In a recent webinar, experts from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand shared insights on four collaborative publishing projects that showcase how partnerships across disciplines, cultures and institutions can lead to impactful open educational resources. Here’s a closer look at each project and the unique collaborative publishing approaches that shaped them.
1. Legal Research Skills: An Australian Law Guide
Read the book
Represented by James Cook University
This guide is a comprehensive resource designed to support students and professionals in navigating the complexities of Australian legal research. Developed collaboratively by several member institutions of the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) and legal experts, the guide provides practical insights into current legal practices. The combined expertise of librarians and legal professionals ensures the guide is both rigorous and accessible, making it an essential tool for learners across Australia.
2. Essential Legal Research Skills in Aotearoa New Zealand
Represented by Waipapa Taumata Rau / University of Auckland and Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka / University of Otago
An adaptation of Legal Research Skills: An Australian Law Guide, this guide reworks the Australian framework to meet the unique legal and cultural needs of Aotearoa New Zealand. Librarians, law faculty, and Māori community representatives collaborated to tailor the resource specifically to New Zealand’s legal landscape, integrating Māori perspectives alongside traditional legal research methods. This adaptation process not only localizes content for New Zealand students but also brings indigenous insights into the legal curriculum, highlighting the importance of cultural relevance in legal education.
3. He Awa Whiria: Braiding the Knowledge Streams in Research, Policy, and Practice
Represented by the University of Canterbury
“He Awa Whiria,” meaning “the braided rivers,” is a metaphor for blending Western and Māori knowledge streams to create more inclusive research and policy frameworks. Through partnerships among government bodies, academic institutions, and Māori leaders, the project demonstrates how diverse perspectives can be woven together to enrich public policy. The braided approach ensures that both Western and indigenous methodologies contribute meaningfully, making policies more culturally resonant and effective.
4. Threshold Concepts in Biochemistry
Represented by La Trobe University
This project explores foundational concepts in biochemistry, essential for students to progress in the field. In developing this resource, the creators used a “third space” collaborative model, which allows participants to engage in a non-judgemental, inclusive environment where academic staff, biochemistry educators, and students can collaborate freely. By working within this “third space”, contributors brought together a variety of teaching and learning perspectives, making challenging biochemistry concepts more accessible to a global audience. The project exemplifies how the “third space” model can transform complex subject matter by embracing a diversity of viewpoints.
These projects highlight how collaboration can make educational resources more inclusive, practical, and culturally relevant. Each project shows how bringing together diverse expertise and perspectives can create open educational tools that are richer and more impactful than any single voice could achieve alone.
Tips for Better Collaborative Publishing
Leverage existing open resources as a foundation for collaboration
The team behind Legal Research Skills: An Australian Law Guide repurposed existing web-based modules under a Creative Commons license. Using these as a base allowed multiple institutions to quickly scale up and adapt the project. This approach helps reduce development time and cost while fostering broader collaboration.
Pool expertise to create a nationally consistent resource
The team behind Essential Legal Research Skills in Aotearoa New Zealand had contributors from various universities in New Zealand assigned writing tasks based on their unique strengths and interests. This targeted collaboration ensured the resource met national educational standards while showcasing regional teaching styles, a model that could be effective in other collaborative projects as well.
Prioritize collaborative efforts that integrate both Indigenous and Western perspectives
The team behind He Awa Whiria: Braiding the knowledge streams in research, policy, and practice notes how this approach not only enriches content with cultural context but also ensures it is deeply relevant to the local audience. Setting this as a core criterion for projects can guide funding decisions and direct energy towards initiatives that meaningfully serve community needs.
Establish a “third space” partnership for deeper, innovative collaboration
The team behind Threshold Concepts in Biochemistry emphasizes the benefit of a “third space” where professionals and academics work together, leading to a “greater than the sum of its parts” outcome. This continuous, bidirectional learning process can foster mutual respect and innovation. They note how having a “critical friend”, a trusted person who can provide honest, critical feedback, can help improve the quality of collaborative projects.
