The Open Education Consortium (OEC) announces Prof Johan Fagan, chairman of the department of Division of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Cape Town, as winner of the Open Textbook award. The OEC is a global educational organisation comprising of educational institutions, individuals and organisations that aim to support openness in education worldwide. The organisation encourages education based on the use of open educational materials and collaborative and innovative educational development. Amongst the many awards the organisation presents, the OEC has introduced a new category, Open Educational Resources (OER) Awards, which honours the most innovative OER being developed worldwide. 

Prof Johan Fagan was presented with the Open Textbook award, under the OER category, for Open Access Atlas of Otolaryngology, Head and neck Operative Surgery. The textbook, described as a “free illustrated operative surgery text”, is intended for surgeons practising in developing countries who cannot afford expensive textbooks. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial 3.0 Unported License. There are no copyright restrictions, and colleagues are welcome to use, copy and quote as they wish.

According to Professor Fagan, the textbook is “still in evolution and chapters will be added” as it draws completion.