Open and Affordable Course Content by Discipline

Most open textbook collections have an option to search by subject or discipline. Oftentimes, this options is a good way to see what the collection has to offer. Look for a drop down menu to select subjects/disciplines. You can also search collections by keywords. Our top open textbook collections are:

Step 1: Look for a direct replacement for your textbook:

      Check

• Open textbook collections such as the list above
• Your discipline on the Open and Affordable Content by discipline guide
• Try the OASIS search tool or the Mason OER Metafinder search tool to the left of this box.
• Check library collections for an ebook you can link to.

Step 2: If no direct replacement is found, consider compiling individual items from various sources into a reading/course content list or to include in each module of your course.

• Think about each topic or learning objective for your course. Choose keywords based on those learning objectives.
• Search open content sites and library resources using the keywords. For library content, you may post/distribute a link to the journal article, ebook, streaming film or other types of material available through the library..

Step 3:  Save

• Save potential selections in an organized way….maybe by course and learning objective. (You might just save it to iCollege, but perhaps a product like Zotero would be helpful.)
• Consider evaluative criteria about quality and appropriateness during your selection process.
• Consider copyright and licensing terms.

Step 4: Make final selections from open content and/or library resources and determine whether you will need to author/create content for your course.