Federated Search Tools

OER repositories are great places to look for OER, especially if you're looking for textbooks and other text-based material. However, if you're not sure what kinds of resources you may want to use and suspect that non-textual materials might be useful as well, try starting with one of these search tools. These tools search across OER repositories and other online repositories to help you find OER in a variety of formats and media.

OASIS: Openly Available Sources Integrated Search (OASIS) is a search tool developed at SUNY Geneseo that aims to make the discovery of open content easier. This tool simultaneously searches over 100 different sources.

MOM: The Mason OER Metafinder (MOM) is a search tool developed at George Mason University. This tool simultaneously searches 22 different sources. You can add or remove sources to modify your search targets.

Openly licensed media and other resources can be found via other online sites as well. The table below shares some ideas for getting started.

Online options for finding media content
Type of Content	Where to Find It
General Media Search	Creative Commons Search Wikimedia Commons
Images	Getty Open Content Project Pexels Pixabay Noun Project(great for icons)
Video (be sure videos include accurate captions or a well-formatted transcript to allow for full accessibility)	YouTube (use the Creative Commons filter) Vimeo (use the Creative Commons filter)
Audio (be sure audio files include a well-formatted transcript to allow for full accessibility)	Bandcamp Library of Congress Audio Files
Simulations	PhET Interactive Simulations (for science and math)
Full Courses	MIT OpenCourseWare

Searching the Web

Using a search engine's advanced search features to filter search results according to open licenses can also help you find OER that have not been added to OER repositories but are online in other locations, such as course or university web pages and institutional repositories.

Given Google's popularity, Google is the example here. Your preferred search engine may provide a similar search option for openly licensed content. If your preferred search engine does not provide such an option, appending the acronym "OER" (without quotes) to your search term(s) often works well.

Google Advanced Search

The Google Advanced Search allows you to filter results by usage rights, but it does not offer a list of licenses to search. Instead, Google gives its own descriptions of the licenses:

not filtered by license (default)
free to use or share (CC BY-NC-ND)
free to use or share, even commercially (CC BY-ND)
free to use, share, or modify (CC BY-NC or CC BY-NC-SA)
free to use, share, or modify, even commercially (CC BY or CC BY-SA)

To find content that you can modify, select one of the last two options in the drop-down menu.

Disciplinary Resources

Finally, it is worth checking in with organizations and associations in your discipline to find OER. For example, the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) has developed an Open Textbook Initiative. Thanks to this initiative, mathematics instructors can find a selection of open math textbooks that have been vetted by the AIM Editorial Board.

Similarly, the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), which is a non-profit consortium of law schools, law libraries, and related organizations, provides openly licensed casebooks for use by faculty and students.

Colleagues and disciplinary listservs and other communication forums can be a great way to find out about the state of OER in your discipline and any in-progress OER projects. Most faculty who are already using or creating OER are happy and even eager to share ideas. Don't hesitate to reach out to colleagues.