How & Where to Search for OER

OER Repositories & Search

Cool4ED - A CSU, UC, and CCC collaboration, Cool4ED has Showcase Reviews which offer a quick place to look before an extensive search. The reviews by California faculty are thorough and include a detailed accessibility report. 

OER Commons- A large repository, OER Commons is easy to search. Check out the San Diego Mesa Group.

OASIS  - This user-friendly tool helps you search for OER from 73 different sources and contains nearly 200,000 records. Developed by SUNY Geneseo's Milne Library.

Open Textbooks

As we've learned, there are many types of OER (images, videos, worksheets, activities, government reports, maps, modules, entire courses, etc). One popular type of OER is the open textbook. Open textbooks are textbooks that have been funded, published, and licensed to be freely used, adapted, and distributed. They can be read online or downloaded at no cost, and they can often be printed at low cost. Below are some examples of high quality open textbook collections:

ASCCC OERI Discipline Resources Links to an external site. In order to facilitate faculty consideration of OER and the development of OER/ZTC degree pathways, the ASCCC OERI has worked with the ASCCC OERI Discipline Leads to provide the curated lists of resources.

Open Textbook Library (UMN) - A well-curated, peer-reviewed collection of over 400 open textbooks in 14 subjects. Standards for inclusion are fairly rigorous, making the collection a high quality resource.

OpenStax  (Rice University) - Peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks and accompanying ancillary materials, such as slides and test banks. 

Open SUNY Textbooks Links to an external site.- An open access textbook publishing initiative established by State University of New York libraries. All textbooks are faculty-authored and peer-reviewed.