International Journal of Open Educational Resources Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2019/Winter 2020 | Page 10

International Journal of Open Educational Resources
higher education. And while librarians may be significant OER champions, most
do not choose to go it alone. Many of the papers in this issue detail the need for
successful partnerships across an institution in order to support OER supporters
and practitioners, create visibility around the need for OERs, and to ensure the
sustainability of OER initiatives. Librarians are often in a position to facilitate
these relationships and these articles describe the successes and learning experiences
from a myriad of partnerships. Details of contributions from a range of
library positions, instructional designers, faculty members, administrators, and
governmental partners are described and the need for clear roles, long-term thinking,
and effective communication techniques are highlighted.
Other papers detail the need for OERs that goes beyond the capacity for OER to
save students and the institution money. Rather, they highlight the need for a more
equitable and accessible academic environment that will create opportunities for
meaningful impacts. These papers explore pedagogical opportunities afforded by
OERs and the wide range of impacts that accessible educational materials have on
student success. Several of our authors show that thinking outside of the box when
it comes to OER can have a wider, and sometimes unexpected, impact on students.
Lastly, the papers in this issue also highlight the need for intentional engagement
with students, both as collaborative partners in the creation of OER and as important
stakeholders from whom librarians should solicit feedback in order to keep
OER initiatives moving forward. Methods of effective assessment are of high
importance and the thoughtful inclusion of student voices and experiences make
the entire process that more meaningful.
In all, we are so pleased with the quality of papers that we received for this double
special issue on Libraries and OER. We hope that our readers will not only find
inspiration from the work of our authors but that they will also find a number of
practical applications that will help facilitate OER initiatives at their institutions.
Looking ahead to our second special issue, readers will enjoy a number of research
papers, theoretical perspectives, opinion pieces, and position papers.
The editors would like to give a special thank you to our peer reviewers, especially
those who went above and beyond with last-minute requests, this issue could
not have been produced without your support.
Samantha Cook, MSIS, Instructional Design Librarian
University of Wyoming Libraries
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