Ask Us!: Open Educational Resources (OER)

E-reserves, or electronic reserves, is content that usually comes from copyrighted material and is meant to be other supplemental or required reading beyond a textbook. It is typically a copy from a portion of a work or, if Fair Use, permission, or licensing applies, a copy of the entire work that is uploaded to an online course/online system where only specific enrolled students have access to that material. It does not necessarily include linking to content found freely accessible online, such as news articles, though many still call that content "e-reserves" so that there's continuity for students. If you need help navigating whether or not you need copyright clearance (a license or permission) for copied material to be posted, please contact the Copyright Education area liaison in the Access Services Office (contact info below). See this section of the Copyright guide for more guidance on reserves and e-reserves.

OER, or open educational resource, is content created specifically to be free and reusable, usually under specific open licenses like the Creative Commons licenses. Like other course content, sometimes it can be linked or it might be uploaded as a file for your students to download. It might be just a small reading or activity, but a lot of times it is an entire textbook! Because of the nature of OER, you might not need to seek a copyright clearance to use it the way you wish in your course, because it already comes with one! See below for more info on OER. OER is not a substitute for reserves or e-reserves, but it is for a textbook or other publisher-related content that can come with textbooks (such as quizzes and activities). For those wanting to implement or create OER material, material that was formerly used in a reserves situation cannot be repackaged into OER material. This is because it is one thing to offer e-reserves in a closed course system and another to act as a publisher of that information and share it publicly. Fair Use may apply for using copyrighted content within an OER, but it is dependent upon all factors of Fair Use. Just because Fair Use may apply under an e-reserves situation does NOT mean it will apply while being used in creating OER. 

(!) Keep in mind the options for how you can incorporate the use of copyrighted material without copying or republishing it. Sometimes simply linking to the content within your OER textbook or work is the best way if you don't need to remix it or publish it in a new format. Or, remember that standard eReserves might be the better solution rather than copying/republishing the copyrighted material in your OER. OER is not intended to take the place of eReserves, which are already an affordable way for students to access course readings.

Find more definitions in the hyperlinked alphabet of the "Copyright Topics/Glossary" tab of the Copyright Guide.

This video explains 3 tips for faculty to stay copyright compliant in their online courses when using copyrighted content: