Using Open Access & OER at VTI

This guide explains how students and faculty at Vector Technology Institute can use Open Access (OA) and Open Educational Resources (OER) to find high‑quality, legal, and affordable learning materials for teaching, learning, and research.

How to Use This Guide

  • Start with the definitions to understand the difference between OA and OER and why both matter for VTI.
  • Use the core platforms listed below as your “first‑stop” when searching for free, reputable books, articles, and courses.
  • Follow the steps in “Finding OA/OER for Your Course or Assignment” to build reading lists or locate alternatives to paid textbooks.
  • Check licences before you adapt or remix materials and consult the APA & Research Skills guides for citation and evaluation help.
  • Contact the library if you need tailored recommendations or help evaluating specific resources.

1. What Do “Open Access” and “OER” Mean?

Both OA and OER reduce cost and access barriers, but they serve slightly different purposes in courses and research.

  • Open Access (OA) – Scholarly research outputs (articles, books, reports, theses) that are free to read online, usually via a publisher or repository.
  • Open Educational Resources (OER) – Teaching and learning materials (textbooks, modules, videos, quizzes, slides) that are free to use and carry an open licence that allows adaptation and remixing.
  • Key difference – OA focuses on free access to research, while OER emphasizes both free access and permission to revise, remix, and redistribute.
  • 5R permissions (typical of OER) – Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute, enabled by open licences such as Creative Commons.

Why this matters at VTI: OA sources are excellent for readings and research assignments; OER are ideal when you want to customise materials to match VTI programmes, local context, or specific assessments.

2. Core OA & OER Platforms to Start With

Use these trusted platforms as a starting point before turning to commercial databases or general web search.[web:91][web:105]

Open Textbooks & Books

  • OpenStax – Peer‑reviewed textbooks in core subjects, including math and business foundations relevant to CS/IT.[web:100][web:103]
  • Open Textbook Library – Catalog of open textbooks with faculty reviews; browse by discipline.[web:100][web:103]
  • Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) – Academic books across disciplines, all open access and vetted through publisher quality checks.[web:95][web:100]
  • Open Research Library – Aggregated OA books from multiple publishers.[web:95][web:100]
  • LibreTexts – Highly modular textbooks and learning modules that can be remixed and adapted.[web:100]

Journals & Articles (OA)

  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – Index of peer‑reviewed OA journals across disciplines; use to discover high‑quality titles.[web:95][web:101]
  • Google Scholar – Discovery tool; use “All versions” and OA links where available, and evaluate sources carefully.[web:95][web:99]
  • CORE – Aggregates OA research papers from repositories and journals worldwide.[web:95]
  • arXiv – Preprint server (especially for CS, math, physics); useful for emerging topics, but not all content is peer‑reviewed.[web:95]
  • DOAB and World Bank Open Knowledge Repository – For policy, development, and technical reports.[web:95][web:101]

Courses, Modules & Teaching Materials (OER)

  • MIT OpenCourseWare – Full course materials across STEM and computing, reusable in your courses.[web:100]
  • Saylor Academy – Free college‑level courses that link to OER textbooks and readings.[web:100]
  • MERLOT – Curated teaching materials, many peer‑reviewed by educators.[web:105]
  • OER Commons – Broad OER aggregator with tools for building and sharing your own collections.[web:100][web:105]
  • BCcampus Open Education – Open textbooks and guides for adopting, adapting, and evaluating OER.[web:97][web:103]

Note: Some platforms host both OA and OER; always check the individual item’s licence to see what reuse is allowed.[web:95][web:103]

3. Finding OA/OER for Your Course or Assignment

Use these steps when you need a textbook alternative, readings for a module, or materials for a specific assignment.[web:99][web:102]

  • Clarify the topic and level – Identify the course outcome or assignment question (e.g., “first‑year network fundamentals,” “capstone project management”).[web:99]
  • Check subject guides first – Visit the CS/IT Student Guide, Business & Management Guide, or Caribbean & Jamaica Studies Guide for pre‑vetted resources.[web:91]
  • Search one or two OA/OER platforms – For textbooks, use OpenStax or Open Textbook Library; for courses, use MIT OCW or Saylor; for articles, start with DOAJ or CORE.[web:95][web:100]
  • Evaluate the resource – Check date, author credentials, peer‑review status, clarity, and relevance to your outcomes.[web:103][web:105]
  • Check the licence – Look for Creative Commons or other open licences to see if you can adapt, translate, or remix.[web:92][web:104]
  • Link or upload appropriately – Link directly to the official source page whenever possible; follow VTI’s LMS and copyright guidance.

Tip for faculty: When replacing a commercial text, pilot the OA/OER alternative in one module before switching the entire course, and gather student feedback on clarity and workload.[web:96]

4. Licensing, Attribution & Good Practice

Even when materials are free to access, you still need to respect licences and give proper credit.[web:92][web:104]

  • Creative Commons licences – Most OER use CC licences (e.g., CC BY, CC BY‑SA). These specify how you may share, adapt, or remix content.[web:92][web:104]
  • Check for ND and NC – “ND” (NoDerivatives) means you cannot modify the work; “NC” (NonCommercial) restricts commercial reuse but is usually fine for teaching.[web:92]
  • Always attribute – Include author name, title, source, and licence. This is separate from formal APA referencing in student work.[web:92][web:103]
  • Use APA for academic work – Students should still cite OA/OER sources in APA style; refer them to the APA Formatting & Citation Guide.
  • Avoid questionable sites – Do not rely on platforms that scrape PDFs without clear rights information; prefer recognised OA/OER providers.[web:95]

Reminder: When in doubt about reuse, ask the library or check the resource’s “Rights” or “Licence” information before adapting it.[web:92][web:103]

5. Support & Related VTI Guides

The library can help you choose, evaluate, and integrate OA and OER resources into your teaching and assignments.[web:91]

Next step: If you are planning to redesign a module or programme using OA/OER, contact the library early so we can help you map suitable resources to your learning outcomes.

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