Presented at the 2018 New Jersey Library Association Annual Conference. Discusses OER initiatives at University of San Diego and Raritan Valley Community College. Ideas for how librarians can start conversations about OER on their campus.

1. Educate Freely with
Open Educational Resources
Megan Dempsey
Instructional Services Librarian
Raritan Valley
Community College
Alejandra Nann
Electronic Resources &
Serials Librarian
University of San Diego

2. Open Educational Resources are freely
available educational materials that can
be downloaded, edited and shared to
benefit all students.

3. Librarians as resource finders
● Learn about OER
through other
universities and
organizations
● Educate faculty on
OER
● Create a subject
guide and handouts
● Host workshops and
presentations
Photo by Glen Noble on Unsplash

4. Working with the campus bookstore
Some concerns:
● Bookstore will see us as competition
● Bookstore will lose revenue
● Bookstore will block our OER efforts
Reality:
● Bookstores want to save students money too
● Amazon is a bigger threat
● Start a conversation with various constituents
including the bookstore
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

5. OER in California
2008: First OER law passed, promoting OER in community colleges
2012: Public higher education systems directed to develop OER digital library
2013: California OER Council formed
2016: Community College Zero-Textbook-Cost Degree Grant

6. SENATE, No. 768
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
S768: Requires institutions of higher education to
develop open textbook plan. (4-year schools only)
A327: Requires institutions of higher education to develop open
textbooks available to students at no charge and requires buyback of
used textbooks at 50 percent of purchase price.
Assembly Higher Education Committee

10. OER Repositories and Access Points

12. Image by Phil Roeder, https://www.flickr.com/photos/tabor-roeder/5835126514
What are your OER hurdles?

14. Verified existing concerns that students
were not buying books at start of semester

15. Hands-on Professional Development Workshop

19. Copley OER Initiative
Spring 2015: Initial attempts to interest faculty
failed. Received funding from Provost Office.
2015-2016: Copley Library OER Initiative provided
$1000 stipends to faculty by replacing a
textbook(s) with OER.
2017-2018: Copley Library launched Open
Textbook Review. Faculty review suitable textbook
and submit a review for $250.
As of May 2018: 17 Faculty participated in Copley
OER Initiative.368 students saved roughly over
$40,000.

20. Show me the money!

21. Thank you!
Megan Dempsey
Alejandra Nann

22. Resources
About the project. (2014). Retrieved from http://coolfored.org/about.html
Bell, Steven J. (2015) ”Bookstore or College Store: Building a Relationship” From the Bell Tower. Retrieved from
https://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/12/opinion/steven-bell/bookstore-or-college-store-building-a-relationship-from-the-bell-
tower/#_
Lesko, I. (2016, August 01). Zero-textbook-cost degrees on the rise! California’s Governor Brown & achieving the dream:
Two years in a row, money for open textbooks and degrees [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://www.oeconsortium.org/2016/08/zero-textbook-cost-degrees-on-the-rise-californias-governor-brown-achieving-the-
dream-two-years-in-a-row-money-for-open-textbooks-and-degrees/
$5 Million for Open Textbooks in FY18 Omnibus Bill (2018). Retrieved from https://sparcopen.org/our-work/open-textbooks-
fy18/
Promotional Resources:
Create free posters and flyers: https://www.canva.com/
Free images: https://unsplash.com/

23. Supplemental information from Q&A
Strategies for talking to faculty about OER:
● Collect student data/feedback on textbook costs to share with faculty
● Tap into existing frustrations/inadequacies with current textbooks
● Start conversations on student preparedness for class (do they have the
textbooks in the first weeks? With OER, they will!)
● Conduct a campus climate survey to determine hesitancies and address
those directly (see example)
● Discuss how OER provides greater academic freedom to select the best
resources and can innovate their teaching and learning
● Leverage accessibility as a benefit with OER - open textbooks are “born”
accessible; OER in PDF form is readily accessible for screen readers

24. Supplemental information from Q&A
Strategies for talking to administration about OER:
● Collect student data/feedback on textbook costs to share with administration
● Leverage accessibility as a benefit with OER - open textbooks are “born”
accessible; OER in PDF form is readily accessible for screen readers
● Calculate potential student savings for targeted courses and share this (#
students enrolled x cost of current textbook)
● Discuss the return on investment for funding OER initiatives (e.g. allot
$10,000 to faculty stipends and save students $50,000 in one semester)
● Share research demonstrating higher course throughput rate for students in
OER courses (http://dx.doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i6.2686)
● Point to legislation around higher education affordability