Librarians and instructional designers (IDs) from a university in the U.S. will describe the partnership formed to promote no-cost textbook solutions (OER, library-sourced) in the face of a restrictive environment. The institution is divided in two tiers: the President's Office, which oversees non-academic functions such as Business Services, and the Provost's Office, which is responsible for teaching and learning. This creates an inherent tension concerning course materials and revenue, troubling the conception of education as a fundamentally shared practice. Our group aimed to promote change at the university level, while also collaborating to facilitate the efforts of faculty.
Typically, the group meets with faculty to discuss objectives, and open or library-sourced materials are located. Copyright permissions are reviewed by a librarian, and materials are created and integrated into the course by IDs. Simply put, the resources could not be created without the collaboration of librarians and IDs. Highlighted will be one scenario in which the group collaborated with a faculty member to adopt existing resources, overcome issues such as copyright and licensing, and create an open text in ePub format to replace the traditional text. This scenario prompted some challenges with regards to time and scalability; however, the end product proved valuable for both students and faculty. Students expressed gratitude with the faculty's effort of providing free materials. In turn, the product was shared with other instructors, ensuring further equitable access for students.
We will identify future directions and touch on areas of interest such as playing an active role in the campus bookstore contract negotiations, securing grant funding for OER opportunities, and participating in Faculty Senate. We hope that our efforts will result in institutional change and a stronger OER effort, and hope that this panel will help others identify action points in their own contexts.
