Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

VIVA Launches E-commerce Site for Purchase of Print versions of OER

VIVA is excited to announce the launch of a new e-commerce site through which students, educators, and institutions can purchase high-quality printed versions of Open Educational Resources (OER) at cost to decrease barriers to access.

All print books are offered at cost, or, in other words, priced to the cost it takes to print the work and overhead of running the site, plus shipping. No profit is made by VIVA or its member institutions for the works hosted on this site. Most books are also available for free online; links to open resources are included in the book’s record. 

Items on the site include OER supported through VIVA's Open Grants Program, intending to provide high-quality, low cost resources to students in Virginia and beyond. Member institutions are also welcome to submit materials for inclusion on their site. Books can be searched by subject or publishing institution. 

The site launches with three titles: 

• Community and Public Health Nursing
• The Foundations of American Education
• A Miserable Revenge (in partnership with James Madison University)

All are priced at approximately $15, plus shipping, with exact prices listed on the site. Once an order is placed, the book will be printed and sent directly to the purchaser. By printing-on-demand, VIVA reduces overhead print run and warehousing costs, maximizing savings for consumers. It also ensures that books will be available no matter how many orders are placed. 

The site is available in partnership with Knowledge Works Global, Ltd (KGL), who provide publishing services to VIVA and its members, and its sister company Sheridan, who oversees print-on-demand for the site's resources.

Any VIVA Member Institutions who are interested in listing titles on the e-commerce site should contact VIVA Publishing at vivapub@gmu.edu.

About VIVA

VIVA is the academic library consortium of Virginia, serving 70 of the non-profit academic libraries, including all 39 public colleges and universities, 30 independent universities, and the Library of Virginia. Through cooperative and shared collection development, resource sharing, open and affordable programs, education and training opportunities, and strategic initiatives. VIVA directly supports academic institutions across the state in providing access to high quality academic resources for students and faculty at Virginia institutions. To learn more about VIVA, visit the VIVA website.

About VIVA Publishing

VIVA Publishing is part of the VIVA Open and Affordable Initiative, which supports the development of sustainable educational resource and access models for students across Virginia. VIVA Publishing provides centralized publishing services that facilitate the development of open educational resources and course materials at no cost to Virginia students. VIVA Publishing also offers support services to library publishing efforts and programs at VIVA member institutions.

All VIVA Publishing resources on this site are open course materials supported through the VIVA Open Grants program. The program provides financial and publishing support services (such as typesetting and graphic design) without content oversight.