Introduction and Overview

• Carlos Gutierrez, intellectual property coordinator for MIT Open Learning's online worldwide learning services (ALS team)
• Video purpose: introduce Open Educational Resources (OERs) and demonstrate MIT libraries resource guide usage
• Disclaimer: content informational only, not legal advice
• Coverage: OER definition, resource guide overview, uses, walkthrough, activities

OER Definitions and Types

• OERs: free and openly licensed educational materials
  • Types: books, articles, diagrams, presentation slides, assignments
  • Uses: teaching, learning, research, other purposes
  • Two key aspects: free (not for profit) + openly licensed (copyright status)
• Open Access vs Open License distinction:
  • Open access: viewable by anyone free of charge, minimal barriers (website registration/login only)
  • Open license: relates to reuse rights and obligations
  • Sometimes overlap (free to view + reuse), sometimes don't (restrictions apply)

MIT OER Resource Guide

• Created by MIT libraries expert librarian Nicholas Alba
• Compiles OER repository options by category
• Shows where to find: books, articles, teaching resources, news organizations
• Gateway for various OER options in one place

OER Applications

• Teaching workshops and reference assistance
• Supplementing materials for massive online open courses (MOOCs) and other course types
• Educational content creation in general

License Determination Process

• Challenge: not always clear if resource is open access, open license, or both
• Need to identify copyright ownership and restrictions
• Repositories may categorize open-licensed vs all rights reserved materials
• Open licenses can still carry obligations requiring careful parsing

Repository Examples from Guide

• Articles: CORE, Digital Commons Network
• Books: Directory of Open Access Books
• Teaching resources: MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
• News organizations: various options included

Practical Exercise 1: CORE Database Search

• Search article: "The role of synthetic biology in NASA's missions"
• Alternative keywords: synthetic + biology + NASA
• Task: locate copyright information, determine openness level
• Result: article in public domain (typical for federal government resources)

Practical Exercise 2: Digital Commons Network

• Search keywords: "Salish C"
• Target article: "The toxicity of dopamine on Salish C phytoplankton" by Allison Lombardo
• Task: determine commercial use permissions
• Result: free for scholarly purposes, requires author permission for commercial use

Practical Exercise 3: Free-form Search

• Return to resource guide, navigate to CORE
• Choose any keyword combination
• Select resource from results
• Locate copyright information and determine openness level
• Open-ended exploration for personal teaching applications