Open Educational Resources (OER)

Library-Purchased and Library-Housed Materials

In addition to textbooks at the bookstore, it is important to look at the enormous existing body of work that lies within the library.  These resources are free for faculty and student use and will help drive down the cost of materials for the students.  We can utilize the library and its resources in a few ways:

1. NSUWorks Institutional Repository - https://nsuworks.nova.edu/
   • Creative Commons license and attribution/citation information included
   • No need to reinvent the wheel - OERs are designed to be revised, updated, and shared by their user
   • Any NSU faculty or research staff can create content and host it in the IR for research and classroom purposes. 
     • The content can be anything – datasets, videos, lesson plans, syllabi, audio files, image galleries, files that are specific to a certain type of software or hardware device, etc. 
     • You also don’t need to recreate the wheel here.  OERs are meant to be broken apart, fixed, and reassembled as a better version of its original self.  You can revise an existing OER and host it in our IR.
2. Databased Articles, Books/Book Chapters, and Reports
   • Our databases contain millions of articles, books and book chapters, technical reports, videos and images. 
     • Primary Source Materials
     • Statistical Resources
     • Consider compiling your own coursepack or textbook utilizing these resources.  A librarian can help you with curating these materials and navigating the web of copyright surrounding these items.  Everything can be used, but some may not be open access.  We can still host coursepacks online through OpenURL with NSU links to the materials.
3. Multimedia and Streaming Content
   • Video Databases
     • Ex: Kanopy is a video streaming database featuring more than 60,000 films. Subjects covered in our collection include the Arts, Business, Education, Global Studies & Language, Media & Communications, and the Social Sciences. Films range from documentaries, indie and foreign films, classics and blockbuster movies. Download the Kanopy app from the Apple App Store or Google Play store. Users must create an account to use as a login for the mobile app.
   • Test Practices & Online Tutorials
     • Ex: LinkedIn Learning - Lynda.com: LinkedIn Learning is a great online educational site that includes over 13,000 expert-led, online courses and video tutorials in popular fields like web design, web development, IT, education/instruction, media production, career development, and business.
4. Library-Assisted Curation
   • Cherry pick from different resources
     • Many faculty already do this.  They have a standard text but supplement with time or topic appropriate journal articles for further reading or a video to watch for homework.  Consider doing this more with fully open resources and library curated materials.
   • LibGuides/Course Guides
     • Librarians can create a supplemental course guide for your class with library resources to support your syllabus.  This is a great first step to moving to OER for your courses!