A monument at the Monte Albán archeological site in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Open Educational Resources
The creation of Open Educational Resources (OERs) is a collaborative and rewarding process.
Not only is it generative from research, writing, and pedagogic perspectives, the resulting publication is available and accessible to a wider, global audience, potentially benefiting many more people than traditional publications. Simultaneously these freely accessible texts mitigate financial hardship for many of our students and position them for learning and academic success. Further, OER content provides opportunities for relevant and resonant examples and case studies to advance inclusive learning.
Haverford Libraries offer expertise and guidance at every stage of OER production, from application guidance, to project design, through long-term preservation, and most everything in between.
Recently Completed
Cali Chiu: A course in Valley Zapotec, 2nd ed.
by Pamela Munro, Brook Danielle Lillehaugen, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Felipe H. Lopez, and Benjamin Paul ‘20
Published: 2021
Introduction to economics (single-semester): OER course packet
by David Owens, Associate Professor of Economics
Published: 2021
Research methods & statistics for psychology: OER course packet
by Benjamin Le, Professor of Psychology
Published: 2021
In Publication/Forthcoming
Textbook on microeconomic analysis
by Giri Parameswaran, Associate Professor of Economics
Expected: Late 2021/Early 2022
Voci: Introductory Italian textbook
by Daria Bozzato, Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian (Bryn Mawr College)
Expected: Fall 2022
OER Platforms & Resources
The OER platforms and resources listed below can connect you with the world of open and reusable educational materials. As an alternative to creating your own OER, you can use these links to find and adopt existing materials for your course. Contact your subject librarian for additional help finding resources.
Databases of OER Materials
- OASIS, created by SUNY Geneseo, is a database of over 400,000 open access offerings from a broad variety of sources. It includes OER textbooks and course materials but also includes many other types of open resources.
- Open Textbook Library is a database of open textbooks, specifically those with liberal usage licenses allowing adaptation. Thus, their list is considerably shorter (currently 900+) than that of OASIS or some of the other tools here.
- OER Commons is a database of open resources. The specific textbook list (a subset of the 40,000+ resources in OER Commons) contains 180 titles.
- Merlot is a database of 95,000+ open resources.
- OpenStax is a publisher specializing in open textbooks.
Colleges & universities with broad search tools for finding OER
- PALNI
- University of Arizona
- University of British Columbia
- University of Houston
- University of Pittsburgh
Colleges & universities making their policies and their locally-produced textbook materials available
Applying for OER Funds
The application for funding is open to all Haverford faculty regardless of disciplinary or interdisciplinary approach. Applications may come from faculty at Bryn Mawr provided there is no existing disciplinary department at Haverford, and from all faculty representing TriCollege programs. The application form lists types of grants, requirements, and amounts. More information may be found on our FAQ page or by reaching out to tsnyder [at] haverford.edu (Terry Snyder).