About OER

• OER State Policy Playbook
• Toward Convergence: Creating Clarity to Drive More Consistency in Understanding the Benefits and Costs of OER
• Defining the “Open” in Open Content and OER
• OER Student Toolkit
• Penn State - The Benefits of Using OER
• Hilton, J. (2016). Open educational resources and college textbook choices: a review of research on efficacy and perceptions. Education Tech Research Dev 64, 573-590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9434-9
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics study on the cost of college tuition and fees
• US Public Interest Research Group survey on the textbook market

Getting Started

• Massachusetts Department of Higher Education's OER Strategic Initiative - this initiative from the MA DHE provides opportunities for Massachusetts public higher education institutions to get funding and assistance in creating and maintaining open educational resources.
• Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens (ROTEL) - this website has resources, toolkits, and links to various OER textbooks that have been developed as part of the ROTEL project. The project is supported by six public higher education institutions in Massachusetts.
• OER: a Field Guide for Academic Librarians - this textbook covers the challenges and goals of implementing OER at an academic institution, with a focus on the work of a librarian.
• SPARC - SPARC is a non-profit organization focused on encouraging open access, open education, and open data. They provide guidance, programs, and tools to assist libraries in developing and implementing OER at their institutions.

At Your Library

• "Open Access, Open Access, How Does Your Catalog Grow? With Selection, Access, and Usage All in a Virtual Row!" by David W. Schuster and Susan J. Martin. Published in Proceedings of the Charleston Library Conference. - This article suggests ways to include Open Access monographs and textbooks within a library's collection and monitor usage.
• Open Access Content in EBSCO Discovery Service
• Configuring and Activating JSTOR Collections in Your Discovery Layer
• How to Improve Discovery of Hathi Trust materials
• Open Access Platforms, Directories, and Catalogs
  • OER Commons - a repository of open educational resources. Massachusetts public higher education institutions have their own common, Open Massachusetts.
  • Directory of Open Access Books(DOAB) - a directory of open access books.
  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) - a directory of open access journals.
  • OAIster - maintained by OCLC, a catalog of open access materials.
  • OAPEN - a repository of open access books.
  • OpenStax - a repository of OER textbooks.

Example Libraries

• Amherst College - Amherst hosts an OER repository, an institution statement, and general resources.
  • Open Access LibGuide
  • Repository
  • Open Access Resolution
• UMass Amherst - UMass offers a microgrant program and general information on OER,
  • OER Adoption Webpage
  • OER LibGuide
• UMass Boston - UMass Boston's resources include a usage guide for creative commons.
  • OER Adoption Webpage
  • OER and Creative Commons LibGuide
• Other OER LibGuides - Links to various informational LibGuides on OER made by Massachusetts libraries.
  • Bay Path University
  • Bridgewater State University
  • Fitchburg State University
  • Framingham State University
  • Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
  • Northern Essex Community College
  • UMass Lowell