When assigning textbooks and other materials in your course, you can mix and match different types to suit your teaching style and student learning needs.
The library—and this guide—can support University of Maryland instructors with the first three kinds of resources below. Schedule a consultation with us at any stage of your process!
UMD Libraries' extensive physical and digital collections are free for students to access and include eBooks, textbooks, book chapters, streaming videos, DVDs, journal articles, news articles, and more. We're happy to work with you to add content to Canvas, set up course reserves, and explore options for materials we don't currently own. Learn more about our teaching-related collections and services.
These include the majority of videos, websites (.edu, .gov, .org, .com, etc.), open access academic journals, free curricula from educational organizations, and other online content. While you can't customize or make copies of these materials unless they're published with an open license, they're typically free for students to access and a great way to supplement learning in your course. Contact us if you'd like tips for finding and selecting online resources.
Open educational resources are free online teaching materials that are also published with an open license -- meaning you can remix, edit, and tailor them to fit your teaching needs. Content in any format can be published as OER, including textbooks, articles, images, audio, video, full courses, modules, tests, and instructor resources. You can even publish your own OER. This guide will help you find, use, or create OER!
Not finding library, free, or open content that meets your needs? The campus bookstore or your department can assist you with implementing textbooks, monographs, course software, and electronic content that students purchase, rent, or subscribe to (including through the bookstore's First Day program).
The University of Maryland is a member of the Open Education Network, an international organization of higher education institutions working together to advance open educational practices.
We are indebted to the expertise and work of many others in the Open community. Some of the content in this guide was adapted from other sources, including:
"Open Educational Resources (OER)" (LibGuide) by Abbey Elder, Iowa State University Library, CC-BY
"Open Educational Resources (OER)" by Cheryl Casey, University of Arizona Libraries, © 2024 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License.
"Copyright" (LibGuide) by Ellen Dubinsky, University of Arizona Libraries. Used with permission.
"Right arrow" (icon) was created by Pixel Perfect, from Flaticon.
