--Definition from UNESCO
Librarians are available through the options below.
Please check Library News for any changes to hours including during semester breaks
Please note that appointments are encouraged to make sure a librarian is available to meet with you.
Fall and Spring semester Greenfield hours (Learning Commons at SJU in Lancaster):
Monday–Friday: 5:30 a.m.–11:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 6:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Space only staffed Monday–Friday: 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. with other hours available by appointment
410 North Lime Street:
No regularly scheduled times are currently available. Please reach out to make an appointment.
Please check Library News for any changes to hours including during semester breaks
Open Educational Resources (OER) are a category of educational materials that are freely available for educators to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute, with few limitations. They exist primarily within the public domain or are published under Creative Commons (CC) licenses which free users from restrictive copyright limitations.
Growing interest in their use and creation has been spurred by the increasing costs of education and its materials in an effort by educators and librarians to reduce the financial burden carried by students. Studies of the use of OER in colleges and universities have found promising results, ranging from increased academic performance, increased likelihood of completing courses, and higher ratings for professors that include OER as required materials. Many of these findings can likely be ascribed to the security enjoyed by students to whom OER are assigned, as access to required material is assured, as well as the potential for faculty to customize OER to specific learning objectives.
OER come in all shapes and sizes, including lesson plans and courses, assignments and lab activities, student guides and lecture notes, games and datasets, primary sources and journals and, perhaps most famously, textbooks. As the community of OER users and creators grows larger, more resources are disseminated and improved every day.
Where to Begin
The OER Starter Kit Workbook is a great resources to learn more about finding and using OER
To learn more about copyright and Creative Commons licenses, visit our copyright guide.
If you have any questions about finding, using, or creating OER, please feel free to contact me.
The following OER LibGuides come from other local colleges and universities as an additional collection of resources for your reference; each also provided a useful point of reference for the construction of this guide.
