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Open Textbooks, OER & Other Open or Free Resources for Faculty

A guide to exploring open textbook options for faculty.

Request OER help

Ask for help with OER adoption or use! Just fill out this form and we'll get back to you:
 

Search for Open Textbooks & Other OER

Kirkwood's own T4LT Podcasters have a great 3-part series on resources for locating OER:

  1. T4LT Sharing Resources Part 1
  2. T4LT Sharing Resources Part 2
  3. T4LT Open Educational Resources Part 3

All-in-one meta-searches

Open Textbook sources, often with ancillary materials

Other Free or Open Licensed eBooks

Other OER search sites

Faculty Select database

 

If you encounter any problems with this database or have any questions, please contact Kate Cameron in Library Services.

Faculty Select is a NEW database now available to Kirkwood faculty!

The aim of the database is to provide faculty a streamlined process for finding free, high quality academic resources as possible replacements for traditional high-cost textbooks.

There are two types of records you'll find in the Faculty Select database:
OER DRM-Free eBooks

Open-licensed, so materials may be freely:

  • Copied & distributed
  • Edited & remixed

Traditional copyright applies, so:

  • Each user must download their own copy from the library website
  • Fair use test must be applied before making multiple copies or remixing for student use

Printing:

Copies may be printed through the Bookstore and Print Services for student purchase

Printing:

Must be linked through Talon for individual student download (and printing if desired)

Free to access online Purchased by the library & available to students at no cost through the library website
Wide variety of different publishers and authors. Titles in Faculty Select have been vetted by EBSCO. Published by traditional academic publishers, and formatted for easy downloading and saving by unlimited users.
Select "OER only" limit to see availability of these free and flexible resources first. Select "eBooks available for purchase" limit to search only DRM-free eBooks.

To preview & adopt:

Click "Preview or adopt this open eBook" and fill out the form. This information goes only to Kirkwood librarians to track OER usage.

To preview & adopt:

  • Click "Preview this eBook"
  • If you know you want to use an eBook title for your course, click "Request a purchase of this item from your Library". Fill out the short form.
  • Once purchased, the eBook will be added to the Library's EBSCOhost eBooks collection.

To access the Faculty Select database:

Log in to Talon, and locate the faculty resources links just below your course tiles. Faculty Select is the fifth link down. Talon link location

 

 

 

Discipline-Specific OER Sources

In addition to these resources, see the OER People and Projects at Kirkwood guide. 

Business

Career & Technical Fields

Language Learning

Math and Sciences

Nursing and Allied Health

Social Sciences

Open and/or Free Music, Images, Films & other Media


Cedar Rapids Campus Library

Benton Hall

6301 Kirkwood Blvd SW, Cedar Rapids, IA

Iowa City Campus Library

107 Credit Center Building

1816 Lower Muscatine Rd., Iowa City, IA 

 

If you need disability-related accommodations in order to use the Library, our website, or our resources, please contact the library at library@kirkwood.edu or 319-398-5697.