The document discusses Ohio's Affordable Learning initiative, which was awarded a $1.3 million grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education. The grant supports open educational resource adoption and creation through various partnerships between Ohio colleges and universities. OhioLINK is coordinating efforts around awareness and advocacy, the Open Textbook Network, discovery and visibility of resources, and creation and collaboration on an open online commons called Open Ohio. The document outlines OhioLINK's role and lists ways that libraries can help support the initiative through activities like metadata work, resource identification, and connecting local campus efforts to statewide initiatives.

1. Affordable Learning Ohio
An OhioLINK initiative supported by ODHE
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships

2. • Parent Agency Ohio Department of Higher Ed gave
grant of $1.3 Million for OER adoption & Creation
• Ohio State University & selected regional community and
branch campuses – “feeder courses” to four year degree
• Ohio Dominican University – mathematics videos and
content
• Coalition of 15 community colleges for 20 high enrollment
lower division courses
• All OhioLINK initiatives directly support portions of the
grant proposals
• Directive of ODHE to grant participants that OhioLINK
will be involved.
• Blueprint for initial services to member campuses.
OER Grant
$1.3
million
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships

3. 3
Projects
• Awareness and Advocacy
• Open Textbook Network
• Discovery and Visibility
• Affordable Learning Ohio
• Creation and Collaboration
• Open Ohio OER CommonsStrategic Initiative
Partnerships

4. • Central OhioLINK: Anna Bendo, OhioLINK staff member who
is the point person for OER and Affordable Learning
initiatives.
• Member OhioLINK: The seven system leaders will form the
“Affordable Learning” team for OhioLINK to help coordinate
and market OTN & other efforts.
• Mandi Goodsett, performing arts and humanities librarian, Cleveland
State University
• Mary Hricko, library director, Kent State Geauga
• Steve Kaufman, senior instructional designer, University of Akron
• Mark Konecny, scholarly communications and digital publishing
strategist, University of Cincinnati
• Carla Myers, assistant librarian and coordinator of scholarly
communications, Miami University
• Joe Nowakowski, professor of economics, Muskingum University
• Janet Stewart, acting dean of library services, Shawnee State
University
• Angel Mootispaw, librarian, Southern State Community College
(alternate).
OhioLINK
Personnel
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships

5. • OhioLINK joined as a system in January 2017
• ”Train the trainer” model - workshops to train campus
leaders to give further workshops on individual
campuses.
• 7 System Leaders going to Summer Institute. They will
form the “Affordable Learning” team for OhioLINK to
help coordinate and market OTN & other efforts
• Had application process open to anyone, did not have
to be librarians.
Open
Textbook
Network
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships
Awareness
and
Advocacy

6. • OhioLINK is covering costs of:
• $30K for 5 regional workshops & all costs for 5 OTN System
Leaders to attend Summer Institute.
• 2 “extras” OTNSI attendees from campuses with individual
OTN memberships.
• Travel costs for System Leaders to attend regional
workshops around the state
• Paying for Reviews??? – TBD
• Related event: Librarian’s Affordable Learning/OER
Summit on July 24th
• https://cmyers102.wixsite.com/ohiolinkoersummit
• 50 attendees signed up, waiting list
• Meant to get librarians familiar with OhioLINK’s Affordable
Learning initiatives
Open
Textbook
Network
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships
Awareness
and
Advocacy

7. Affordable
Learning
Ohio
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships
Discovery
and
Visibility
OhioLINK branded website (LibGuides CMS)
already in development for:
• A-Z searchable database for finding OER resources in one place.
http://ohiolink.demo.libguides.com/az.php?s=121520
• Can create ”sub-databases” specific to materials identified of
interest to OER grant participants.
• Can create guides for each campus; can create guide/sub-site for
project. Visibility to legislature and ODHE on campus initiatives
very important.
• Leverages librarian expertise: most librarians on OhioLINK
campuses are very familiar with LibGuides – leveraged on
participant’s campuses to help faculty participants find, navigate,
add resources.
• Affordable Learning aspect. Not just OER, but OhioLINK licensed
resources.

8. Affordable
Learning
Ohio
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships
Discovery
and
Visibility
Affordable Learning Aspect:
• Not just OER materials, but blended materials. No cost to students;
materials have already been paid for by library.
• Ohio University’s “alt-textbook” program
• https://www.library.ohiou.edu/services/for-faculty/scholarly-communication/alt-
textbook-initiative/
• “For the past two years, University Libraries, in collaboration with instructional
technologists and designers from the Office of Instructional Innovation, has
offered a program to encourage and support instructors in efforts to use open
educational resources and licensed library content in place of expensive
course materials.”
• OhioLINK member expertise and collective collection development
– “gap analysis” and help with identifying the most useful
resources at a statewide level (ebook collections, other resources).
• The library and librarians are prominent in their subject mattter
expertise role.

9. Open
Ohio
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships
Creation
and
Collaboration
• Branded “microsite” of OER Commons.
https://www.oercommons.org/microsites
• Will be designed initially to meet needs of the
participants in the OER grant.
• Fills repository need and authoring tools for
created OER in multiple formats. Video and
Advanced Video Integration: Import, host, and
build collections of video resources. Video
annotation tools are also available.

10. Open
Ohio
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships
Creation
and
Collaboration
• Collaboration tool: can create groups and hubs for
collaboration on creation/modification of specific
resources – private discussions, ability to curate
collections, etc. Ex: Michigan Colleges Online
(Community Colleges)
https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/mco
• Includes helpdesk functionality, ability to use
proprietary materials within site and blend with
OER materials, excellent search optimization,
ANALYTICS.
• Can index and include items hosted elsewhere in
a seamless way: OSU ALX materials, for example,
are indexed in OER Commons:
https://www.oercommons.org/courses/a-guide-to-
technical-communications-strategies-applications

11. How can
libraries
help?
• Awareness and Advocacy
• Participate in OTN workshops and other activities like
this one; current awareness of what is happening
statewide to direct interested parties on your campus to
initiatives, experts, reports, grant opportunities. Sign up
for the AffordLearn listserv.
• Bring your specific expertise to efforts – copyright,
licensing, use rights, metadata.
• Become the communication hub on your campus to get
faculty, instructional designers, etc. to the right people or
resources. Identify possible interested faculty and let
them know what is happening.
• Make sure OER resources are incorporated into
discovery tools (catalog, discovery layer, etc.)
• New venture: Open Choice from ACRL/ALA.
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships

12. How can
libraries
help?
• Creation and Collaboration
• Open Ohio (OER Commons)
• Assist with custom metadata scheme.
• Assist with proper metadata assignment of created/modified items
• Assist with usage analytics
• Annual review of content to ensure viability over time – when does
something need to be upated? Creation of the review process and
procedures.
• Ensure that new additions are added to local access points;
ensure that Open Ohio is a known resource.
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships

13. How can
libraries
help?
• Discovery and Visibility
• Affordable Learning Ohio
• A-Z database sourcing
• Find resources, assess the assessment of quality in “publication” terms –
adequate rights statements, adequate metadata, durable location.
Content quality -- identify who on your campus can assess quality.
• Identify OhioLINK resources that are being used for particular classes or
curricula in “textbook-like” ways; ebooks, for example.
• Enhance metadata in appropriate ways, either in the resource itself
(OER) or in access points. Describe accurately in database.
• ”Gap analysis” – collectively, can we identify resources (traditional
licensed library resources, textbook collections) that would be useful
at a statewide level?
• Connection between local campus initiatives and the statewide
“registry” so that local efforts stay updated and visible. Do you know
who your efficiency expert is?
Strategic Initiative
Partnerships