Where To Find OER
There are billions of openly licensed resources out there; it is easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to find relevant resources. This video provides a nice overview of some of the more common search repositories and tools for finding OER.
Searching OER Repositories
Searching an OER Repository can result in a faster and more productive search experience since the resources have been curated and organized into various categories including discipline, format, and open license. Many repositories have either peer reviews or a rating scale where users have shared their perception or experience with the resource. Start by trying these well-known and user-friendly repositories:
- MERLOT – California State University repository of textbooks, case studies, quizzes and more with tools to create or adapt resources.
- OER Commons – the go-to repository if you are looking for supplementary resources from lesson plans to full courses. Due to the amount of material in OER Commons, they provide many options for limiting and filtering your searches such as discipline, material type of OER, format, education level and more. Use their Advanced Search features to your advantage to fine-tune your results.
- OERTX – built on OER Commons, OERTX is a public digital library of open educational resources for higher education focused on the needs of institutions in the state and managed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. All OER developed through state grant funds are available via the repository and there are collections and hubs to facilitate sharing and collaboration. Includes materials developed for the OER Nursing Essentials (O.N.E.) Project. You can read more about OERTX in Unit 10.
- SkillsCommons – a comprehensive collection of workforce-related OER created by over 700 community colleges across the US. Created by the Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program. SkillsCommons contains free and open learning materials and program support materials for job-driven workforce development.
Searching for Open Textbooks
If you are looking for an open textbook to replace your current, commercial textbook, start by visiting the resources listed below.
- Open Textbook Library – supported by the Open Textbook Network at the University of Minnesota, available resources include mainly college-level open textbooks. The repository includes faculty peer reviews, licensing information, a summary of content, format availability, and direct links to resources. It can be searched by keyword or by browsing discipline areas.
- OpenStax – a non-profit out of Rice University, OpenStax offers peer-reviewed open textbooks in a variety of subject areas. Their focus is on high enrollment lower-level undergraduate textbooks. Student and instructor resources are available along with multiple digital formats for download. Students also can purchase print copies typically for less than $65 if they prefer a print version. Work with your institution’s bookstore to arrange for print copies for purchase on campus. OpenStax books also will appear in search results from the Open Textbook Library.
- Open RN: Open Resources for Nursing – U.S. Department of Education funded, peer-reviewed textbooks and virtual reality scenarios for nursing.
- PressBooks – Open access book titles across multiple disciplines. Tools to clone, revise, remix and distribute openly licensed content that you can customize.
Using Search Tools to Find OER
Google Advanced Search
https://www.google.com/advanced_search
Google is a popular and common search tool we all use daily, but you may not be aware of its advanced search features. The Google Advanced Search allows you to filter results by usage rights, but it does not offer a list of licenses to search by. Instead, Google gives its own descriptions of the licenses:
- not filtered by license (default)
- free to use or share (CC BY-NC-ND)
- free to use or share, even commercially (CC BY-ND)
- free to use, share, or modify (CC BY-NC or CC BY-NC-SA)
- free to use, share, or modify, even commercially (CC BY or CC BY-SA)
To find content that you can modify, select one of the two last options in the dropdown menu.
Mason OER Metafinder (MOM)
This utility from George Mason University Libraries searches 16 OER repositories at once. You can add or remove sources to modify your search targets.
OASIS Search
Openly Available Sources Integrated Search (OASIS) is a search tool developed at SUNY Geneseo that aims to make the discovery of open content easier. This tool will simultaneously search 44 different open content sources.
Be aware that these search tools rely on license metadata being detected on the source webpage(s), but it is wise to confirm the CC license on the content you want to reuse before doing so.
Finding More…images, videos, audio
Many academic libraries curate online guides related to OER. Your institution’s library may have curated online tools for finding OER. One example is from Austin Community College’s OER Library Guide.
Check to see if your librarians created one. It can be a nice supplement to your learning in these units. The guide has extensive lists of additional options for finding OER; look at what also is listed there:
- Images
- Creative Commons Search
- Pexels
- Pixabay
- Noun Project (great for icons)
- Openverse (free stock photos, images, and audio)
- Video (be sure videos include accurate captions or a transcript to allow for full accessibility)
- Audio (be sure audio files include a transcript to allow for full accessibility)
- More Open Textbooks
If you still haven’t found what you’re looking for, ask your campus or subject librarian for help locating relevant OER or other zero cost course materials.
