These slides were given at the 2012 Open Repositories conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. They describe a SWORD extension for depositing new OER, new versions of existing OER, and derived copies of OER. The extension defines Dublin Core metadata for OER and the protocol for distinguishing new content, new versions, and derived copies. We also describe implementations of the service in Connexions, cnx.org and of a client at cnx.oerpub.org.

1. OERPub API for Publishing Remixable
Open Educational Resources (OER)
Open Repositories 2012 - Edinburgh
Kathi Fletcher, Marvin Reimer
http://tinyurl.com/c39kd53
Photograph courtesy Joe Crawford (http://www.flickr.com/people/artlung/) under th Creative Commons Attribution License.

2. My background
Kathi Fletcher
Background : Connexions PM and
Technical Director 4 Yrs
Lessons: Do what you are best at.
Empower the community to build an
ecosystem.
Fellowship: An OER Roadmap for an
Ecosystem of OER
Technical plumbing for OER
concentrating on publishing

3. Marvin's background
Marvin Reimer
Background :
GSoC student last year: Convert Google
Docs to CNXML.
Lead Developer: Implemented the first
OERPub client.

4. Remixable Open
Education Repositories
Photograph courtesy Joe Crawford (http://www.flickr.com/people/artlung/) under th Creative Commons Attribution License.

5. Web/Online Accessibility Tools
EPUB/E-Book
PDF/Print
Repositories
Remixability:
Learn anywhere
Library photograph courtesy Joe Crawford (http://www.flickr.com/people/artlung/) under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

6. Edit / Transform
Translate.
Remixability:
Share and Adapt
Learning &
Publish, Compile, Accredit Practicing
Tools
Photograph courtesy Joe Crawford (http://www.flickr.com/people/artlung/) under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

7. Remixability is hard to support,
though
Authoring remixable OER is too hard right now
Make it easier
1. Grow the developer community solving the
problem by providing APIs
2. Create an importer/editor that is as easy as
Word.

8. Existing API's Useful for OER
Metadata
* Dublin Core, Learning Objects Metadata
●
* LRMI, Schema.org
●
* Paradata (description through deduction)
●
Discovery
* OAI-PMH : Getting metadata about and
●
locations of resources in repositories
* Embedding in web pages (rdfa, microdata)
●
Remixable Formats
●
* CNXML, OUXML
●
* Docbook, DITA, eLML, wikipedia rst
●
* HTML5 + microdata, EPUB3 + epub:type
●

9. Closing the Loop: Make publishing easy
Edit and
translate and
then publish to
repositories.
Create tests
With simple publishing, new Ecosystem and use
OER from big initiatives can tools convert questions from
be shared and remixed. and transform. open banks.
Photograph courtesy Joe Crawford (http://www.flickr.com/people/artlung/) under th Creative Commons Attribution License.

10. Closing the Loop: OERPub / SWORD V2
OERPub /
SWORD
OERPub OERPub
OERPub
Photograph courtesy Joe Crawford (http://www.flickr.com/people/artlung/) under th Creative Commons Attribution License.

11. OERPub : Extensions to SWORD V2
Specifications in Public Google Docs Right
Now
+
● OERPub Specification : tinyurl.com/cvhr2og
● Connexions Reference Implementation: tinyurl.
com/6wslwwa
Hopefully useful model. Successfully
hired & guided service implementation in
Connexions.

12. Why SWORD V2 for OER?
Ability to handle repository workflow
● Deposit "in-progress"
○Licensing and author agreement
workflow
○Editing and publishing workflow
Use of atom, recommendation of Dublin
Core, flexible about package contents. Easy
to extend to handle versions and derived
copies.

13. OERPub : Extensions to SWORD V2
Metadata
○Clarification
■ Version : dc:isVersionOf
■ Parent source for derived copy : dc:source
○ Added specificity
■ Licensing workflow : namespaced attributes "oerdc:
pending"
■ Contributors : namespaced attributes
● ex: dc:contributor oerdc:role="translator"
■ Analytics codes
○ Documentation
■ Repository default values
■ Repository-controlled auto-generated values
■ Metadata precedence (dc, package, atom)

14. OERPub : Extensions to SWORD V2
Versioning and Derived Copies mechanism
● New version
○POST to Col-IRI
isVersionOf set to URL of published
■
content. Repo populates content.
● New derived copy
○POST to Col-IRI
source set to the URL of published
■
content. Repo populates content.

