"book magic" by bayek
Open access refers to content made publicly and legally accessible and freely usable and shareable. This designation takes many forms: research publications- like books, articles, and texts- software, data sets, and even media like video, music, lectures, or art. All of this has great value to education, professors and students alike!
Open education then refers to those teaching, learning, and research resources created within the philosophy of open access. These materials, usually called open educational resources (OER), are aimed at reducing barriers to educational content and tools, and creating a wider and more robust pool of information available for all.
To learn about open access more deeply, take a look at these sources:
The videos below will quickly introduce the concept of Open Educational Resources and their importance in higher education.
The 2021 Summer H.E.A.T. programming focused on Open Education Resources. Please see the links below for the full presentations
Through the library, students and professors have access to numerous academic sources - books and periodicals in print and online through our research databases. But large numbers of these sources exist beyond the traditional publishing models and are freely available online through open source tools.
One such tool is called OASIS, which searches over 150,000 different OER titles from 52 unique sources. You can search for materials using the search box below.
The majority of open access journal publishers are reputable organizations, often administered by universities and field experts, but be wary - there is a growing number of predatory publishers in this realm. The list below recommends legitimate sources of academic articles.
For a more complete list of open access article sources, please visit this page.
Most open access books are categorized as such because they've fallen into the public domain, but many publishers also make their content accessible online.
For a more complete list of open access image sources, please visit this page.
Students and professors frequently need images to use in presentations, speeches, handouts, and other projects. While it is easy to find accessible media online, most images, audio, and video are subject to copyright rules and should not be used without permission from the content creator. There are, instead, numerous sources of copyright-free media items available! Many are published using Creative Commons licensing that allows for materials to be shared with appropriate attribution.
For a more complete list of open access book/textbook sources, please visit this page.
Open Educational Resources exist in many different formats, but primarily they fall into two main categories: media (video, images, sound recordings, slides, etc) and learning objects (handouts, lectures, assessments, etc).
The publishers listed below provide open access, academic-quality textbooks designed to provide no-cost options to students and professors.
For a more complete list of open access book/textbook sources, please visit this page.
Many educators have made materials like slides, tutorials, graphics, handouts, presentations, assessments, and many other tools available for others to use in their campus or virtual classrooms, and to help students master specific contents frequently found in your courses.
The open education community continues to grow larger due to the collective efforts of educators sharing resources and collaborating to create new works. If you'd like to share lessons, modules, or learning objects that you've developed the following sites will help you to publish your open educational resources: