How Open Educational Resources Expand Access for Everyone

What Is OER?

Open educational resources (OER) are openly licensed text, media, and digital assets. OER can also include full courses, course materials, modules, and more. OER are often used for instructional purposes, learning, and conducting research. These resources are unique because their copyright licenses allow learners to download, revise, and redistribute the materials freely.

In open pedagogy, learners are knowledge creators, and through practice, they learn how knowledge is constructed. Faculty and students cocreate course materials.

One example of OER in action: Imagine a professor has an OER textbook assigned to the class. One of the course assignments is to revise a section of the textbook with more up-to-date research. Students must then seek out the information needed to revise the text. The student updates the material, the textbook is peer-reviewed, and a new edition is created.

Resources are shared publicly, and they can be revised over time as learning evolves.

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Libraries and OER Go Hand in Hand

Libraries naturally align closely with OER values because both libraries and OER ensure free and equitable continuous learning by reducing barriers. Both libraries and OER serve diverse communities and promote intellectual and academic freedom. Libraries allow readers to explore an endless number of ideas and perspectives, while also resisting censorship.

Open licensing in OER enables adaptation and remixing, promoting academic autonomy for teachers and encouraging diverse, localized perspectives from learners. Both OER and libraries share, preserve, and improve knowledge for community benefit.

OER provide sustainable alternatives to expensive commercial textbooks, which ties into ethical information management. Libraries aid in preserving, organizing, and supporting access to open materials—making libraries the natural stewards of OER.

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CC Licenses

There are several Creative Commons licenses, but only a few of them are used by libraries and OER:

• CC BY 4.0 International. Learners can revise and distribute the material in any medium or format. Attribution must be given to the creator. This license allows for commercial use.
• CC BY-SA 4.0 International. Learners can revise and distribute the material in any medium or format. Attribution must be given to the creator. This license allows for commercial use. If the material is revised in any way, the modified material must be licensed under the same terms.
• CC0 1.0 Universal. This is a public dedication tool, enabling learners to give up their copyright and publish their work in the public domain. This license allows learners to revise and distribute the material in any medium or format with no conditions or limitations.

EveryLibrary publishes work under another Creative Commons license:

• CC BY-NC 4.0 International. learners can revise and distribute material in any medium or format. Attribution must be given to the creator, and you must note if changes were made. This license allows for noncommercial use only.

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Free Content from EveryLibrary

EveryLibrary has many resources for readers, including a Medium magazine, tips for taking action for libraries in your community, and an academic journal, The Political Librarian. This guide explains how to use EveryLibrary’s content: Here’s a Free and Easy Way to Build Support for Your Library.

Why OER and CC Licensing Matter Right Now

There is growing public interest in freely accessible and trustworthy information. Interest is likely to continue to grow as more individuals become aware of OER. One 2020 study examined the impact of OER initiatives on faculty selection of classroom materials and found that faculty are more likely to consider the use of OER in their courses if they are made aware that such resources exist. When initiatives to introduce faculty to the tenets and merits of OER are present, faculty are more likely to integrate OER into their courses.

Legislators are using OER as part of their strategy to make college education more affordable and effective. Over half of all US states have enacted OER-related policies in the last several years.

Course costs are on the rise, and students are concerned about textbook prices. Ebooks, subscriptions, and other resources are also rising for libraries. OER and open licensing remove financial barriers that could hinder a person’s ability or interest in learning a subject of interest. Students have the opportunity to become researchers when they are invited to make contributions to OER.

How to Get Involved with OER

In response to rising costs, EveryLibrary urges you to explore OER as a possible solution to the problem. Faculty can adapt OER to their courses, creating a more affordable classroom experience for students.

Administrators should increase funding to library collections, given the increasing reliance on e-resources and rising expenses. Students should ask their teachers and professors about OER because bringing their attention to them increases the probability that educators will utilize OER in the classroom. Policymakers should continue to invest in libraries, and community members (like you!) should make choices that support library budgets.

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#librarymarketers: Enjoy this story? Want to use it for your library newsletter, blog, or social media? This article is published under Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International and is free to edit and use with attribution. Please cite EveryLibrary on medium.com/everylibrary.

This work by EveryLibrary is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0