Faculty/staff guide to Open Educational Resources (OER): Find OER
This guide is designed to help TCC faculty and staff find, create, evaluate, and incorporate open educational resources for instructional and training purposes.
On this Find OER page, explore curated starting points to find OER, including: TCC Library's OER subject guides; OER meta-search engines, repositories, and reviews; Discipline-specific OER; Open textbooks and journals; and Openly licensed multimedia (images, video, and audio).
OER meta-search engines -- save time by searching multiple OER repositories!
Openly Available Sources Integrated Search (OASIS) is a search tool that aims to make the discovery of open content easier. OASIS, developed by SUNY, currently searches open content from 115+ different OER repositories and includes textbooks, courses, audiobooks, videos, books, and more.
The Mason OER Metafinder searches 20+ major OER repositories and public domain sites in real-time, instantly returning the top several hundred or so most relevant hits from each site. It is maintained by George Mason University.
OER repositories, reviews, courses, textbooks, and journals
This an ever-expanding and routinely updated list of OER subject guides and starting points for TCC faculty and curriculum, primarily curated and compiled by faculty OER Librarian Jennifer Snoek-Brown, with input from liaison librarian(s) and discipline faculty.
TCC Library's OER subject guides:
- Accounting - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Anthropology - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Art - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Astronomy - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Biology - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Business and Logistics - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Careers - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Chemistry - TCC OER Subject Guide
- College Success - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Communication Studies - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Community and Public Health - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Computer Science - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Computer Skills - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Creative Writing - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Pedagogy - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Early Childhood Education - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Economics - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Engineering - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Environmental Science and Sustainability - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Film Studies - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Geography - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Geology - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Health Information Technology and Management - TCC OER Subject Guide
- History - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Human Services - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Humanities - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Information Literacy and Research Skills - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Information Systems - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Literature - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Mathematics - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Music - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Nursing - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Nutrition - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Oceanography - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Paralegal - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Philosophy and Religion - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Physical Education - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Physics - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Political Science - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Psychology - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Radiologic Science - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Sociology - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Transitional and Developmental Studies (ABE, ELA, EAP) - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Tutoring and Academic Skills - TCC OER Subject Guide
- World Languages - TCC OER Subject Guide
- Writing - TCC OER Subject Guide
How can TCC faculty help improve the TCC Library's OER subject guides?
- Contribution form for TCC Library's OER subject guidesThis form is for TCC faculty and staff. Use this form to add suggestions, improvements, and personal recommendations or tips for specific resources. Thank you for contributing to and improving this OER subject guide!
This tab includes sites and repositories that include peer reviews and/or accessibility reviews of OER texts and course materials.
- Open Textbook LibrarySome textbooks available through this site have reviews, and some do not. Reviews are extremely thorough, and reviewers list their name, title, and institution.
- BCcampus - B.C. Open CollectionRepository of OER materials, including textbooks and course packs, via BCcampus (Canada). Search results indicate which results have been reviewed by peers and for accessibility.
- OER CommonsA major OER repository with options to rate and review resources. Click on the Advanced Search option to select accessibility filters, along with additional search criteria.
- MERLOTA curated collection of free and open online teaching, learning, and faculty development services contributed and used by an international education community. MERLOT does not house content, but is a collection of links to other content. MERLOT has several advanced search filters, including filters to limit to openly licensed materials as well as resources with accessibility info.
This tab highlights large repositories of OER and/or freely available resources in multiple subject areas or disciplines.
- OER CommonsOER Commons is a dynamic digital library and network. Explore open education resources and join our network of educators dedicated to curriculum improvement. With a single point of access from which they can search, browse, and evaluate resources, including textbooks, lessons, videos, and more, in OER Commons’ growing collection.
- MERLOTMERLOT is a curated collection of free and open online teaching, learning, and faculty development services contributed and used by an international education community. MERLOT does not house content, but is a collection of links to other content. One of the biggest OER repositories, but a bit unwieldy and difficult to search. Use limiting options on the left side of results page.
- Open Textbook LibraryHundreds of complete, open college-level textbooks. Many include peer-reviews.
- Pressbooks DirectorySearchable directory of OER textbooks developed by institutions and educators using the Pressbooks platform.
