Catalog

Introduction to Costume Technology is a foundational Open Educational Resource for beginning college students and others who are new to theatrical costume construction. It introduces the tools, terminology, practices, and expectations of the university costume shop through clear explanations, visual references, demonstrations, troubleshooting guidance, and practical skill-building activities.

The book progresses from costume-shop organization, safety, tools, and fabric fundamentals into hand sewing, fasteners, sewing-machine operation, seams and seam finishes, serging, interfacing, buttonholes, gathering, easing, and other foundational construction techniques. Throughout the text, students are asked to consider not only how a technique is performed, but also how fabric, garment function, durability, repeated wear, quick changes, laundering, and future alteration affect construction choices in theatrical production.

Designed to support an apprenticeship-style learning environment, the text works alongside classroom demonstrations, guided practice, shop coaching, and skills-based assignments. Chapters include preparation guidance, learning outcomes, shop tips, common applications, media demonstrations, quick-reference resources, and criteria for evaluating completed work. The book can serve as a course framework, a review resource for student costume technicians, or a reference for independent skill development.

Although rooted in the practices of one university costume program, this OER is intended to be adaptable. Instructors may revise, reorganize, or supplement the material to reflect their own equipment, shop procedures, production structures, pedagogical goals, and student needs. Additional chapters addressing patterns in the costume shop and costumes in performance are planned for completion in a future revision.

This comprehensive open-access neuroscience textbook provides integrated coverage spanning molecular mechanisms to complex cognitive functions and clinical applications. Designed for undergraduate and graduate students, healthcare professionals, and lifelong learners, the text progresses systematically from foundational principles through advanced topics in contemporary neuroscience.

The book begins with the history of neuroscience and neuroanatomical foundations, including brain assembly, key anatomical locations, and protective coverings. It then explores cellular and molecular neuroscience in depth, covering neuronal structure, energy metabolism, molecular biology, electrical properties, synaptic communication, and information processing. Dedicated chapters examine synaptic plasticity and learning mechanisms at the cellular level.

Comprehensive coverage of sensory systems includes somatosensory processing (touch, pain, temperature), vision, vestibular and proprioceptive senses, and chemical senses (taste and smell). Motor systems chapters address both autonomic and somatic control, including the enteric nervous system. Advanced topics explore sex differences in brain organization, language processing, brain electrical rhythms, reward circuits and addiction, and mathematical approaches to neuroscience.

Clinical applications are integrated throughout, with dedicated sections on neurological diseases and disorders, case studies in clinical neuroscience, herniation syndromes, and electroneurodiagnostic techniques. Specialized content includes detailed neuroanatomical resources from University of British Columbia and Utah Electroneurodiagnostics Institute.

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0, this resource is freely available for adoption, adaptation, and distribution. The author brings 45 years of teaching experience across educational levels from K-12 through medical school, with a PhD in Neuroscience from Baylor College of Medicine.

Making Effective Maps: Cartographic Design for GIS, serves as a primer on the fundamentals of cartographic visualization within the context of a geographic information system (GIS). Twelve chapters cover topics including types of GIS data, layout design, thematic symbol use, generalization, visual variables, and classification systems. A variety of graphic and map examples are included to demonstrate the concepts.