Open Educational Resources (OER) and Affordable Course Content (ACC)

Library resources are generally not OER.

We subscribe to most of our resources, including journals, newspapers, e-books, and their use is limited to ODU students, faculty, and staff. The content cannot be adapted, modified, redistributed, or shared as OER materials can.

Using resources from databases we subscribe to can be a good way to provide authentic learning opportunities. There are several things to remember if you choose to do this:

• Always require students to use the permalink to access materials, rather than downloading and providing the PDF. This helps the Libraries to track usage, and requires MIDAS authentication to use the resources which is required by copyright law. This may require the library's proxy prefix - see the "Using Library Resources in Canvas" tab. 
• Some databases change their content over time, so check back at the beginning of each semester to make sure that what you plan to use is still available.
• Library resources are not free, so continue to support and thank your library :-)

There are many ways to find journal articles:

• If you are trying to locate a specific journal article: 
  • Type the title of the article in Monarch OneSearch on the library's homepage. If there, click the link to access it.
    • If not there, search Journals A-Z for the title of the journal. Link to the journal, and then find the appropriate issue for the article.

• If you want to view all issues of a specific journal:
  • Search Journals A-Z for the title of the journal. Link to the journal. There is usually a search box for all items in the journal.

• If you want to search for articles more broadly, use a database:
  • If you know which database covers your topic, search Databases A-Z  for the specific database.
  • If you're not sure which database to use, consult our Research Guides. Identify the appropriate subject area/s and use the tab for Articles or Databases for the most appropriate database/s.

• Open Access journals: use our Open Access guide to find Open Access Journals to provide affordable content to your students. Some open access journals have creative commons licensing that may allow you to adapt and reuse their content.

The ODU Digital Commons is our institutional repository, containing open access materials published by ODU faculty and students. You can search across other university digital repositories that are hosted by BEPress by entering your search terms and selecting: across all repositories before you search. Or, go directly to the Digital Commons Network.

The Libraries provide access to thousands of E-Books, some of which you may be able to use for your course materials. If you find an eBook that you would like for your students to read, you will need to:

• Check with your librarian to find out the licensing rights for the book. Most are limited to a certain number of users at a time.
• Check back each semester to make sure that it is still available. Like other databases, many of our eBook collections change content over time.

Generally, E-Books that we own/subscribe to will be listed in the Libraries catalog. Check Monarch OneSearch on the Libraries homepage.

You can also try searching the following E-Book databases:

Also check the VIVA Faculty Textbook Portal, which contains e-books that VIVA (Virtual Library of Virginia) will purchase for us.

The libraries provides access to many streaming video databases that may be useful for your classes. Many allow for clipping and showing segments of videos in class, and can also be embedded into Canvas.

Content in our video databases changes over time, so be sure to check back each semester to make sure that what you plan to use is still available.