LibGuides: Using Online Library Resources in Teaching: Open Educational Resources (OER)

About Open Educational Resources

As defined by UNESCO, Open Educational Resources are:

"teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions."

Adoption of Open Educational Resources (OERs) can provide access to high quality educational materials that are accessible and affordable for students to use. These materials are often created by academics and subject experts. OERs can be in the form of textbooks, case studies, videos, and more.

Learn more about Open Educational Resources:

Creative Commons Licenses

Creative Commons Licenses are licenses that authors can apply to their works to describe permissible uses of the material. Not all Creative Commons licenses are the same.

For more information, visit the Creative Commons website.

Open Educational Resources

Merlot
The MERLOT Project is a searchable collection of online learning materials. Materials can take many forms including simulations, case studies, collections, tutorials, exercises, and more. Merlot can be searched by discipline, material type, content level, and more. Educators and researchers can create or contribute their own learning materials to be included in Merlot.
MIT Press Open
Browse Open Access books and journals from the MIT Press.
OER Commons
OER Commons is a tool to search for open educational resources.
Open Educational Resources (EDUCAUSE)
A list of OER resources compiled by EDUCAUSE.
OpenStax
OpenStax, a part of Rice University, is a collection of Open Access, peer reviewed textbooks in a variety of disciplines including math, science, business, social sciences, and the humanities. The textbooks are free to access online and print copies can be purchased.
Open Textbook Library
The Open Textbook Library provides free, open access to textbooks geared to a higher education audience. Reviews for many of the textbooks by faculty at other institutions can be viewed.
BRASS Business Open Educational Resources
BRASS, the Business Reference & Services section of the Association of College Research Libraries, has collected and made available a guide on Business Open Educational Resources. Included are links to collections of OER materials (textbooks, courseware and more) for business subjects as well as Business faculty OER testimonials.