- LibreTexts CommonsOER repository supported by the U.S. Dept. of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project. Includes web-based collections -- texts, exercises, and more -- across the curriculum, including Business, Education, Humanities, Social Sciences, STEM, Workforce, and more. Use the Advanced Search link to filter down by Library (collection), Subject, License, etc.
- SkillsCommonsThe U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program has created a free and open online library called SkillsCommons containing free and open learning materials and program support materials for job-driven workforce development. The Open Educational Resources (OER) are produced by community colleges across the nation and can be found, reused, revised, retained, redistributed and remixed by individuals, institutions, and industry.
- Teaching CommonsOpen educational resources from colleges and universities. Part of the Digital Commons Network. Includes search box for keywords searching; also browsable by Institution, Type, and Subject Area.
This tab highlights collections of OER textbooks and courses.
An open textbook is an openly-licensed textbook offered online by its author(s). The open license sets open textbooks apart from traditional textbooks by allowing users to read online, download, or print the book at no additional cost.
For a textbook or course materials to be considered open, they must be licensed in a way that grants a baseline set of rights to users that are less restrictive than its standard copyright. A license or list of permissions must be clearly stated by the author. (Source: Varied Characterizations of Open Textbooks by Open Access Textbooks)
OER course and textbook sites:
- Canvas CommonsThis link should prompt you to log into your Canvas faculty account at TCC. Use the search box as well as the filters to narrow down results by document type (courses, modules, etc.), grade/levels, and more. TIP: Check the license/copyright status of each potential result in Canvas Commons, on the upper right corner of each shared item's record. The default status is copyrighted, which means you won't be able to reuse it. If the resource is shared with a CC license, then you can reuse it and import/download into another Canvas course shell.
- OpenStaxView and share free educational material in small modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports or other academic assignments.
- Open Textbook LibraryHundreds of complete, open college-level textbooks. Many include peer-reviews.
- BC Campus Open EdCurated collection of open textbooks and courses, many reviewed by British Columbia faculty.
- LibreTexts CommonsOER repository supported by the U.S. Dept. of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project. Includes web-based collections -- texts, exercises, and more -- across the curriculum, including Business, Education, Humanities, Social Sciences, STEM, Workforce, and more. Use the Advanced Search link to filter down by Library (collection), Subject, License, etc.
- Pressbooks DirectorySearchable directory of OER textbooks developed by institutions and educators using the Pressbooks platform.
- OpenALGAffordable Learning Georgia's new site for open and interactive educational resources. This site turns the OER texts funded by ALG into interactive e-textbooks. E-textbooks include downloadable source files.
- Open Oregon - Pressbooks CatalogHigh-quality OER textbooks funded by Open Oregon, which "promotes textbook affordability for community college and university students, and facilitates widespread adoption of open, low-cost, high-quality materials."
- OER Textbooks - College of the CanyonsZero-cost textbooks developed by College of the Canyons, organized by discipline.
- Milne Open Textbooks - Open SUNYA catalog of open textbooks authored and peer-reviewed by SUNY faculty and staff, browsable by author and subject.
- Rebus Community - Catalog of OER TextbooksOER textbooks from Rebus Community projects.
- PDX Open: Open Access TextbooksOpen access textbooks developed by Portland State University faculty.
- OER Texas RepositoryExplore collections of open educational resources created and shared by Texas higher education.
- Saylor CoursesList of openly licensed courses created by Saylor Academy
- Open Course Library - Washington SBCTCA collection of course materials for high-enrolled courses in Washington state's community and technical colleges. All content is stored in Google docs. Note that some courses have openly licensed ancillary materials but require low-cost textbooks.
Adult Education:
- CK-12 Adult Education OER TextbooksAdult Education section for CK-12, began 2021. "The CK-12 Foundation and the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN) have partnered together to create this space on the CK-12 platform to support adult educators and learners." Includes several Math options for ABE textbooks; High School Diploma textbooks for U.S. History, U.S. Government, Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra 1; and High School Equivalency textbooks for Foundational Math, Algebra Basics, Geometry, Statistics, and Science. A free log-in is required to browse these resources. Online + PDF formats; can be integrated into Canvas via a CK-12 app. CK-12 curriculum materials license is equivalent to CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license. Eligible for Print on Demand.
