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Discovery, Metadata & Accessibility: Locating Resources: Home

Overview

Locating Resources

LOCATING RESOURCES involves a variety of strategies, tools, and community engagement. Selecting the right search tool is critical, as each OER repository or referatory has unique features and filters. For instance, MERLOT provides peer and editor reviews, while OER Commons offers advanced filtering by educational standards. Using metasearch tools like MASON OER Metafinder and OASIS allows users to query multiple repositories at once, covering a broad spectrum of resources. Beyond search tools, librarians and instructors can leverage community resources to locate materials used by other educators.

Locating Resources Topics

The different OER referatories and repositories aren't built the same, don't have the same submission processes, and don't have the same items, so it is good to have an idea of what makes each unique before you start spending your valuable time searching without a strategy that takes into account the tools at your disposal.

OER Search Tool Comparison

The comparison below is only meant to be an instructive exercise, and only covers a few of the most popular OER search tools.

Search Tool Items Search Education Level License Type Reviews

Educational

Standards

 Ancillaries
Open Textbook Library 1,525 NO YES YES NO NO
OER Commons 50,000 YES YES NO YES YES
MERLOT 91,000 YES YES YES NO YES
OASIS 455,499 NO YES NO NO NO
MASON OER Metafinder ? NO NO No NO YES
Open Library eCampus Ontario 1,600 YES YES NO NO YES

Open Textbook Library

  • No search filter (pre or post) for Ancillaries or Reviews, each record has a section for both, even if there are zero ancillaries and reviews.

OER Commons

  • Has license type filter, but they are general statements, not CC Licenses. In each record they have the CC License and an area for 0-5 star reviews (more like ratings than reviews), no textual reviews but an area for comments, and evaluations which are scores on a rubric. Multi-select filters are available.

MERLOT

  • Not only do they have textual reviews, but they also offer to filter by "has peer reviews," "has editor reviews," and "has member comments." Also has a filter not found elsewhere for "Authored by member of Minority Serving Institution In USA"

OASIS

  • Not many options for pre-search filtering in advanced search. License type is available as a post-search filter, as is whether the search result is reviewed (though it isn't clear how to confirm there is a review). Allows you to limit by source (i.e., OER Commons, Project Gutenberg, etc.).

Mason OER Metafinder

  • There is an indicator for 0-5 star rating, but it doesn't seem connected to actual ratings anywhere. Has document type, which separates texts from ancillaries. Allows you to limit by source (i.e., OER Commons, Project Gutenberg, etc.).

Open Library eCampus Ontario

  • Filters are multi-select within a category, and also lists adoptions. Additional Features filter means in addition to OER, so you can filter to just results that are a textbook with ancillaries.

As you can see, there are significant differences between the search tools, and which tool you use will depend on the information you've gathered during the consultation. Practicing on the OER search tools will increase your knowledge and instincts.

Active Federated Search Options

Challenges in Developing a Union Catalog for OER

  • Metadata Inconsistencies: OER repositories often use different metadata standards (e.g., Dublin Core, LRMI, custom schemes). While crosswalks exist, full metadata harmonization is challenging.
  • Global vs. Local Repositories: Some OER repositories are localized (focused on specific regions, institutions, or subjects), making it difficult to aggregate metadata globally.
  • Decentralization: OER resources are hosted in a decentralized manner, which complicates creating a centralized catalog that indexes all available resources.
  • Sustainability: Developing and maintaining a global union catalog requires significant financial and institutional support, which has historically been difficult to sustain over time.

Search tools, especially the metasearch tools, allow you to cover a lot of ground in not much time. It isn't the only way to locate relevant OER, though. Your communities, whether that be a community of subject matter experts or a community of academic support staff or something else, are a great source for OER.

Community Sources 

OER adoption registries: some organizations are keeping track of and publishing lists of OER that have been adopted, and the courses they've been adopted for. For example:

OER and SME listservs or forums: This is a good option if you have looked but can't find anything, not as the first step every time you need to find an OER. Sometimes your colleagues will have "been there, done that" and can suggest some excellent resources.

Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs): These groups often have subject matter experts, instructional designers, and librarians, and they can exist both within institutions or across academic consortia.

OER Advocacy Networks: These networks have various group meetings where you can bring your question to people who love to help. Examples are the Open Education Network (OEN) and the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN).

Yourself

Do you have anything that you've created that could be expanded into OER or an open textbook? Sometimes existing content is the best place to start.

Dig into these readings for crafty tips and savvy advice from these experiences experts on OER and open pedagogy:

New Research on Locating Resources