OER, copyright and faculty: are academic librarians qualified to support this triptych?

OER, copyright and faculty: are academic librarians qualified to support this triptych?

Mildred Livak Room

OER (Open educational resources) is rapidly gaining momentum and recognition in higher education as the cost of textbooks and supplemental learning materials continue to rise. University administrators are realizing the cost-savings impact that OER can have on student enrollment and retention and are encouraging faculty to utilize these free resources in order to help the university stand out among the competition. As a profession, librarians have always collaborated with faculty to assist in locating relevant content for their courses as well as been leaders in open access, so it makes sense that we are being called on to assist in the navigation of these new open waters of OER. A significant challenge exists, however; there is much for those collaborating on OER projects to learn about the ever-changing (and confusing) nuances and ambiguities that accompany copyright law.

The notion of copyright cannot be separated from the creation or distribution of OER, especially when faculty are unsure or unaware of the origins of content they wish to include. Copyright infringement is a serious crime, and many academics have a distorted misconception that all educational use is fair use, when in fact, it is not. While academic librarians are taking on additional responsibilities to support and endorse its faculty as consumers and creators of this OER, are they actually qualified to do so without formal training and support? To make waters muddier, many universities lack institutional copyright policies, leaving librarians in the dark with no clear guidelines other than their own interpretation of the law. Even for the few individuals that have had some level of training in copyright, navigating and applying the law when assisting faculty with OER can be a daunting and labor-intensive task.

Session participants will gain a better understanding of the the OER movement, how copyright works in academia, and suggestions for obtaining support and training. This session will be informational as well as interactive, with embedded PollEverywhere questions for the audience to be active participants throughout.