In honor of International Open Access Week, Jack Martin, Chancellor Professor of English and Linguistics, answers questions about his experience working with W&M Press to publish his open textbook Mvskoke Language Patterns.
Mvskoke is spoken in east-central Oklahoma by members of the Muscogee Nation. This work is designed as a resource for those trying to learn the language. It describes the alphabet and basic patterns speakers use in daily conversation. It also includes a collection of phrases at the back.
What inspired you to create your Open Textbook?
As a graduate student in linguistics, I was trained to describe languages in a highly technical way. Like other academics, we aim to publish articles in scientific journals where the readers have PhDs in our field. The languages I work on are now critically endangered, but there are groups of young people who are trying to learn their heritage languages and to understand and reclaim the academic research. We have a responsibility to help those young people and to make our research more accessible and practical.
What was the most exciting/interesting part of this project for you?
I think it's great that Open Textbooks are free for students. The main attraction for me, though, is the ability to include audio and video. I've only just begun adding audio, but I plan to include much more in a revised version.
How did W&M Libraries help support your scholarship?
My first draft of the textbook was in Word. W&M Libraries converted that file to a format for the web. That could not have been easy!
How do you envision others might use your Open Textbook?
It's really designed to be a reference work with rules for how the language works rather than a textbook with different chapters for each week. Lately I've been able to see how people are using it: believe it or not, there are online groups where learners get together to try to answer questions they have about the language. That gives me a very clear idea of what is working, where my description could be clearer, and where more study is needed.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I'm really grateful to W&M Libraries for their help with this project!
Find the full list of current and forthcoming OA publications by W&M Press on the Libraries' website.