The Geography Open Textbook Collective was an ambitious 2014 project to create an open British Columbia geography textbook. A group of five Geography faculty members from across British Columbia, a facilitator, librarian, researcher, illustrator, programmer and instructional designer created a full textbook in only 4 days. The contributing authors were Siobhan McPhee (University of British Columbia), Cristina Temenos (Simon Fraser University), Arthur Green (Okanagan College), Britta Ricker (Simon Fraser University) and Aviv Ettya (University of the Fraser Valley).
The book is intended for first-year geography students and applies a fundamental geographical approach to understanding our globally changing world by looking at local processes which are links to larger global processes and events. It is clearly a geography textbook geared for students in Canada or studying British Columbia Geography but I’ve included it here for students as a reference tool. It would make an excellent resource for a research paper.
This free online British Columbia geography textbook is available from the B.C. Open Textbook Project in the following formats: EPUB, PDF, PDF (version for printing), MOBI, XHTML, WXR, WXR (for printing) and ODT.
Table of Contents of British Columbia in a Global Context
- 1. Urban Settlement in British Columbia
- Introduction
- Urbanization in British Columbia
- Case Study 1: The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts
- Vancouver: The Greenest City?
- Case Study 2: Dockside Green, Victoria
- Summary
- Key Terms
- Suggested Activities
- References and Resources
- 2. Socio-Economics in British Columbia
- Introduction
- Quality-of-Life Measures
- Homelessness and Poverty in the First World
- Case Study 1: Victoria and Williams Lake
- Case Study 2: Housing Affordability
- Summary
- Key Terms
- Suggested Activities
- References and Resources
- 3. Aboriginal Issues in British Columbia
- Introduction
- Territories, Natural Resources and First Treaties
- Modern Treaties and Claims
- Case Study 1: The Indian Residential School System
- Summary
- Key Terms
- Suggested Activities
- References and Resources
- 4. Resources in British Columbia
- Introduction
- What are Resources?
- Mining in BC
- Case Study 1: The Gold Rush
- Case Study 2: Carrier Nation and the Endako Mine
- Summary
- Key Terms
- Suggested Activities
- References and Resources
- 5. Food Systems in British Columbia
- Introduction
- Food Systems in the Physical Landscape
- Food Systems in British Columbia
- Confronting the Frontiers
- Case Study 1: The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR)
- Case Study 2: Managing the BC Salmon Fishery
- Summary
- Key Terms
- Suggested Activities
- References and Resources
- 6. Forestry in British Columbia
- Introduction
- History of Commercial Logging
- Pulp and Paper Mills
- Forest Tree Tenures
- Case Study 1: Mountain Pine Beetle
- Summary
- Key Terms
- Suggested Activities
- References and Resources
- 7. Health Geography in British Columbia
- Introduction
- Types of Health Geographies
- Case Study 1: The “Golden Hour” and Access to Health Care
- Case Study 2: Urban Heat Islands, Health and Spatial Technologies
- Summary
- Key Terms
- Suggested Activities
- References and Resources
- 8. Physical Geography of British Columbia
- Introduction
- Climate Change and Environment in BC
- Geology
- Hazards
- Case Study 1: 1965 Hope Slide
- Case Study 2: 1964 Port Alberni Tsunami
- Case Study 3: 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire
- Summary
- Key Terms
- Suggested Activities
- References and Resources
- Tools for Spatial Data Collection and Utilization
- Geographic Information
- Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography
- Physical Geography Research Methods
- How to Find Research Literature
- About the Authors
- Additional Credits
View this Free Online Material at the source:
British Columbia in a Global Context
