What are Open Educational Resources?
Open Educational Resources are openly licensed materials that are freely accessible for educational distribution. Examples of OER include textbooks, syllabi, lectures, assignments, games, etc. These are web resources that users may share if attribution is given to the original author. Remixing and adapting of the material may also be possible depending on the type of Creative Commons license applied to the work. (A Creative Commons license releases some of the copyright restrictions that would ordinarily apply.) At the item level, find this information under "license" or "terms of use." As an author, you can license your own original work with a Creative Commons license, or you can license a work you have derived from other appropriately licensed works. The most common Creative Commons (CC) license is the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY). This license lets others remix and reuse the work if the user gives attribution to the original creator and provides a link to the original work.
For more information about how Creative Commons licenses are used, visit creative commons.org
OER vs. Open Access vs. Library Resources
Open Educational Resources: Teaching and learning materials that can be altered and reused by anyone under the conditions of the Creative Commons license of the work.
Open Access Resources: E-books and articles that the publishers make freely accessible to anyone.
Library Resources: Resources that are affordable and accessible to current students and faculty because the institution has paid for access.
FEATURES | OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES | OPEN ACCESS RESOURCES | LIBRARY RESOURCES |
---|---|---|---|
The work can be saved | yes | yes | yes |
The work can be altered or scaled | yes | no | no |
New content can be added to the work | yes | no | no |
A new version of the work can be distributed | yes | no | no |
The work is free to user | yes | yes | yes |
User has perpetual access to the work | yes | maybe | no |
Using Library Resources
Library resources, which are free to students and faculty, are affordable options for textbook replacement. Here are some of the links you might use when assembling course materials:
Using Library Links in Moodle
Instructions for creating links to online library resources:
Users are prompted to enter their Moodle credentials for access to library resources.
Please contact the library staff for assistance with creating links for your courses.