The Minitex Network for Open & Affordable Practices (MNOP) is a Minitex initiative designed to support libraries and academic support staff across Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota as they work to support adoption of open educational resources (OER) and library affordable content strategies.
The MNOP website is structured around six core practice areas, each further divided into a handful of subpractices. The site offers a heuristic self-assessment tool to help take stock and figure out skills to develop. Each subpractice will serve as a storehouse for the activities and collaborative content of network participants, such as case studies, shared documents, presentation recordings, and engagement materials. Additionally, the website features a feed of new research and a network area to provide information on making connections, events, trainings, workshops, and other opportunities to work together.
Beyond the website, the program will focus on practical projects and experiential workshops recognizing that it is difficult to gain on-the-job experience due to the complex, long-term, platform-specific, and cross-departmental nature of supporting open education and affordability initiatives.
MNOP is supported by Greg Argo, Minitex's Open Education & Affordable Content Librarian, and whatever colleagues he can pull into his orbit. Contact him if you are interested in playing an active role in developing MNOP or helping out behind the scenes.
Thanks to Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) for their support in getting MNOP off the ground.