Policies and Guidelines

William H. Hannon Library (“the Library”) provides access to Pressbooks, an e-book authoring tool that can be used to write and publish openly licensed books for Loyola Marymount University courses. The Library makes this platform available to LMU faculty and staff at no cost. In order to ensure the platform’s stability, sustainability, and success, we request that Pressbook authors understand and adhere to the guidelines outlined below. 

These policies and guidelines are subject to change.  

  1. All authors must agree to our terms and service, which include granting William H. Hannon Library the non-exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the Content designated as “public” on the Pressbooks platform solely for the purpose of displaying, distributing, and promoting your book. 
  2. The corresponding author must have an active Loyola Marymount University faculty or staff affiliation in order to create a Pressbook account and begin a project. Student authors must be added by a LMU faculty or staff. For collaborative projects with authors outside of LMU, the LMU author must be the corresponding author and manage the Pressbook accounts.   
  3. Use of Loyola Marymount University Pressbooks is subject to the Loyola Marymount University’s rules on Information Technology Services Policies, and the Pressbooks Terms of Service. All content placed on the service must comply with Loyola Marymount University policies and local, state, and federal laws and may be subject to removal if it is found in violation. Content is the sole responsibility of its author(s). 
  4. Pressbooks is intended for the creation of open educational resources (OER). OER are openly-licensed, free and publicly available educational resources that can be modified and redistributed by users. 
  5. All authors should only upload and publish content owned by them, or third-party content that they have permission or a license to reuse or that falls under Library Copyright Policy.
  6. Authors are permitted to choose any license for their work, but it is recommended to adopt a Creative Commons or other open license. Learn more about Licensing & Copyright through William H. Hannon Library’s Open and Affordable Textbook Initiative LibGuide. 
  7. The selection of featured works on the LMU Pressbooks home page is made at the Library’s discretion.  
  8. We encourage authors to maximize the accessibility of their published works. Learn more about how to make your book accessible and inclusive   
  9. The Library can provide the following publishing-related services available for books:  
    • Assignment of an DOI  
    • Creation of a MARC record 
    • Listing and indexing in the library catalog 
    • Preservation in Digital Commons @ LMU/LLS 
  10. The Library does not provide the following publishing-related services: 
    • Editorial and production work, such as proofreading, copy editing, and formatting 
    • Web-related services, such as web development and website administration 
  11. Authors are responsible for managing their own Pressbooks accounts. Authors who leave the University and wish to retain access to their accounts should make appropriate plans for transferring account ownership and files as necessary. Works may not be withdrawn when an author leaves Loyola Marymount University.  
  12. Authors grant the Library the non-exclusive right to digitally archive content perpetually and, in any format, to ensure long-term preservation and access.  
  13. William H. Hannon Library reserves the right to change, at any time and at our sole discretion, the provisions of this service. 

If you have any questions, please contact digitalcommons@lmu.edu to request a consultation.