International Journal of Open Educational Resources Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2019/Winter 2020 | Page 121

Rural Librarians’ Journey to Understanding Students’ Role in OER Outreach
Continuing and Expanding
Outreach
Just as our background work involved
both faculty and students, so
will our outreach going forward. To
best address faculty barriers to adoption,
it is our intent to develop a faculty
survey based on questions asked by
Allen and Seaman (2014), Belikov and
Bodily (2016), and Braddlee (2019). We
hope to ascertain what Adams State’s
faculty know or perceive about OER,
and utilize the information gleaned to
help shape our future outreach efforts.
In addition, we have a $1000 dollar
grant stipend, which we hope to use
to incentivize five faculty members to
spend 10 hours reviewing an open text
in their field. Faculty members who are
skeptical about the quality of open textbooks/resources
are often pleasantly
surprised when they dig into the material
in order to review it (Ernst & Cohen,
2019). Many open texts are openly
licensed versions of well-known, core
textbooks in the field, were produced at
“good” institutions (perceived as being
of inherently better quality than lesser-known
schools), or were highly reviewed
by leading professionals in the
field (e.g., MIT professors). With continued
and persistent outreach and education,
as well as clearly outlined ways
in which librarians can assist instructors
with finding resources, we hope the
initiative will gain momentum.
However, our primary focus
will be to develop working relationships
with student representatives on
campus, including Adams’ Associated
Student & Faculty Senate (AS&F). This
group can help us interpret our survey
results, make effective use of the
data we have collected, and identify the
ways students can effectively communicate
their needs. We would also like
to form an OER advisory committee
that includes representatives from all
four campus groups: students, faculty,
librarians, and administration. We
want to emulate North Carolina State
University Libraries’ efforts to “connect
with our students over their experience
... [and] engage them in conversations
that empower student advocacy for
open educational resources” (Thompson
et al., 2017, p. 123). Even more, the
library could directly benefit from these
kinds of connections. Thompson et al.
(2017) further stated “[t]hese conversations
have also helped us to spread the
word about the Libraries’ commitment
to textbook affordability ... engendering
recognition and appreciation of the Libraries.”
Most campus libraries would
no doubt find that kind of appreciation
advantageous.
In addition to our faculty survey,
we intend to revamp our initial student
survey to include some of the following
questions:
• Did you consider textbook costs
when registering for classes?
• Have you chosen not to enroll in
a required course due to textbook
costs?
• If so, what level was the course?
• How many courses have you ___
because you couldn’t afford textbooks
or course materials (including
access codes)?
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