- EdTech BooksCollection of free, open access, and openly licensed books in education, educational technology, and instructional design. Also includes textbooks for writing and ESL, and more. Online and PDF download options. Each resource has licensing/terms of use info.
Humanities/Writing/Research:
- Project CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments)An open access resource for faculty and librarians. It is intended to be a collaborative space for adapting and experimenting with research assignments and sharing the success or lessons learned so that others may benefit. The database contains multiple, reliable and reproducible research assignments.
Languages:
- Coerll - Center for Open Educational Resources & Language LearningThe Center for Open Educational Resources & Language Learning (COERLL) is one of 16 National Foreign Language Resource Centers (LRC's) funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The overall mission of these federally-funded centers is to improve the teaching and learning of foreign languages by producing resources (materials and best practices) that can be profitably employed in a variety of settings.
- Español abierto (OER repository for Spanish)Online repository for Spanish language instructional OER. All resources posted on this site carry CC licenses.
Prof/Tech:
- SkillsCommonsThe U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program has created a free and open online library called SkillsCommons containing free and open learning materials and program support materials for job-driven workforce development. The Open Educational Resources (OER) are produced by community colleges across the nation and can be found, reused, revised, retained, redistributed and remixed by individuals, institutions, and industry.
STEM:
- AMSER (Applied Math & Science Education Repository)A portal of educational resources and services built specifically for use by those in Community and Technical Colleges but free for anyone to use
- IntechOpen BooksSite of open access books "built by scientists, for scientists." Books are peer-reviewed and edited. Browse by subject or search for specific keywords.
- EdTech BooksCollection of free, open access, and openly licensed books in education, educational technology, and instructional design. Also includes textbooks for writing and ESL, and more. Online and PDF download options. Each resource has licensing/terms of use info.
- ROAM @ Penn State: Repository of Open and Affordable MaterialsOnline OER courses developed at Penn State, with a particular emphasis on OER in the energy, environmental, sustainability, and geography course areas.
- MERLOT Virtual LabsGrowing collection of free virtual labs, experiments, and simulations used in teaching the science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines in higher education.
This tab highlights sites of materials in the public domain.
Public domain means there is no copyright attached to these materials. This term can refer to both historical resources whose copyright has expired as well as to modern works whose creators have released their materials into the public domain and waived copyright.
Books:
- Project GutenbergFind the full text of classics and public domain works from the first massive ebook-creating organization in existence. Nothing fancy here, just files with the full text.
- Standard Ebooks"The Standard Ebooks project is a volunteer driven, not-for-profit effort to produce a collection of high quality, carefully formatted, accessible, open source, and free public domain ebooks that meet or exceed the quality of commercially produced ebooks." EPUB and ebook files compatible for multiple ebook devices.
- 800+ free ebooks - Open CultureDownload 800 free and openly licensed/freely available eBooks to your Kindle, iPad/iPhone, computer, smart phone or ereader. Collection includes great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
- Online Books Page - Univ. of Pennsylvania LibrariesA website that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. Many are in the public domain. Searchable listings, or browse by author, titles, or subject.
Movies:
- Library of Congress National Screening RoomThis online collection spans more than 100 years of cinema history, from 1890-1999. Most, but not all, of the featured films are in the public domain, and available to download as well as watch.
- 1000+ Free Movies Online - Open CultureLinks to over 1000 free movies online, many of which are in the public domain. Includes classic, indies, noir, westerns, etc. Organized by genre and title.
Please note that open access materials are NOT necessarily openly licensed. In general, you can link to open access materials, but you must check each site's terms of use for any further copyright or usage restrictions (e.g. restrictions on downloading or making copies of materials).
Open access (OA) refers to online research outputs that are free of all restrictions on access (e.g. access tolls or subscriptions). Open access can be applied to all forms of published research output, including peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed.
- Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)The primary aim of DOAB is to increase discoverability of Open Access books.
