughout: Service dominant logic, sustainability, ethics and social responsibility, global coverage, and metrics.

Project Management from Simple to Complex

In a world that is becoming more virtual, more global, and more complex, the project manager's ability to function becomes critical to the success of the project. Project Management from Simple to Complex explores project management within this environment.

American Government and Politics in the Information Age

This text is a comprehensive introduction to the vital subject of American government and politics. In covering American government and politics, our text details the branches of government and how they operate; and shows how policies are made and affect people’s lives.

College Success

College Success has a student-friendly format arranged to help students develop the essential skills and provide the information they need to succeed in college. Practical guidance ranging from study skills to personal health, from test taking to managing time and money.

Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies

This book overviews the time-tested conceptual foundations of the field, while incorporating the latest research and cutting-edge applications of these basics.

Criminal Law

Let’s face it, legal textbooks can be dry. This is unfortunate because law, especially criminal law, is an intrinsically compelling topic. Criminal Law employs a variety of instructional techniques that should engage from start to finish.

Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology utilizes the dual theme of behavior and empiricism to make psychology relevant to intro students. The author wrote this book to help students organize their thinking about psychology at a conceptual level.

Principles of Social Psychology

Provides students with an introduction to the basic concepts and principles of social psychology from an interactionist perspective. The presentation of classic studies and theories are balanced with insights from cutting-edge, contemporary research.

Research Methods in Psychology

While Research Methods in Psychology is fairly traditional, making it easy for you to use with your existing courses, it also emphasizes a fundamental that is often lost on undergraduates: research methods are not a peripheral concern in our discipline; they are central.

Social Problems: Continuity and Change

A realistic but motivating look at the many issues that are facing our society today. As this book’s subtitle, Continuity and Change, implies, social problems are persistent, but they have also improved in the past and can be improved in the present and future.

Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World

Makes sociology relevant for today’s students by balancing traditional coverage with a fresh approach that ironically takes them back to sociology’s American roots in the use of sociological knowledge for social reform.

Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking

Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking features two key themes: It focuses on helping students become more seasoned and polished public speakers, it emphasizes ethics.

Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication

This text will support an engaging and interesting course experience for students that will show them the powerful social, political and economic forces will affect the future of media technology.

World Regional Geography: People, Places, and Geography

World Regional Geography: People, Places and Globalization is designed for students to experience and study as much of the world as possible within a limited amount of time. It gives students the fundamental concepts and the latest data regarding the world.

Writing for Success

Writing for Success is a text that provides instruction in steps, builds writing, reading, and critical thinking, and combines comprehensive grammar review with an introduction to paragraph writing and composition.