Once you have authored your own accessible OER, or made a new edition of an existing OER, and have it hosted and available to the public with an open license, how will others find your work? There are a few services which allow you to share this work in a Google-searchable, discoverable way:
OER Commons
OER Commons hosts resources for all educational levels, K-12 through higher education. By creating an account, you can submit a new OER to be included in the OER Commons. You can also make your content directly within their OpenAuthor platform.
MERLOT
While we have mentioned MERLOT’s Content Builder in previous modules, the main feature of MERLOT is its searchable database of OER with links to files elsewhere (instead of hosting the files in MERLOT).
By creating an account, you can submit a new OER for review by a panel of subject experts. If your OER is accepted, it will now be linked in one of the most popular places for educators to find OER. Even though MERLOT does not host all files in the referatory, you can submit MERLOT Content Builder pages, along with any files hosted on MERLOT Content Builder.
Institutional Digital Repositories
Many higher education institutions have a digital repository, a space to host files created at the institution which is focused on discoverability and sustainability. Most digital repositories are searchable from Google and/or Google Scholar, along with being searchable within their own homepages.
Fourteen institutions in Georgia participate in the Georgia Knowledge Repository, a central location for Georgia repositories that is easily searchable. If you want to know whether or not your institution has a digital repository, the best place to ask is your institution’s library. Libraries often participate in the creation, hosting, and use of digital repositories.
Reflection:
1. How would making your OER more discoverable affect the impact it has within your field?
2. Another way to boost discoverability would be to share the resource with your colleagues and academic discipline communities. What is the best way to reach out to them about your new resource?
This is the end of the tutorial! Please contact Jeff Gallant at jeff.gallant@usg.edu with any questions you have about OER.
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Module 5: Applying a License to OER
End of training