Dementia Action Week 2021 - celebrating JCU's 1st open eBook

In support of Dementia Action Week 2021, James Cook University Library is launching  A Long Goodbye: Ed and Mary’s Journey with Lewy Body Dementia.   This eBook is centred around the heartfelt journal of a husband, Ed, documenting his wife Mary’s rapid mental and physical decline after being diagnosed with Lewy body dementia (LBD).

It is the first book to be launched on JCU Library’s Pressbooks platform, a key element in the Library’s ongoing Open Education Initiative, bringing open educational resources not only to the JCU community but to a much wider audience.

The JCU Open Education Initiative aims to provide a platform for the development of Open Educational Resources (OERs) that are licensed in ways that allow them to be legally and freely copied, used, adapted and re-shared.

The Library led initiative is currently developing a variety of openly available textbooks in a number of subject discipline areas for the benefit of Australian undergraduate students.    Librarians work closely in collaboration with academic staff and learning and teaching staff to publish quality educational resources.

Launched on 22nd September, 2021, the first JCU eBook chronicles Ed’s personal journal that was originally shared by Ed with former JCU nursing lecturer Dr Adele Baldwin, who recognised its value as an authentic teaching resource. A grant enabled the development of an open access website which has now been transformed into a comprehensive open textbook that can be read and downloaded for free.

Dr Baldwin, who now works at CQ University, said the open textbook would be a “living document” that could be updated as new information became available. 

The eBook’s launch coincides with Dementia Action Week 2021, which aims to demonstrate that many people living with dementia can continue to live well for many years after their diagnosis. Ed and Mary’s journey is particularly timely this year, with the focus of Dementia Action Week being on supporting and celebrating carers of people living with dementia.

For more information the JCU Media Release is available here.

 


 

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