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)Quality-controlled scientific and scholarly open-access journals, covering a wide range of subjects and many languages. The aim of the DOAJ is to increase the visibility and ease of use of open access scientific and scholarly journals.
- OMICS GroupInternational through its Open Access Initiative is committed to make genuine and reliable contributions to the scientific community. OMICS Group hosts over 300 leading-edge peer reviewed Open Access Journals and organizes over 100 International Conferences annually all over the world.
- SpringerOpenSpringerOpen journal portfolio includes peer-reviewed, fully open access journals across all areas of science. It ranges from very specialized titles to SpringerPlus, an interdisciplinary open access journal that covers all disciplines.
- Science Direct Open Access JournalsAlmost 600 open access titles are available in this leading scientific database. The TCC Library also has a subscription to this database, which provides access to more scientific journal titles that are not openly accessible.
- Elsevier Open Access JournalsAll articles in open access journals which are published by Elsevier have undergone peer review and upon acceptance are immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download. Elsevier Open Access Journals also available in ScienceDirect.
OER multimedia
- Finding and using OER images in Canvas (Spring/Summer 2023)Are you wanting to freshen up the images in your Canvas course during the upcoming break or during summer quarter? Are you wanting to feature more inclusive images within your Canvas course? Then this video is for you! Spring/Summer 2023, 9:45 mins. Canvas Studio video with accessible captions.
NOTE: Each site linked below may contain content which may vary in open licenses or usage permissions.
Photo repositories:
- AllGo Plus-Size Stock PhotosStock photos featuring plus-size people. No modification or commercial use allowed. See front page for sample attribution statement.
- American Education: Images of Teachers and Students in ActionPhoto repository of real, diverse preK–12 students and teachers in different education and tech categories. Licensed CC-BY-NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial).
- Disability Inclusive Stock PhotographyStock photographs featuring people with disabilities in tech or business settings. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives (CC BY ND) License.
- Disabled And Here CollectionPhoto collection featuring disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) across the PNW. LGBTQ+, Lifestyle, Social, and Work categories. Licensed CC-BY (Creative Commons - Attribution).
- Gender Spectrum Collection: Stock Photos Beyond the BinaryStock photo library featuring trans and non-binary models. Photos licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives) license.
- If/Then Collection"A digital asset library of women STEM innovators, for educational and other noncommercial use." Scroll down page for categories of images and videos, including Women in Tech, #SheCanSTEM, Health & Medicine, and more.
- Images of EmpowermentPhoto library of women's activities, particularly work and health-related, from around the world. Explore by location or subject. Licensed CC-BY-NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial).
- NappyPhoto library of Black and Brown people. Explore collections and categories. Licensed CC0 (Public Domain).
- #WOCinTech Chat photosExtensive stock photo collection of WOC (women of color) in tech. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
Illustration repositories:
- Black IllustrationsIllustrations of Black people, organized in themed packs, e.g. Activism, Business, Education, STEM, and more. Browse image packs available for free. Site's licensing allows you to reuse, revise, and/or remix images.
- Open PeepsLibrary of hand-drawn, mix-and-match illustrations of people of different genders, ethnicities, and abilities. Licensed CC0 (Public Domain).
- Redefining Women Icon CollectionCollection of icon illustrations of women in different active scenarios and careers. CC0 (Creative Commons Zero - Public domain) license.
- Finding and using OER images in Canvas (Spring/Summer 2023)Are you wanting to freshen up the images in your Canvas course during the upcoming break or during summer quarter? Are you wanting to feature more inclusive images within your Canvas course? Then this video is for you! Spring/Summer 2023, 9:45 mins. Canvas Studio video with accessible captions.
NOTE: Each site linked below may contain content which may vary in open licenses or usage permissions.
- OpenverseSearch for over 700 million free images, photos, and audio in the public domain and under Creative Commons licenses. Site used to be known as Creative Commons Search.
- Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons is a media file repository that is completely dedicated to providing educational media that are released either in the public domain or under Creative Commons license. Search tip: To check the license information on any image, scroll down the page to the Licensing section.
- FlickrFlickr hosts millions of Creative Commons-licensed images. Notably, Flickr provides a separate Creative Commons licensed videos collection. Search tip: After searching with a keyword, click the "Any license" filter to narrow down to images with different kinds of open licenses.
