Open Educational Resources (OER): Library Resources

Library resources are free for students but are not openly licensed. 

The Cincinnati State Library provides students and faculty with access to over 100,000 e-books, 11,000 streaming videos, and millions of articles across 80 research databases. While these materials are not openly licensed, they can all be embedded in Blackboard and accessed by students with a current student ID# FOR FREE on or off-campus. Most of our electronic resources are not owned in perpetuity, so you will want to verify that the content is still accessible each semester.  You may want to explore the library's collection to see if we have holdings that work for your course either on their own or in conjunction with OER. 

For more information on locating library materials or integrating resources in Blackboard, please see the Library's Faculty Guide. 

Want others ways to address textbook affordability at Cincinnati State? 

• Place a copy (or multiple copies) of your textbook on reserve in the library. Be sure to tell both your students AND the instructors of other sections that the book is available. This is even more helpful if you can notify students prior to the start of class so they can review the text and decide how critical it is to have a copy of their own. Use the Course Reserve Search link to determine if the text for your class is already on reserve. 
• Share the Library's Textbook Guide with your students. It includes screenshots of how to find required texts in the College's online bookstore, how to look up course reserves, and how to request materials from OhioLINK and SearchOhio. It also includes links to buying and renting textbooks and access codes from external sources.

If you have questions about OER or the resources listed in this guide, please contact:

Library Director, Cindy Sefton (x1699)