LibGuides: Affordable Textbooks: Finding resources

What are OERs?

An OER is an open educational resource. This can be anything from full textbooks to modules to syllabi to test banks to images to videos, and many more.

What's an open educational resource? Free + permissions.

The Hewlett Foundation defines them like this: Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that are either (a) in the public domain or (b) licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities [retain, reuse, remix, revise, and redistribute].

Where to find OERs

Open Textbook Library
A great first stop in searching for open textbooks. Click Browse Subjects on the left to browse by discipline, or use the search box at the top.

The Open Textbook Library also includes the popular OpenStax textbooks.
OERCommons
A great place to find open textbooks, as well as other open educational resources. You may find resources here that are cross-listed elsewhere, on places like OpenStax, MERLOT, etc.

Use the "Subject" and "Educational Level" filters to help narrow your search.
MERLOT
Another clearinghouse for OERs. You can search, or scroll down to browse disiplines. Use the filters on the left to sort by subdiscipline, material type, academic level, and other filters.
BC Campus
A Canadian university system with many unique OER creations.
Mason OER Finder
This search tool searches multiple OER repositories at once, and allows you to filter by document type.

What are library-licensed materials?

Library-licensed resources are resources that the library has purchased that are free for your students to use. You'll want to look for resources that are DRM-free, which means students can download, print, and read as much as they want with no technology restrictions. Another good option is ebooks with unlimited users, because that means that all your students could access the book at once, and usually print a good chunk of the book at a time if desired.

Where to find library-licensed textbooks

Springer E-book package
Springer ebooks are DRM-free, which means there is no limit to how much you can download and print of a text provided here.

Below is a spreadsheet detailing some Springer titles that have been identified by Springer as potential textbook options.

Springer Textbook Titles
This spreadsheet lists texts that Springer has identified as potential textbook material. Most were published in the last 5 years. You can click the blue and red boxes on the top of the Affordable Textbooks sheet (middle of three tabs at the bottom) to filter through the titles by package and subject.

To clear a filter and restart your search, click the Filter icon with a red X in the top right of the box.

JSTOR
"These JSTOR ebooks provide unlimited, DRM-free access. The ebook chapters have no limits on downloads or printing, and there’s no need to use special software or create a login. It’s just like using journals on JSTOR. The ebooks are available on alongside more than 2,000 journals.

Easy to use in courses: If you’d like to use the ebooks in a course, you can add the stable URL for a chapter or a full ebook to a syllabus. With on-campus and remote access available 24/7, and no limits on simultaneous use, the ebooks are always available to your students."
ProQuest Ebook Central
This link takes you to the Browse by Subject landing page. Once you choose a subject from the list, select the filter on the left labeled "Unlimited Print, Copy, & Download." Any books under this label can be used by an unlimited number of simultaneous users, and they can download and print without restrictions. You can also use the other filters on the left to narrow your choices.
Project MUSE Ebooks
Project MUSE contains almost 2,000 open access ebooks that may be used for courses and study. Use the filters on the left, such as research area and publication year, to filter the results.