Presentation delivered at the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) Annual Online Conference on June 17, 2020.

1. The Role of Librarians in Supporting
Textbook Affordability Initiatives at
Theological Colleges
Regina Gong, OER & Student Success Librarian
Michigan State University
ATLA 2020 Annual Online Conference
June 17, 2020
This presentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY)
International License.

2. This presentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
(CC-BY) International License.
https://www.slideshare.net/ReginaGong/presentations

3. Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

4. What we’ll talk about today
 Contextualizing open education
 Brief overview of OER and Creative Commons
Licenses
 Textbook affordability issue
 Role of libraries and librarians
 OER in Religion

5. Open education
Open resources
Open Educational Resources

6. Contextualizing open education
“open education encompasses resources, tools and practices that
employ a framework of open sharing to improve educational access
and effectiveness worldwide." (Open Education Consortium)
“open education is not limited to just open educational resources. It
also draws upon open technologies that facilitate collaborative,
flexible learning and the open sharing of teaching practices that
empower educators to benefit from the best ideas of their colleagues.”
(The Cape Town Open Education Declaration, 2007, para. 4).

8. Source:
http://bit.ly/NeumannCCBY

9. Open Educational Resources (OER)
Teaching, learning, and research resources that
reside in the public domain or are released under
an intellectual property license that permits their
no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution
by others with no or limited restrictions.
https://www.hewlett.org/strategy/open-educational-resources/

10. Open Educational Resources
• Free and unfettered access
• Perpetual, irrevocable 5R permissions

11. Open Educational Resources
Any kind of teaching materials – open
textbooks, syllabi, lesson plans, videos,
readings, exams, images, simulations,
full courses, games, lectures, etc.

12. • Download and keep your own copyRetain
• Use the original, revised, or remixed copy of the
resource publiclyReuse
• Edit, adapt, and modify a copy of the resourceRevise
• Combine the original or revised copy of the resource with
other existing material to create something newRemix
• Share copies of the original, revised, or remixed copy
of the resource with othersRedistribute
The 5R
David Wiley http://opencontent.org/definition/

14. OER = Free + Permissions

15. puts the “open” in OER with total
number of CC licensed works now at
1.2 billion in 2016
Data from the State of the Commons report https://stateof.creativecommons.org/

18. • AffordabilityBenefits of
OER

19. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

20. Student Watch™: Attitudes and Behaviors toward Course Materials: 2018-2019 Report

21. 2018 Florida Virtual Campus Student Textbook & Course Materials Survey

22. Inflection Point: Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2019

23. Image source: https://unsplash.com/search/money?photo=OCrPJce

24. • Affordability
• Access
• Agency
• Student success
Benefits of
OER

25. Why should libraries advocate for OER?
 Commitment to access and sharing knowledge
 We work closely with faculty and students
 We support the teaching, learning, research, outreach
missions of our institutions
 Our collections support academic programs, courses,
and curriculum
 Libraries are trusted

26. Role of Theological Librarians in OER
Initiatives
 Facilitate the discovery, curation, evaluation of OER

27. Inflection Point: Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2019

28. Inflection Point: Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2019

29. For theological libraries,
searching for only OER can
be a challenge. Consider
other “free” resources such
as library-subscribed
materials and resources in
the public domain.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

30. Dale Cannon, Western Oregon University
Copyright Year: 1996
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company
Language: English
https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/542

31. Editors:
Nijay K. Gupta, Portland Seminary
Jonah M. Sandford, Portland Seminary
Copyright Year: 2018
Publisher: George Fox University Library
Language: English
https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/592

32. Editor: John Bunzl
Copyright Year: 2004
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Language: English
https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/01/16/71/00001
/Bunzl_9781616101084.pdf

33. Editors: Agustín Fuentes and Celia Deane-
Drummond, University of Notre Dame
Copyright Year: 2004
Publisher: Center for Theology, Science, and
Human Flourishing
Language: English
https://ctshf.pressbooks.com/

34. Other Sources
 Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural
Anthropology -- has a chapter on Religion
 OpenStax Introduction to Sociology -- has a chapter
on Religion
 Libretexts: Religious Studies --Three open textbooks
from Libretexts Humanities Library

35. Repositories, Open Courses, Supplemental Materials
 Religion Commons™ by The Digital Commons Network™
 Theological Commons by Princeton Theological Seminary
 Wabash Center
 New Testament Reading Room by Tyndale Seminary
 Old Testament Reading Room by Tyndale Seminary
 Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) - Open Yale
Courses by Professor Christine Hayes
 Introduction to the New Testament History and Literature -
Open Yale Courses by Professor Dale B. Martin

36. https://atla.libguides.com/wor

37. Role of Theological Librarians in OER
Initiatives
 Facilitate the discovery, curation, evaluation of OER
 Provide training to faculty and staff
 OER 101
 Open access, Creative Commons licensing, Fair Use and
copyright

38. Inflection Point: Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2019

39. Role of Theological Librarians in OER
Initiatives
 Provide training to faculty and staff
 Open textbook publishing
 OER efficacy research
 Facilitate and/or manage OER grant programs

40. https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/

41. https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/oer

42. Photo by Devi Puspita Amartha Yahya on Unsplash

43. Photo by Deva Darshan on Unsplash
Strategies that Work
• Meet faculty individually or as a
group.
• Continued, ongoing professional
development.
• Encourage and turn OER believers
into OER champions.
• Track your adoptions and
communicate success college-wide.
• Pursue partnerships and
collaborations within & outside of
your institution.

44. Image by Benoit Hamann from Pixabay

45. Photo by Bruno van der Kraan on Unsplash
Be clear about your goals and vision for the OER initiative

46. https://lib.msu.edu/oer/

47. https://lib.msu.edu/oer/

48. Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash

49. Questions?
Regina Gong
gongregi@msu.edu
@drgong