What type of OER are you looking for?
- Comprehensive OER Search Sites
- Open Textbooks
- Articles & Readings
- Images, Video and Media
- Miscellaneous Resources
Click on a resource category to expand the instructional material resources. If you aren't sure if an Open Educational Resource (OER) is accessible to students with disabilities, you may contact the DPRC for assistance at access@sfsu.edu.
Comprehensive OER Search Sites
| Title | Access | Tips & Info |
|---|---|---|
| Merlot II | Free (though some material may be copyrighted) |
CSU-sponsored search tool with user ratings and peer reviews. Advanced search feature lets you refine and target your search.
Search MERLOT, then Advanced Material Search |
| Cool 4 Ed | Free & Open |
Use the Find tab to search open textbooks course materials and articles across disciplines.
Sponsored by collaboration between CSU, UC and CCC. |
| OER Commons | Free & Open | Use Advanced Search. Includes resources across discipline and levels with user ratings. |
| OER Metafinder | Free & Open | The OER Metafinder performs a simultaneous search across 19 different sources of open educational materials. |
| Lumen Learning | Free & Open | Curated list of open multimedia resources that can be used individually to augment course material of combined to replace course textbook. |
| Advanced Google Search | Free materials possible | Scroll to the bottom of the page to change the usage rights filter to search for free and open materials. For images, any search term will do. For textbooks, include "open or e textbook" in your search terms. |
| Teaching Commons | Free & Open | The Teaching Commons brings together high-quality open educational resources from leading colleges and universities. Curated by librarians and their institutions, the Teaching Commons includes open access textbooks, course materials, lesson plans, multimedia, and more. |
| The WAC Clearinghouse | Free & Open |
Open-access journals, books, and other resources for teachers who use writing in their courses. |
Open Textbooks
| Title | Access | Tips & Info |
|---|---|---|
| Free to SF State students with SF State login and library PIN |
Search Leonard Library catalog for eBooks that can be distributed to SF State students via iLearn. Click here to see a list of eTextbooks already adopted in courses at SF State. |
|
| Open Textbook Library | Free & Open | Peer reviewed and open licensed textbooks in multiple disciplines. |
| OpenStax College |
Free & Open |
Limited and high quality selection of open textbooks, modules and pages for large, intro courses. |
| Free & Open | Collection of open textbooks targeted 40 high-enrollment subject areas including trades and tourism. Created by the BC Open Textbook Project. | |
| Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources | Free but not all open (check licensing) | Index of online textbooks sorted by discipline. |
| MIT OpenCourseWare | Mix of free & open and purchase required resources. | Predominantly math, engineering and science textbooks searchable by department. |
| Free & Open |
Limited list of approximately 100 downloadable open textbooks. To search by keyword, press ctrl+F (PC) or cmd+F (Mac). |
|
| Free with ads | eTextbooks in multiple disciplines with some commercial advertising within books. Initial download requires email address to be provided. |
Articles & Readings
| Title | Access | Tips & Info |
|---|---|---|
| Journal Databases at SF State | Free to SF State students with SF State login and library PIN | Journal articles from any SF State library database can be distributed to SF State students via iLearn. |
| Directory of Open Access Journals | Free & Open | Easy to use search feature. |
| Bentham Open | Free (copyrighted) | Peer-reviewed article in: Science, Technology, Medicine, Social Science |
| MedEd | Free & Open | Peer-reviewed health education teaching and assessment resources. |
Images, Video & Media
| Title | Access | Tips & Info |
|---|---|---|
| Streaming Video Databases at SF State | Free to SF State students with SF State login and library PIN |
Scroll down to Streaming Media section to find videos you may distribute to SF State students via iLearn. Great sources for covering current events including videos from National Geographic, Scientific American, BBC, Bloomberg, TED, HBO, etc. |
| DIVA | Free & Open | Open digital archive of resources and collections shared by the SF State community. |
| Creative Commons | Free & Open | One search engine helps you search multiple sites for images and media. |
| The Met's Collection | Free & Open | Over 400,000 high-res art images searchable by artist, material, geography and period (No Rights reserved). |
| National Gallery of Art Images | Free & Open | Over 45,000 high-res art images. |
| The Rijksmuseum (Netherlands) | Free & Open | Over 300,000 high-res art images searchable by artist, material, geography, period, color and technique (No Rights Reserved). |
| Morguefile | Some free, some paid stock photos | Images on Morguefile tab are free. Other tabs in this page search paid resources. |
| Visual Hunt | Free & Open | High quality stock photos. |
Miscellaneous Resources
| Title | Access | Tips & Info |
|---|---|---|
| OpenStax CNX Library | Free & Open |
OpenStax CNX offers content which comes in modules (which are like small, "knowledge chunks") and collections (which are groups of modules structured into books or course notes, or for other uses). Use Advanced Search. |
| Khan Academy | Free & Open | Math, Science, Engineering, Computing, Economics and a bit of Art/History activities and exercises for self-assessment for intro college level courses. |
| OpenLearn | Free courses and open course materials: syllabi, notes, presentations, quizes, activities | Primarily organized as courses or course topics: all the materials, none of the interaction Open University UK's major contribution to OER. |
| The MOMA Exhibitions History (1929-present) | Free & Open | Living digital archive of the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition history—from its founding in 1929 to the present—is available online. It includes exhibition catalogues, primary documents, installation views, and an index of participating artists. Note that the MOMA’s Art Collection (which is separate) is not free and open, only the exhibitions history. |
| Open Course Library | Free & Open | A collection of high quality, free-to-use courses that you can download and use for teaching. All content is stored in Google docs making it easy to access, browse and download. |
| Digital Public Library of America | Free & Open | Photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and more, from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. |