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Seneca Libraries Staff Guide to Open Educational Resources: Gather Information

Getting Started

You will want to start by gathering as much information as you can from the faculty member asking for help. Treat this just like a reference interview! Here is a checklist of helpful tips and questions you should be sure to ask before you begin searching for OERs.

OER Liaison Interview

Step 1: Gather information

Preliminary questions:

  • What are you hoping to find?
  • Tell me about your course.
  • What topics do you cover?
  • What do you currently use?
  • What formats do you need? (eg. print, video, interactive)
  • What type of resource are you looking for > Book? Articles? Multi-media? Case Studies?
  • Where have you looked already?

 

Step 2: Take a quick look around

Initial search together (See the next tab, Find Existing OER, for search tips):

  • Are these results what you were hoping to find?
  • Are these useful?
  • What’s missing?
  • Would you need more resources?

Compile results in an email, with links to the OER workflow and OER Guide For Faculty

 

Step 3: Manage expectations

  • Always encourage faculty to reuse existing content. If they insist on creating something new, they need to consult Chairs and other program administrators. They may be able to talk about potential course release or Professional Development time but it is a program issue. Seneca Libraries and Teaching and Learning will not be responsible for funding.

Common Faculty Questions

 

Can I use this freely?
Can I edit this?
Are there instructor materials?
Is that all there is?
How do I share this?
What’s Creative Commons?
Is this accessible?
How can I make it accessible?

 

Unless otherwise specified, all resources on the Seneca Libraries Staff Guide to Open Educational Resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

                              
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.