About this open textbook
To students:
The idea for this compilation began with students in two ways. First, students asked why, in the Internet age, do we have a book? The answer to the question is complex, but the short answer is that not all information is equal. What this book contains is authoritative information, thanks to the Internet age and to open education resources. Second, I noticed some students didn’t buy the required, commercial textbook, and I could tell that they didn’t get enough from class discussions alone. This document is my attempt to provide that information in an affordable way.
This book’s appearance may seem a bit messy, but the information is well-researched, drawn from a wide variety of perspectives on communication and written by communication scholars. I believe this course will make a difference in your life as a community member, as a family member, in your career, and in your relationships. Having the information in this book will help you effectively learn the communication skills and concepts you need.
Please read this book selfishly, for what you find valuable. But also be a little selfless. Help contribute to the open source method of learning, if you get the opportunity. You, too, have a part to play in helping to keep materials free for all students.
To help improve this book, you will need to read it and give feedback on it. Be sure to use the current edition and be sure to bring a copy, electronic or print, with you to class every day.
To all readers:
Attribution
The majority of this text has been adapted from Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies v. 1.0. (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee). Attributions for two additional works are listed separately in their respective chapters.
Origins of this book
The majority of the present text is based on an open source textbook from a repository created by Andy Schmitz (http://2012books.lardbucket.org/). That textbook was later adapted by the Constitution Foundation (http://www.saylor.org/books/). I chose to use the Saylor version because it removed the stock photos that were in the original publisher’s version. It was also the only version converted to Microsoft Word, which was needed for creating a good, editable Pressbook version. This makes the current text rather plain, but I feel more confident that what I am using is truly open source. [Note: In August, 2019, I searched for the Word document I used at Saylor Academy, but it is no longer linked. The only remaining link is to Andy Schmitz’ web-based version.]
Fifth Compilation for 2021-2022
This document is the fifth version of this compilation. It has very few substantive changes from the 2019-2020 version. I continue to correct typographic errors and refine the typography from the original Word document.
The contents of the original text, released in 2012, has not been updated in any version of this textbook that I am aware of. Updating content of this text to replace and/or add more current examples and concepts was delayed due to the the 2020 pandemic. This process will be the next step in evolving this open textbook.
This book is primarily designed for print and PDF usage. With its new base in Kirkwood’s Pressbook collection, there may be some upcoming changes to include supplemental materials and to include H5P materials in the web format.
Tony Arduini – tony.arduini@kirkwood.edu