- UnsplashUnsplash photos are licensed its own Unsplash license, equivalent to the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) public domain license. Searchable by keyword or by collections.
- PixabayAll images, videos, music, sound effects, and gifs on Pixabay are released under a Pixabay license, equivalent to a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) public domain license. Searchable by keyword or by type (video, illustration, photo, etc.).
- PexelsFree stock photos and videos in a variety of categories and formats. Modification allowed, and attribution not required; site license equivalent to CC0 Public Domain license.
- Stock SnapPhotos and images on this site have a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) public domain license. Searchable by keyword or by categories.
NOTE: Each site linked below may contain content which may vary in open licenses or usage permissions.
- TED TalksTED Videos have a CC BY NC ND 4.0 license, and TED encourages users to freely view, share, and download the videos without restraint. The website is provided as a public service to promote the spread of good ideas.
- TED-EdTED-Ed is TED’s youth and education initiative. TED-Ed Originals are short, award-winning animated videos about ideas that spark the curiosity of learners everywhere.
- Netflix Educational DocumentariesPlaylist of current educational documentaries available to stream for free from Netflix via YouTube. Current titles include: 13th, Our Planet series, Amend: The Fight for America series, We the People series, Abstract: The Art of Design series, and more. Open access. Guidelines and terms of use linked on this playlist.
- Khan AcademyKhan Academy provides top-quality educational videos that are organized by discipline and skill levels. They provide videos from various disciplines including Math, Science, Economics, Finance, and Humanities.
- If/Then Collection"A digital asset library of women STEM innovators, for educational and other noncommercial use." Scroll down page for categories of images and videos, including Women in Tech, #SheCanSTEM, Health & Medicine, and more.
- Open Video ProjectA shared digital video collection, managed by School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Includes video collections from NASA, National Arcives, Internet Moving Images Archive, and more. Search by keyword or browse videos by genre, duration, color, and sound. Most videos are from government agencies and under public domain.
- Library of Congress National Screening RoomThis online collection spans more than 100 years of cinema history, from 1890-1999. Most, but not all, of the featured films are in the public domain, and available to download as well as watch.
- 1000+ Free Movies Online - Open CultureLinks to over 1000 free movies online, many of which are in the public domain. Includes classic, indies, noir, westerns, etc. Organized by genre and title.
- List of open-source films on WikipediaOpen-source films (also known as open-content films and free-content films) are films which are produced and distributed by using free and open-source and open content methodologies. Their sources are freely available.
NOTE: Each site linked below may contain content which may vary in open licenses or usage permissions.
- OpenverseSearch for over 700 million free images, photos, and audio in the public domain and under Creative Commons licenses. Site used to be known as Creative Commons Search.
- Free Music Archive"Free Music Archive and Tribe of Noise are known for free to download music licensed under Creative Commons."
- SoundBible.comOffers free sound clips for download in either wav or mp3 format. Each sound clip has license information, so look for that column when determining license and usage.
- Citizen DJ"The concept of Citizen DJ is grounded in hip hop culture." Includes free-to-use audio and video collections from the Library of Congress. Scroll down the home page to view music collections. All sounds are free-to-use for remixing.
- Public Domain and Royalty Free Music - PD InfoMassive lists of public domain music and songs, as well as royalty free music. From the Public Domain Information Project site.
- Library of Congress Audio Recordings SearchListen to music, interviews, field recordings, and more from the Library's historic sound recording collections.
- 1000+ Free audio books - Open CultureDownload hundreds of free and openly licensed audio books, mostly classics, to your MP3 player or computer. Includes fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.
Attributions
Except where otherwise noted, the content in this guide by Tacoma Community College Library is licensed under CC BY SA 4.0. Please see sub-pages for any additional attributions.
Except where otherwise noted, the content in these guides by Tacoma Community College Library is licensed under CC BY SA 4.0.
This openly licensed content allows others to cite, share, or modify this content, with credit to TCC Library. When reusing or adapting this content, include this statement in the new document: This content was originally created by Tacoma Community College Library and shared with a CC BY SA 4.0 license.
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