This page provides a general overview of the various resources available to faculty to use in course development, along with videos that explain what Open Access and Open Educational Resources are, as well as the importance of them and their benefits. You'll find general resources here that are accessible to all faculty seeking Open Access content.
For additional resources tailored to specific programs or courses, please check out our other pages in this guide, if applicable.
Open access resources are digital materials that are available free of charge and are free from most copyright and licensing restrictions.
"Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others." (UNESCO, 2024)
Credible external websites and platforms can also be a good option for finding curricular or supplemental resources for your course content. For example, YouTube has many TedTalks available that you can link directly into your course shell. If you find an external source that you aren't sure is credible or that you are able to use because of Copyright, please consult with the library.
The library subscribes and pays for high quality licensed resources, so that faculty and students can access them at no charge. We have many types of resources available such as articles, eBooks, films and videos, and more.
Adding library resources into your course is easy. To search for resources using the library you can visit our Discovery Search, or our A-Z database list.
Linking to library resources is easy, find instructions under the Copyright Guide to learn how.
Government publications can be great resources for course content due to their free, credible, and up to date information.
If you need assistance with Copyright, please visit our Copyright Guide for more information.