Ever-mindful that it is not consistency, but a foolish consistency, that is the hobgoblin of little minds, we’re publishing a real assortment today…

First of all, happy Open Access Week! You can find all the details at openaccessweek.org, but suffice it to say that the folks behind the growing open access movement are striving to ensure that scholarship is available to anyone with the interest and an Internet connection. Of course, there’s a vigorous debate surrounding OA…if you’ve got some thoughts, please share them with us!

One of the kick-off events for OA Week is happening right here in lovely Washington, D.C. — the World Bank and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) will make a live webcast from the World Bank at 4:00 EDT. In the spirit of open, anyone can join in here. A few of us from Saylor.org will be there in person to take it all in and learn more about how OA can help push free online courses ever forward.

So what else is going on in the world? Well, Nate T. offers up the following piece on textbooks from The Economist: “It ain’t necessarily so: The textbooks children learn from in school reveal and shape national attitudes—and should provoke debate“; the debate is, in fact, an old one, familiar to many a schoolteacher, PTA member, and exasperated professor. More ears and voices are probably warranted, though.

And in case you missed it, TIME Magazine has come out with a special edition on “Reinventing College”. You can see the cover here, and be sure to take a look at “College is Dead. Long Live College!” To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of higher ed’s demise might well be a bit exaggerated. Thanks to Lynn, Casey, and Jeff for cluing us in. This is probably the most user-friendly guide you’ll find to all these higher ed questions…not a bad way to get a few friends on board!

Lots more news this week…we’re back from the Open Ed conference in Vancouver, we’ll be flipping the switch on some fun new courses, and you might have noticed a different logo hanging around…look here for the 4-1-1, or keep an eye on our social media.

Happy week!