Research Guides: Open Educational Resources & Textbook Affordability: Final Touches & Publishing

Complete your OER

As you finish your OER, here are a few last things to consider before sharing it with others:

All content should be your original work or material that was licensed for reuse with modifications. Alternatively, you should have permission from the author to distribute/adapt the material you've included in your OER.
Make sure your OER is accessible to those with disabilities.
Write an attribution statement if you've included other OER in your work.
Choose a Creative Commons license for your OER.

Helping Readers Access Your OER

If you want your students to be able to easily access and use your OER, consider the file format that you're selecting. For textbooks, ePub is often the most accessible format for those who want to read your OER using a mobile device. This guide from the University of Leicester explains how to create ePubs. BCCampus has also provided this table comparing textbook formats in terms of openness and mobility.

Publishing an OER

Once you've finished your OER, you have lots of options for sharing it with others. Here are a few tools that may help:

Pressbooks
Pressbooks is useful for creating and publishing open textbooks and can be used much like a WordPress site. Free and priced options.
Scalar
Developed at USC, Scalar allows you to create a nonlinear presentation for a text, using links and annotations. This tool can be useful if you want students to create OER in your class.
Open Textbook Library
Request that Open Textbook Library add your book to its collection. This is a great way to help other instructors find it.