Open Access Statement for McGill University Library

Posted on by
Comment

McGill Librarians and Archivists are proud to announce the Open Access Statement for McGill University Library. The timing could not be better as libraries all over the world have closed their doors and stopped circulating their print materials in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. These closures have highlighted the need for open and online scholarly resources, now and in the future. That said, free and equitable access to publicly-funded research has always been key to building a healthy and fair society.

What are the benefits of publishing in an open access venue?

– Increased visibility, usage, and impact of your research
– More efficient dissemination compared with traditional publishing models
– Retention of some or all of your copyrights
– Contribution to societal good by providing scholarly content to a global audience
– Rigour of traditional peer-review before publication
– Ongoing feedback through social media

If you want to learn more about how McGill Librarians and Archivists have framed their commitment to open access publishing, please read the full statement here: https://www.mcgill.ca/library/about/open-access-statement

Feel free to contact the Library with any questions or comments about this statement: https://www.mcgill.ca/library/contact/askus

Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash

 

 

 

Open Education Resources Made Easy

Posted on by
Comment

by Jessica Lange, Scholarly Communications Librarian

Thinking about using open textbooks this fall?

3 easy steps: Find, Evaluate, Use!

The drastic shift to online in higher education has a lot of professors rethinking their instruction methods as well as their course materials. Substituting online materials for print, is becoming an attractive option.

Locating and using open content doesn’t have to be hard and the Library is there to support you along the way.

  1. Find
    1. SUNY has created a search engine dedicated to open textbooks and related materials. It’s a great place to start: https://oasis.geedu/
    2. Tip: Search and then limit to ‘open access book’ or ‘textbook’
      search platform with filters on right hand side pointing to type: open access book and textbook
  2. Evaluate
    1. BCCampus has developed a great checklist for assessing an open textbook:
      1. Faculty Guide for Evaluating Open Education Resources
  3. Use
    1. Using these textbooks is as easy as providing a link. If you see a Creative Commons license (e.g.creative commons CC-BY license ) this means the item is free for students to download, save, and use—no additional rights or permissions required. All you have to do is credit the original author.

Can’t find content for your course or subject area? Don’t hesitate to contact your liaison librarian.

Frequently-Asked Questions

  • Won’t I be infringing on copyright if I use these materials?
  • What is the quality of these materials? 
    • As with any publication, quality will vary. However, many open textbooks are developed through rigorous peer review and production processes that mirror traditional materials. It is important to note that being open or closed does not inherently affect the quality of a resource.
  • Do open textbooks require special technology to use? 
    • No. One of the great things about open textbooks is that users have the right to turn it into any format they wish (which is almost always forbidden with traditional resources). Therefore, open textbooks aren’t tied to a particular type of device or software, which gives students and schools more freedom in what technology they purchase. In cases where technology isn’t available, there is always the option to print.
  • Does using open textbooks affect student learning? 
    • ​Studies to date have not shown a negative effect on student learning. A good summary of current research can be found on this guide. 
  • How do you tell if an educational resource is an open textbook? 
    • The key distinguishing characteristic of an open textbook is its intellectual property license and the freedoms the license grants to others to share and adapt it. If a book is not clearly tagged or marked as being in the public domain or having an open license, it is not open. It’s that simple. The most common way to release materials as open textbooks is through Creative Commons copyright licenses, which are standardized, free-to-use open licenses that have already been used on more than 1 billion copyrighted works.
  • What is the difference between ‘free’ and ‘open’ resources?
    • ​ Free resources may be temporarily free or may be restricted from use at some time in the future (including by the addition of fees to access those resources). Moreover, free-but-not-open resources may not be modified, adapted or redistributed without obtaining special permission from the copyright holder.

FAQs adapted in part from SPARC’s FAQ: Open Educational Resources (Creative Commons Attribution (CCBY) 4.0 International License)

See also: McGill Library Open Textbooks guide.

Self-Isolation Care Package

Posted on by
Comment

Dear McGill Community & Beyond,

This past week the Library has been continuing to provide services online. We are settling into our new reality and prepared to help our users in this era of remote instruction. However, we are also human. The idea of self-isolation and working from home may sound novel at first, but soon we all begin to feel its effects.

We know a lot of you have been fatigued by mention of COVID-19 in the news. Your social media feeds are likely full of updates or memes on the topic. Even the conversations you have with your friends and family can’t seem to avoid the virus. It’s the same for us too.

That is why we got to work and prepared a little Self-Isolation Care Package. These pages are an extension of our new online Redpath Book Display, and since we can’t exactly put up books in the library right now, we figured we could at least do a little something online. As we were looking for great E-books to share with you, we started to realize maybe this page should include a little bit more. Our staff helped put together a few of our favourite things, some you will find in the McGill Library catalogue and others might just be our go-to podcasts, recipes, or Netflix binge recommendations (we highly recommend not watching Contagion for the fifth time this week).

Whatever it is, we hope that you find the same enjoyment in these things as we have. Until such time comes that we can put up another book display in the Redpath main floor hall, look for us here.

All the best & stay well,

McLennan-Redpath Library