This article shares tips and resources for conducting an efficient and effective search for OER.
Overview
Searching for OER to integrate into your course is a process consisting of four main steps:
Identification of keywords and phrases related to your course. A good source in helping you generate a list of search terms is your course learning outcomes and/or module learner objectives.
Search OER repositories and aggregators for any relevant resources.
Review the resources you’ve located for the established, evaluative criteria.
Reflect on the materials you have located and plan any adaptations or modifications you may make to improve it for integration into your course.
Open Textbook Collections
There are a number of sites dedicated to archiving and collecting open textbook collections. Here are a few sites that can help you find an open textbook to meet your needs.
B.C. Open Textbook Collection is home to a growing selection of open textbooks for a variety of subjects and specialties many of which have been reviewed by faculty, meet accessibility requirements, and/or include supplemental materials (quizzes, test banks, slides, videos, etc.).
Open Textbook Library, from the Center for Open Education at the University of Minnesota and the Open Textbook Network, is a curated referatory containing hundreds of open textbooks.
OpenStax publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed textbooks written by subject experts. OpenStax also hosts CNX, a content management system that has tools for educators to build and customize content within its repository.
Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) is a joint effort between individual community colleges, regional and statewide consortia, the Open Education Consortium, the American Association of Community Colleges, the League for Innovation in the Community College, and many other educational partners to develop and use open educational resources, open textbooks, and open courseware to expand access to higher education and improve teaching and learning.
In addition, there are a few more more general-purpose OER repositories that you might find useful when searching for open textbooks. These repositories may contain open textbooks in addition to many other types of open educational resources.
MERLOT is one of the first and largest OER repositories. MERLOT is a program of the California State University System.
OER Commons was created by ISKME in 2007. The site provides access to a growing collection of 50,000 OER.
NIAL (Network of Idaho Academic Librarians) Collections Repository is a collection of OER resources related to specific departments and courses, organized according to the Idaho GEM Course Program. This newly established repository is a growing collection of resources.
Search Tip: Start Broad
Searching for OER can be difficult when you’re starting from a narrow perspective. For the most results, start with a broad search focused on your discipline. Once you’ve brought together a large collection of resources, then you can begin to limit your results.
OER Search Scenario
Barbara teaches a course on abnormal psychology. She wants to find videos, readings, and case studies related to this topic for her course. Here is an example of a search strategy she can follow by starting broad:
Search the Open Textbook Library for “Psychology.” Peruse the Tables of Contents of listed textbooks to find chapters or sections focusing on topics covered in the course.
Search OASIS for “abnormal psychology.” Since OASIS searches content on multiple repositories, limiting your search a little more can be useful. These can then be sorted by format, type, or date.
Search YouTube for videos on specific topics related to Abnormal Psych. Since YouTube contains so many different types of content, being specific is more important on this platform.
As a last-ditch effort, do an Advanced Search in Google for “Abnormal Psychology”
OER Search Tools
Before you engage in your search for OER, it is beneficial to have an organizational system in place to not only record your OER collection, but to make note of key elements of the resources you gather as well. Staying organized during this process is key to limiting your frustrations later down the road when you are ready to modify and/or integrate OER into your course and instruction.
Gathering your OER and keeping track of certain aspects of each resource will help to ensure a smooth and efficient integration process. There are many different tools available that can help you stay organized in your search. It is important you find the tool that makes the most sense for you. At a minimum, suggested aspects of OER that you will want to make sure your search tool helps you organize include:
Information related to the licensing and attribution of the OER
Alignment to your course/modules
Notes to record thoughts concerning accessibility, quality, and/or other considerations
Featured Tool: OER Inventory
The OER inventory is a comprehensive tool to assist you in gathering OER and organizing key pieces of information. OER adoption and integration can be a complex process, especially when it involves the adaptation or modification of existing content. This tool will help to ensure a smooth and efficient adoption and integration process through both the organizational structure it offers, as well as the integration of resources to support the different considerations involved in the adoption process. The OER Inventory includes two main worksheets that can be used to document your OER search. Key organizational strengths this tool provides are outlined below:
Course Worksheet
The Course Worksheet page provides space to record the course outcomes and module learning objectives, both of which can be used to generate a bank of search terms that will help you to filter your search to yield more relevant results.
OER Inventory
The OER Inventory page is really where the power of this tool resides. This sheet categorizes OER elements that will help to clarify alignment to your course, adaptation ideas, and attribution needs. All columns can be filtered to limit the view of OER collected to specific categories or criteria if needed. The inventory categories prompt searchers to include:
The resource title (linked into the sheet)
A brief explanation of the resource
The search terms used to locate the resource
The aligned learner outcomes/objectives
The resource type (textbook, video, syllabus, etc.)
The author(s) of the resource
The source of the resource (if applicable and linked into the sheet)
The CC license associated with the OER (dropdown selection)
A link to the CC license deed
Resource included: The CC License Deeds Quicklinks resource provides the deeds to all CC licenses. The Creative Commons About the License page is included in this resource as well. This resource is linked to the Column I header.
Accessibility considerations or needs identified for the OER (can assist in adaptation plans)
Evaluations of the OER quality
Resource included: The OER Review Criteria document outlines the open textbook review criteria included in the Open Textbook Review Rubric. This resource is linked to the column K header.
Notes that describe other thoughts, and concerns related to the OER not already documented
License Compatibility Chart
The OER Inventory includes a License Compatibility Chart that not only identifies licenses of works that may or may not be compatible to be remixed together, but suggested licenses for remixed content that combines compatible licenses are also provided. License compatibility and adaptor’s licenses are two important considerations to make when adapting and integrating OER, and providing this resource in the same location as the collection of OER gathered during your search can help make those considerations earlier on in the process.
Licensing and Attribution:
Content for this section is a remix of the following works:
“Finding Open Content” in the “OER Starter Kit” by Abbey K. Elder, CC BY.
“Finding Open Textbooks” in the “Adoption Guide - 2nd Edition” by BCcampus, CC BY
“OER Search Tools” Canvas course page in the “Open Ed Development Series Part IV” Canvas course by Sarah Saia, CC BY-NC-SA
