Academic librarians are uniquely poised to be trusted facilitators in the changing information landscape brought about by the pandemic. Dedicating time in outreach to help round out curriculum with Open Access (OA) materials provides more quality and innovative resources that our students can have access to long after graduation. Although proponents of both traditional publishing and OA can seem to oppose the other—building robust curriculum and collections should not be an either/or process when it comes to accessing quality resources. Rather, librarians can transform our offerings to reflect the very best that traditional publishing and OA has to offer.
As an outreach librarian working at a 4-year university, where many have heard of Open Educational Resources (OER) and OA but few utilize or fully understand what it may mean, it is essential to me that I work with faculty in utilizing both traditionally published library materials and OA materials. This can include, but is not limited to OER, Open Pedagogy (OP), and Open Educational Practices (OEP) in general. So what’s stopping most people from incorporating Open Educational Resources into their collections? For many it is time, lack of know-how, or even being intimidated about trying new educational formats. With the goal being to keep the patron as the focus of curriculum and collection development, we can assist faculty in finding quality and openly accessible digital resources and pedagogical methods that by design seek to connect with students in collaborative, enriching, and educationally transformative ways during remote instruction and beyond.
In this workshop I will show you OA training, support, discovery, and community building across campus programs that worked for our library, share best practices for getting movement on your campus, and provide resources participants can take with them after the conference to get started right away.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to know the steps needed to provide Open Access training, support, discovery, and community building across campus programs
Upon completion, participants will be able to share best practices for getting Open Access, Open Educational Resources, and Open Pedagogy movement on your campus
Upon completion, participants will be able to take and utilize user friendly resources to get Open Access education and collection discovery started on your campus right away