Open Educational Resources (OER)

There is no single definition of OER. According to UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, open educational resources (OER) are:

learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others.

For additional definitions of OER, see:

Both OER and library etextbooks support affordable learning by minimizing student costs. For more information, see our guide to affordable learning at Franklin University.

However, while resources available from the library that are free to students can contribute to affordable learning, they are not necessarily "open" educational resources. A component of open educational resources is the ability to "copy, use, adapt and re-share" the resources. Materials available for free through the library's databases usually have limitations on how they can be used.

How Can I Tell A Library Etextbook from an OER textbook?

There are several ways you can identify whether the "free" material you want to use is a library etextbook or OER:

1. Look for a copyright / licensing statement. 
   • Library etextbooks are subject to copyright, and should include some form of copyright notice in the introductory material indicating that the material is subject to the copyright © of the copyright holder
   • OER will be made available under some form of open license - the most common open license is some form of Creative Commons license.
2. Look for the database.
   • Library etextbooks are available through one of the library's databases - the primary databases used for library etextbooks are 1) ebook central, 2) ebsco, 3) springer, 4) wiley, and 5) the O'Reilly Learning Platform. While some of these platforms also include open content, generally content through these platforms is a library etextbook.

What are the advantages / disadvantages of using OER instead of a library etextbook?

Using OER as a textbook has the following advantages when compared to a traditional library etextbook:

• OER can be backed up and a copy can be provided to students if something goes wrong with the online repository;
• If you like some (but not all) of the OER text, you can adapt/modify it to meet the needs of your course;
• Students can download / print the contents of the OER without restriction.

Using OER has the following disadvantages when compared to a library etextbook:

• tech support is not available if something goes wrong;
• multiple forks/versions of a  textbook can be confusing;
• identifying a book that meets your needs may be difficult.

The disadvantages above are the benefits of using a library etextbook instead of OER, while the advantages of using an OER text are the disadvantages of using a library etextbook.

How do I find OER that I can use in my course?

You can use the information on this guide for finding and evaluating OER to help you identify OER material you can use in your course. You can also ask the library to conduct a research project to identify potential OER on a topic.