Tackling Textbook Costs through Open Educational Resources: A Primer at ALA Midwinter

SPARC in collaboration with the ARL/ACRL Institute on Scholarly Communication is offering an institute on open educational resources at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting 2015 in Chicago, on Thursday, January 29, 1:00–5:00 p.m., and Friday, January 30, 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Please note that this meeting will be held at McCormick Place West on Thursday and at the Sheraton Chicago on Friday.

 The skyrocketing cost of textbooks is a tremendous problem on campus, and academic libraries have a growing opportunity to advance a solution through open educational resources (OERs). OERs include digital textbooks and other academic materials that carry open licenses permitting their free use and repurposing by others.

Join us for this primer on how libraries can leverage OERs for textbook affordability—and beyond. Participants will learn from national experts, be inspired by successful projects, brainstorm with peers, and develop action plans. All experience levels are welcome.

Learning Outcomes

As a participant, you will:

• Learn the basics of OERs and how to talk about them on campus.
• Learn how academic libraries are successfully advancing OERs.
• Begin developing an action plan for your campus.

Presenters

Speakers include:

• Nicole Allen, SPARC
• Steven Bell, Temple University
• Marilyn Billings, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• David Ernst, University of Minnesota
• Kristi Jensen, University of Minnesota
• Quill West, Pierce College
• David Wiley, Lumen Learning
• Stacy Zemke, University of Oklahoma

Registration

Individuals from ARL member institutions receive a significant discount on the nonmember registration fee. You are not required to register for the ALA Midwinter Meeting in order to register for this institute. Complete details and registration materials are on the OER institute webpage.