Highline College Library: Anti-Racist, Culturally Responsive, and Inclusive (ACRI): Open Educational Resources (OER)

OER vs Open Access

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials (including textbooks, courses, learning objects, tests, media, etc.) that can be freely used, revised, remixed, retained and redistributed without charge. OER often have a Creative Commons license that states specifically how the material can be used, reused, adapted, and shared. They may also be in the public domain.

Open Access Resources are available online free for people to use, but they may not be revised, remixed, retained, or redistributed. Examples include state government documents (U.S. government websites are in the public domain), articles from open access journals, websites, etc.

Library-Licensed Materials are resources that a library subscribes to for use by their users. These are free for the users because the library has already paid an access cost. Similar to Open Access Resources, they can be used but not revised, remixed, retained, or redistributed.

Fair Use provides for some leeway in using Open Access and Library-Licensed materials with students in a classroom setting (in person and online). Learn more about OER licenses and copyright.

To learn more about OER and Open Access Resources, see the Faculty Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER).

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition
CC BY
"The goal of the Accessibility Toolkit - 2nd Edition is to provide resources for each content creator, instructional designer, educational technologist, librarian, administrator, and teaching assistant to create a truly open textbook—one that is free and accessible for all students."
Antiracism Toolkit for Allies
CC BY NC SA 4.0
“Focusing on general antiracism principles, this toolkit presents five key steps toward becoming an ally both within scholarly publishing and within your broader community.”
Beyond Race - Cultural Influences on Human Social Life
CC BY NC SA
Cultural Sociology textbook that stresses "learner-centered teaching with the instructor taking on the role of a facilitator of learning."
Centering Diversity and Inclusion
CC BY 4.0
Chapter outcomes: "Explain how your cultural and class-based perspectives can affect your course content, for better or worse. Provide two examples of activities to encourage inclusivity in your course."
Conducting research through an anti-racism lens
Usage statement: "We encourage others to build on, lovingly critique, and evolve the ideas in this guide."
"This guide is for students, staff, and faculty who are incorporating an anti-racist lens at all stages of the research life cycle."
Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets
CC BY
Collection of resources that use primary sources to explore various topics.
Enhancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) in Open Educational Resources (OER)
CC BY NC SA
"This practical guide provides a framework and tips to enhance inclusion, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in Open Educational Resources."
Equity Rubric for OER Evaluation
CC BY NC SA
"The rubric is intended for use by Teacher Educators (TEs) to evaluate OER with the goal of increasing the number of high-quality, equity oriented, and inclusive OER that represents communities of color."
From Racist to Non-Racist to Anti-Racist: Becoming a Part of the Solution
CC BY NC ND
Improving Representation and Diversity in OER Materials
CC BY 4.0
OpenStax's framework and guidelines for development.
Indigenous & First Nations Studies: Citation
CC BY NC SA 4.0
Library guide from Vancouver Community College.
Indigenous Research Guide
CC BY NC SA 4.0
Library guide from the University of Alberta
Integrating Anti-racist Pedagogy into Your Classroom
CC BY 4.0
Video and slides from the Community College Consortium for OER (CCCOER)
Open Educational Resources as Tools to Foster Equity
CC BY
YouTube video
Open for Antiracism (OFAR) Participant Showcases
CC BY 4.0
“To celebrate the end of Open for Antiracism grant pilot program, the faculty participants shared how they changed their courses to be antiracist using OER, open pedagogy, and other tools.”
Open For Antiracism (OFAR) Template
CC BY
“The Open for Antiracism (OFAR) Program – co-led by CCCOER and College of the Canyons – emerged as a response to the growing awareness of structural racism in our educational systems and the realization that adoption of open educational resources (OER) and open pedagogy could be transformative at institutions seeking to improve. The program is designed to give participants a workshop experience where they can better understand anti-racist teaching and how the use of OER and open pedagogy can empower them to involve students in the co-creation of an anti-racist classroom."
Opening Eyes onto Inclusion and Diversity
CC BY NC
Book with chapters on diversity in nursing, for refugees, early childhood education, and importance of indigenous cultural perspective in education.
Openly Licensed Image Searching Guide
CC BY 4.0
Library guide showing where to find openly-licensed images from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Library.
A People’s History of Structural Racism in Academia: From A(dministration of Justice) to Z(oology)
CC BY
Book that includes a look at structural racism by discipline.
Race and Gender in Asian America
CC BY NC SA 4.0
MIT Open Courseware course
WTCS Guide to OER and Antiracism
CC BY
Guide for instructors who want to create antiracist OER.

Open Access Resources

Anti-Racism & Citation Styles: Guide
Open access
Folsom Lake College
The Anti-Racist Discussion Pedagogy
Open access
“An introductory guide to building an anti-racist pedagogy in any discipline through instructor reflection, clear communication guidelines, and inquiry-based discussion.”
Anti-Racist Scholarly Reviewing Practices: A Heuristic for Editors, Reviewers, and Authors
Open access
"This document offers explicit guidance on anti-racist professional practices in the form of a heuristic for editors, reviewers, and authors involved in academic reviewing."
Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future
Open access
“Inoue helps teachers understand the unintended racism that often occurs when teachers do not have explicit antiracist agendas in their assessments. Drawing on his own teaching and classroom inquiry, Inoue offers a heuristic for developing and critiquing writing assessment ecologies that explores seven elements of any writing assessment ecology: power, parts, purposes, people, processes, products, and places.”
APA's Apology to Black, Indigenous and People of Color for Its Support of Structural Racism in Psychiatry
Open access
American Psychiatric Association
ASCCC OERI Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Audit Framework
Open access
Buffalo Style Citations
Open access
Reimagining Citation
CCCOER Inclusive and Equitable Practices Materials Recommendations
Open access
"How to build an anti-racist pedagogy in any discipline through instructor reflection, clear communication guidelines, and inquiry-based discussion."
The Cite Black Women Podcast
Open access
"This bi-weekly podcast features reflections and conversations about the politics and praxis of acknowledging and centering Black women’s ideas and intellectual contributions inside and outside of the academy through citation."
Cultivating a Conscientious Citation Practice
Open access
“A blog dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of Canadian history as a field, discipline, and profession.”
Decolonizing Your Syllabus, an Anti-Racist Guide for Your College
Open access
Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
Developing Anti-Racist Curriculum and Pedagogy
Open access
Covers topics such as English and Math, among others.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in OER
Open access
Library guide that includes articles, where to find diverse images, videos, and more.
Enduring Legacies: Native Case Studies
Open access
Case studies on Native American subjects from The Evergreen State College.
Highline Cases
Open access
A repository for case studies that represent historically-marginalized populations used by Highline College faculty.
The importance of diversity in the comic book universe
Open access
Link to a TED Talk video
Screening for Biased Content in Instructional Materials
Open access
From the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction