LibGuides: Open Educational Resources : OER Basics

Why Open Educational Resources Matter

What Is Open Education

Open Education depicted as a tree with access, opportunity, and equity at the base and concepts of open ed as the leaves.

What are Creative Commons Licenses?

What are Creative Commons Licenses by U of G Library (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

About OERs - A Brief Overview

Defining the "Open" in Open Content and Open Educational Resources

The terms "open content" and "open educational resources" describe any copyrightable work (traditionally excluding software, which is described by other terms like "open source") that is either (1) in the public domain or (2) licensed in a manner that provides everyone with free and perpetual permission to engage in the 5R activities:

Retain - make, own, and control a copy of the resource (e.g., download and keep your own copy)
Revise - edit, adapt, and modify your copy of the resource (e.g., translate into another language)
Remix - combine your original or revised copy of the resource with other existing material to create something new (e.g., make a mashup)
Reuse - use your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource publicly (e.g., on a website, in a presentation, in a class)
Redistribute - share copies of your original, revised, or remixed copy of the resource with others (e.g., post a copy online or give one to a friend).

Defining the "Open" in Open Content and Open Educational Resources was written by David Wiley and published freely under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license at http://opencontent.org/definition/.

OERs are typically licensed with one of six Creative Commons (CC) Licenses. To learn more about Creative Commons and its licenses, visit creativecommons.org. These can be recognized by the following CC License symbols, each of which denotes a specific set of terms under which the resource can be used:

CC-BY
The most permissive of the CC Licenses, the Attribution license allows users to reuse, copy, modify, and share the resource so long as they provide attribution to the creator of the original source, giving credit where it is due.
CC-BY-SA
Slightly more restrictive than CC-BY, the Share-Alike license also requires that attribution be given to the creator, while also stipulating that users must also use the same license on their use of the work; this ensures that all further uses of the work will also be OER.
CC-BY-NC
More restrictive still, the Non-Commercial License also requires that attribution be given to the creator of the resource, and additionally stipulates that the resource cannot be used for commercial purposes (such as advertising or profit).
CC-BY-NC-SA
The Non-Commercial/Share-Alike License combines the terms of the three previous licenses, requiring that attribution be given to the creator, that the use of the work be non-commercial, and that the user must use the same license on their use of the work.
CC-BY-ND
The second most restrictive of the CC-Licenses, the No Derivatives License requires that users provide attribution to the creator of the original resources, and also restricts the way that the work can be used - users must use the work as it is, without modification.
CC-BY-NC-ND
The most restrictive of the CC Licenses, the Non-Commercial/No Derivatives license requires that attribution be given to the creator of the original resource, that the use of the work be non-commercial in nature, and that the work be used as is, without any modification.

When using a Creative Commons work, be sure to properly attribute the author or creator. The Open Attribution Builder can help with proper syntax. License terms on some sites may appear as Creative Commons icons or appear when a hyperlink is hovered over.

The Choose a License Tool will walk you through a few questions to help you determine which freedoms and restrictions you would like to allow for your work.