3.8 Campus Library Resources

Library Resources Are Not Necessarily OER

Most of the resources available at your campus library are not OER. That is, they are not free (the library pays for them via subscription), they are not openly-licensed, and they do not allow users to engage in the 5R activities (they cannot be retained, reused, revised, remixed, or redistributed). They are almost always under copyright restrictions, subject to a contract with a database provider, and password-protected. So, the library's online subscription resources are restricted specifically to the students, faculty and staff at your college. Further, students lose access to their logon and password when they separate from the college. On a related note, if database contents or subscriptions change, the library might lose access to the materials.

Please watch the following video (5:26) from OpenOregon, which explains why library materials are not the same thing as open educational resources, but how they can be an important component in solving the problem of high textbook prices:

Library Resources Have Value

Although library online resources are not "open," your campus library should still be considered a valuable source for digital content that you can take advantage of and make available at no cost to your students. Library collections are typically vast, high-quality, and accessible. You will find general and discipline-specific databases that offer a wide range of material types, including journals, magazines, newspapers, eBooks, streaming video, and high-resolution images. They also come with helpful librarians!

In fact, there are situations where using library content might be the best approach. This is especially true when it’s impossible to use an open equivalent for your course materials. For example, if you’re studying modern poetry, then nearly all of your primary sources will be under copyright. Another case would be when a course learning objective is to find and use research from the library. It’s also true that while there is much more great open content available today than ever before, there are still areas where existing OERs don’t meet the learning objectives for a course. Your campus library can be used to fill those gaps.

Attributions:

Text: Adapted from "Library resources as course materials" Links to an external site. by OpenOregon Links to an external site., licensed under CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site., and  "Faculty guide to Open Educational Resources (OER): Library resources" Links to an external site. by Tacoma Community College Library Links to an external site., licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 Links to an external site.

Video: "Library resources as course materials" Links to an external site. by Amy Hofer Links to an external site. for OpenOregon Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.