Finding Open Content

Abbey Elder and Rayne Vieger

There are many different places used to host OER, from institutional repositories to grant-funded websites. Consequently, not all OER are easy to find. In this chapter, we will review some methods you can use to locate OER for your course.

Attribution: “How to Find and Evaluate OER” by Abbey Elder is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 International license.

The Search Process

There are four easy steps to take when looking for open content:

  1. Identify keywords related to your course and its learning objectives (look to the syllabus for examples).
  2. Search OER repositories and aggregators for any relevant resources.
  3. Review the resources you’ve located for fit, currency, accessibility, and any other rubric you deem necessary when judging teaching materials.
  4. Reflect on the materials you have located.

Tips for Searching

Just like paid resources, repositories have different focuses and strengths. Below we provide some places to start your search. If you’re not finding what you need, contact the OER Librarian, OER Specialist, or your discipline’s Subject Specialist.

Recommended Starting Points

These repositories include some of the most widely used OER, if you know you are looking specifically for a textbook, this is a good place to start.

Open Textbook Library

Pressbook Directory

Broaden your search

To explore a wider range of OER, including non textbooks, check out these metafinders that search many repositories:

Filter by Usage Rights in Google

Google is a familiar resource for many of us, and it is also useful for finding openly licensed content. The Advanced Search feature in Google allows you to filter results by Usage rights. Filtering by usage rights will limit your results to works with certain licenses listed on the webpage, usually Creative Commons licenses. There are a few options to choose from in the Usage Rights list, but we recommend starting with “free to use or share” to retrieve the broadest set of results.[1]

Screenshot of Google Advanced Search interface with "usage rights" highlighted.
Google Advanced Search interface screenshot

Remember when using this method that Google trusts what users tell it about an item’s copyright status. Although a resource may be labeled CC BY or even CC 0, you should trust your instincts if you aren’t sure whether the item you are reviewing is actually under copyright. Contact a librarian or a university lawyer if you have questions.

This chapter has provided a short overview of some tools and techniques you can use to find OER. In the next chapter, we’ll provide a more comprehensive list of search tools grouped by topic and type.

Other Types of Open Content (not explicitly OER)

Not all open content is made to be used in the classroom, but that doesn’t mean you can’t integrate them into your course. Open access book chapters and openly-licensed media can be great additions to your course.

Open Access Publishers and Repositories

Openly Licensed Media

  1. Adding "OER" to your search terms can help you locate materials created for sharing if your Google search is retrieving too many results. ↵

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Finding Open Content Copyright © 2023 by Abbey Elder and Rayne Vieger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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