15. OERPub : Extensions to SWORD V2
Merge semantics header for PUT
Purpose:
Make simple things fast and efficient
● update a title, but nothing else
● add several files without resending all
Image[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merge_sign.svg

16. OERPub : Extensions to SWORD V2
● Section on Transforms under Packaging
○Repository specific documentation
○Modeled in CNX spec

17. OERPub : Extensions to SWORD V2
● Additional error handling
○CheckoutUnauthorized
○OverwriteNotPermitted
○PublishUnauthorized
○Unpublishable
○TransformFailed
○DepositFailed
Image By PKua (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, http://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Error.svg

18. OERPub Server
Connexions - cnx.
org
Ideas
Authors Concepts
Supports
Module
Instructors
Versions
Knowledge Derived Copies
Repository
Learners Courses
Textbooks

19. Lessons Learned
● Specification detail good.
● Avoid multiple ways to specify metadata --
inevitably leades to bugs
● No free form data (sword:treatment): will want
to parse/change
● Always need deposit receipt (was optional on
PUT, but many things can go wrong).
● Auto-Discovery : Recommend protocol for
accessing for edit URL for public item.

20. SWORD / OERPub Success Story
cnx.oerpub.org
Client Server
+ =>

21. OERPUB Importer Client (cnx.oerpub.org)
Convert, Preview, and Upload docs to
Connexions and more

22. Wherever the learning is – start there.
Word → Remix

23. Wherever the learning is – start there.
Word → Remix

24. Web → Remix

25. Web → Remix

26. Google Docs → Remix

27. Google Docs → Remix

28. Web → Remix

29. Web → Remix

30. Add Metadata

31. Upload to Connexions

32. The result – Biology Ch1.1

33. The result – Biology - Ch1.2

34. The result – Biology - Ch1.3

35. SWORD / OERPub Success Story
Developers contributing in a couple of hours
February Sprint
Three new developers fix three bugs in a
day

36. Current Uses: Open Course Library
Used OERPub/SWORD API to create modules from
OCL courses

37. Current Uses : Open Stax College
Used OERPub/SWORD API to move books from
development to production
Every chapter
● remixable
Every image
●
● Reusable
Every HW problem
● adaptable

38. Future Uses : Siyavula embargoed
content
Click to edit the outline text format
Second Outline Level
●
●Third Outline Level
Fourth Outline Level
●
●Fifth Outline
Level
●Sixth Outline
Level
●Seventh Outline
Level
●Eighth Outline
Level
●Ninth Outline
Level

39. Future Uses : Booktype
Possibilities:
OER Reuse
Booktype as a finishing press for OER
Create conversions between CNX and Booktype and other
structured formats (OUXML, DocBook)
Collaborate on tools to create HTML, EPUB, Mobi, PDF from
single source

40. Future Uses: P2PU
Use an OER Repository to keep
course materials

41. Future Uses: P2PU
Use an OER Repository to keep
course materials

42. Future Uses : Open University Lab
Spaces
Remix between OER Repos

43. Future Uses : Deposit OER to IR at the
same time
Rice Professor, John
Hutchinson, Rice
Chemistry Professor
Writes an
Open
Textbook

44. Future Uses : Deposit OER & IR
Catherine Schmidt-Jones: Author and Graduate
Student, publishes research on music OER

45. Future Uses : Deposit OER & IR
Open Journal and the Authors' Institutional Repositories

46. Wall of Fame So Far!

47. Find out more / Stay involved
This presentation: tinyurl.com/c39kd53
Email me: kathi.fletcher@shuttleworthfoundation.org
Blog: kefletcher.blogspot.com
Project page: code.google.com/p/oer-roadmap
● Has links to publishing API, mailing list, projects

48. Image Attributions
Gold medal - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ksiom, CC-BY-SA
Coffee Table Book – By User:Mattis (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia
Commons
Package - By GNOME icon artists (GNOME SVN / GNOME FTP) [GPL (www.gnu.
org/licenses/gpl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Translation - By Jesse Burgheimer [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-
SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), GFDL (www.gnu.
org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.
0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
Mouth - By Felsir at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from
Wikimedia Commons
Magnifying glass – By David Vignoni [LGPL (www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html)], via
Wikimedia Commons
School room – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:MrHarman – CC-BY-SA
Intelligent tutor – By Richard Wilson (died 1782) [Public domain or Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons
Editing pencil - By Everaldo Coelho (YellowIcon) [LGPL (www.gnu.
org/licenses/lgpl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Blackberry phone : By Ricmoo at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia
Commons