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Open Educational Resources (OER)

Montgomery Library's Guide to openly accessible academic content.

Chemistry & Physics - OER & Other Free Materials

CU library staff have identified a number of freely accessible textbooks and other materials that faculty might consider adopting for their courses. Check out the following resources below:

Chemistry & Physics - E-Books at Montgomery Library

Course readings can also be taken from e-books freely available to CU students through the Montgomery Library. We have permanent access to the books on the list below, and thus they are reliable to be reused over future semesters as course readings. 

Please use library links not PDFs: Simply copy the links below into your syllabi or Moodle courses. (Downloading PDFs of library resources and providing them to students can be considered a copyright violation.)

View additional e-books in the Chemistry & Physics subject guide.

Tips for Finding Open/Free Textbooks

Use the databases and collections below to search for OER textbooks as well as e-books at the Montgomery Library that may be suitable for your courses.

How to Select and Evaluate OER: Backward Design

Faculty are encouraged to use the "backward design" method, which means first reassessing learning outcomes and objectives on their syllabi and then locating OER materials or other free library resources that align. It is common to select chapters from multiple open textbooks that align with the natural subdivisions within a course. Even if you prefer to use your regular textbook, open textbooks can be used for supplementary or remedial readings for students who need more background knowledge.

Faculty evaluating OER generally consider the following criteria:

  • Clarity/comprehensibility/readability - Is the material at the appropriate level for students and does the content flow smoothly from section to section?
  • Content/technical accuracy - Is it accurate? Peer-reviewed? Are there any other types of errors or formatting issues?

OER Textbooks vs. Multi-user E-Books at the Library

Before diving into the OER textbook databases, you might want to check the Montgomery Library electronic resources for published electronic textbooks and reference works that our students can access for free. This can be a good option since library resources save money and should be of high quality. If you would like to confirm whether an electronic textbook is permanently available in the library collection and available for multiple users, please contact the Instruction & Reference Specialist.

Below are links to the main databases at the Montgomery Library that contain electronic textbooks. To narrow down results in a database for textbooks, use keywords in your search such as "introduction to" or textbook. For example, you might try the following Boolean search in the library databases listed below:

biology AND ("introduction to" OR textbook)
 

Library Databases for Finding E-Books to Use as Course Texts: 

 

Assistance from Library Staff

Feel free to schedule an in-person or online Personal Research Appointment with the Instruction & Reference Specialist, who can help track down sources for your course. Also consider looking at recommended OER textbooks and other materials organized by subject, listed in the left navigation bar. 

 

Top Recommended Databases/Collections of OER Textbooks

 

Other Sources for Quality OER Materials: