Textbooks are primarily how we think of class readings in higher education. But one of the advantages of using OER materials in your courses is that you can customize the learning experience in any way you wish! You can build your own version of a textbook by collecting resources from various sources, based on what you want to teach and how you'd like to convey the message.
So you could choose chapters from several different books. Or begin to incorporate more videos into your lessons. Or you might have your students read original research articles to be prepared for class discussions instead of a synthesis of those topics. OER opens the door to all kinds of possibilities!
These directories will help point you towards OER materials outside of the traditional textbook directories.
OER directories work great for locating textbook options for your course, but many of them go far beyond that and include many types of materials that could enhance your course. In the directories listed below, you'll be more likely to find things like open courses, presentation slides, ancillary materials like assignments or quizzes, worksheets...basically anything that educators produce for others to use!
Take a look at your options here and see what you can find!
Another way you may wish to assign class readings is to use articles that can be found online, or even through our SSC Library databases.
There are also many open access journals online, so you may alternatively wish to search these directories to find article sources.