Editor’s note: This article is based on a poster presented at the 86th IFLA World Library and Information Congress, linked here.

Open educational resources (OER) are licensed, free-to-access learning materials that educators and students can adapt and customize to meet their needs. These materials include textbooks, presentations, videos, simulations, and much more. Utilization of OER lowers the cost barrier of higher education for all students by removing the need to purchase a commercial textbook. This makes education more accessible to all and has been found to positively impact Pell Grant eligible students and students from underserved communities (Colvard et al., 2018). Additionally, some research suggests that use of OER benefits all students and can lead to better student outcomes (Grewe & Davis, 2017). 

The benefits and possibilities of OER are numerous; however, they are still not widely used. While 44% of faculty in the United States were aware of OER in the 2018-2019 academic year, only 23% of faculty used them in their courses (Spilovoy, 2020). This statistic is likely even lower in the health sciences, where topics and classes are more specialized and offered at a higher level. 

This is where librarians and, more specifically, health sciences librarians, can step in. One of the biggest barriers to faculty adopting OER is the challenge of locating pertinent OER. While there are many OER repositories and referatories, often, they are not intuitive or user-friendly. At the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, our solution has been to create a LibGuide with both general information about OER as well as a curated selection of health sciences OER in the fields and disciplines offered on campus. 

Users of the Anschutz OER LibGuide can select the tab "Finding OER" and land on a page with links to some of the most popular OER repositories and referatories, such as MERLOT and OER Commons. Here, users can conduct their own searches for OER in the topics they teach.  

Alternatively, users can select their discipline from a menu of options that reflect the schools and campuses on the Anschutz Medical Campus, including dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and physical therapy. A recent development has been to add a tab for resources by body system, such as circulatory/cardiovascular, endocrine, and respiratory. Each page includes links to existing OER materials on their respective topics. While there is an emphasis on OER textbooks, we also offer relevant videos, simulations, and online materials when available.  

The goal of providing these direct materials is to enable users to find a suitable OER more quickly than they would have by searching on their own. By lowering the barrier to identifying materials, adoption becomes more likely.  

This approach, however, is not foolproof. The librarian selecting the suggested OER materials is not a subject matter expert and cannot vouch for the veracity and completeness of the content. As such, it is vitally important that each page provides contact information so that users who are experts in these disciplines can pass along their thoughts or concerns about specific materials.  

Additionally, it is recommended that librarians collect analytics on the OER LibGuide. These statistics can reveal popular resources that are being clicked and shared. Based on the data collected on the Anschutz guide, a tab of "Most Viewed OER" was created to provide users with another easily accessible option to find potential OER. Some of the most popular OER on the Anschutz guide include Health Case Studies, Nursing Skills, and Clinical Anatomy. What is great about Health Case Studies and Clinical Anatomy is that they are discipline agnostic and can be used in many programs and fields. Clinical Anatomy is unique, as it is a website with a variety of OER videos, illustrations, and interactive modules that can supplement all kinds of anatomical education. The Nursing Skills textbook is an example from a fantastic program in Wisconsin called the OpenRn project which has published six OER nursing textbooks thus far. 

As Elizabeth Speer mentioned in a previous Doody's Core Title article, librarians by and large are aware and supportive of OER. We believe in the power of accessible knowledge and making learning inclusive. Many health sciences faculty believe in these ideals as well. By removing the frustration of searching for OER, librarians can help faculty adopt OER in their classrooms and improve student experiences.  

Resources: 

Anschutz OER LibGuide 

References: 

Colvard, N. B., Watson, C. E., & Park, H. (2018). The impact of open educational resources on various student success metrics. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 262– 276. https://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3386.pdf 

Grewe, K., & Davis, W. P. (2017). The impact of enrollment in an OER course on student learning outcomes. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i4.2986 

Spilovoy, T., Seaman, J., & Ralph, N. (2020). The Impact of OER Initiatives on Faculty Selection of Classroom Materials. https://www.bayviewanalytics.com/reports/impactofoerinitiatives.pdf 

DCT Featured Article – August 8, 2023