The challenges of textbook access at Chinese transnational universities

Abstract

Unlike students in traditional Chinese universities using textbooks published in China, students in transnational universities face unresolved issues in the acquisition and distribution of imported English language textbooks. The challenges, which have persisted for over a decade, include delays in delivery caused by international shipment, fluctuation of currency exchange rates, the uncertainty of customs clearance, the financial burden of unclaimed inventory, and the increasing price of textbooks. The practice and success of the open educational resources (OER) movement, which seeks to make learning materials freely available online for everyone to use, provided inspiring ideas to librarians struggling with textbook acquisitions at transnational universities. This article explains the textbook difficulties that are commonly faced by the community of transnational universities and how librarians integrated OER to improve student access to course books at Wenzhou-Kean University in Wenzhou, a city near the east coast of China. The study aims to present best practices for peer institutions on the use of OER textbooks from the perspective of transnational university academic libraries.