Jim Dan Hill Library: Open Educational Resources (OERs): Where to Find OERs

Tips for Finding OERs

OERs can be found in both OER repositories (digital collections of OER) and OER aggregators (tools that assist in the discovery and access of OERs including multiple repositories). OERs are often listed in multiple places online to increase the discoverability of the resource. When searching for OERs, be sure to note the Creative Commons license used and if the type of license aligns with your desired use for the resource.

Remember that open education is a growing field. Most OERs that currently exist are written for wide audiences and 100-level courses to have a wider impact on textbook affordability. If you are searching for an OER for an upper-level course, you may want to consider curating multiple resources in your Canvas course, such as openly licensed book chapters, journal articles from the library, and websites.

OER Repositories

B.C. Open Collection
The B.C. Open Collection is a curated selection of open educational resources (OER) that can be accessed by educators in B.C. and beyond to use in the classroom, in an institutional learning management system, or on other teaching and learning platforms. All materials are openly licensed.
LibreTexts
LibreTexts is a nonprofit online educational resource project which provides open access to its content on its website.
MERLOT
MERLOT is a curated collection of free and open online teaching, learning, and faculty development services contributed and used by an international education community.
OpenStax
Based at Rice University, OpenStax's goal is to increase student access to high-quality learning materials at little to no cost.
Open Textbook Library
An ever-growing collection of peer-reviewed, open textbooks hosted by the Open Education Network.
Pressbooks Directory
A free, searchable catalog of open textbooks.
Universities of Wisconsin Open Ed Network
Browse OER authored by UW instructors in Pressbooks.
WISC-Online
As a non-profit serving the private and public sectors, WISC-Online's products range from corporate learning solutions to free, publicly accessible instructional programs.
WISELearn Resources
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's dynamic digital library and network.

OER Aggregators

Mason OER Metafinder (MOM)
The OER Metafinder performs a simultaneous search across 19 different sources of open educational materials. Because it is a real-time, federated search, it can take a bit longer than searches of pre-indexed, curated content; however, as compensation the results returned are absolutely up-to-the-minute for each search target. Additional results will continue to trickle in as the search continues running and you begin examining your results.
OASIS
155,000+ records from 52 different sources that have been carefully selected in collaboration with SUNY OER Services.
OER Commons
OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. Explore, create, and collaborate with educators around the world to improve curriculum. For extra search tips, check out the Finding OER Materials module.
Openverse
An extensive aggregator of free stock photos, images, and audio, available for free use.

Advanced Google Searching

You can conduct an advanced Google Search to find openly licensed content online. Watch the following video to view a tutorial:

"Using Google Advanced Search to find Open Content" by Andrew Moore is licensed by a CC BY 4.0 license.

YouTube Videos

After conducting a search on YouTube, you can filter your results to videos with Creative Commons licenses. Watch the following brief video to see how: