Skip to Main Content

Open Educational Resources

Promoting and supporting open educational resources to improve access and lower costs for course materials.

Creative Commons Licensing Options

A big benefit of OER is their adaptability. Not only are they free to students but they carry an open license so they can be modified to your individual needs. 

The 5 "Rs" of Open, from David Wiley at OpenContent https://opencontent.org/ 

  1. Retain - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)
  2. Reuse - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)
  3. Revise - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)
  4. Remix - the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)
  5. Redistribute - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)

The Creative Commons Website has great information on licensing and OER. 

Copyright Resources

When can you use copyrighted material and when do you need to get permission? 

Copyright issues can be very confusing for educators. There can be exceptions to the copyright law that allow us to use copyrighted material in our courses, those exceptions are spelled out in the copyright law.  But sometimes we can claim "fair use" as a defense for using the material, and because these are guidelines there are many grey areas that are hard to navigate.  

The resources in our copyright guide will help you answer four questions:

  1. Is the material I want to use copyrighted material?
  2. Is there an exception in the law that allows my use?
  3. Can I claim fair use?
  4. When and how do I need to get permission from the copyright holder?

** From A Framework for Analyzing Any Copyright Policy

Of course, the librarians can help you with all of these questions, so feel free to use our online guide linked here or view the video below, but please contact me if you have any questions or need assistance obtaining copyright permission.