Open Educational Resources Task Force Meeting: July 25, 2017

Conference Call

Members Attending: Chris Diaz (Northwestern University), Kathy Ladell (Northern Illinois University),  Anne Shelley (Illinois State University), Sue Shultz (DePaul University), Janet Swatscheno (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Linda Zellmer (Western Illinois University)

Members Absent: Anne Chernaik (College of Lake County)

Staff Attending: Elizabeth Clarage, Anne Craig, Lorna Engels

Announcements

• Chris mentioned that Northwestern has an interest in this topic but had become familiar with the topic of OER at a former institution.
• Kathy mentioned that she has very little familiarity with OER.
• Anne is in a new position at her institution that will be supporting this topic.
• Sue mentioned that while she herself is a novice, she has had a meeting with a psychology faculty member and a Ph.D. candidate who would like to create an open textbook.
• Janet mentioned that she is familiar with publishing an open access monograph and journal and that the University of Illinois uses a proprietary platform, etext, which although not open, allows for the creation of textbooks.
• Linda mentioned that she has a LibGuide on the topic of OER.  There are some classes on her campus including astronomy, sociology, mathematics that are using open textbooks or open educational resources for their courses.  
• She also mentioned that she encourages faculty to apply for a summer stipend from the WIU Foundation to redesign a course to use open textbooks.

Discussion

• Introductions were made by all.  Many task force members are learning about the topic of Open Educational Resources.
• Anne Craig gave a background for the Task Force formation including having CARLI join the Open Textbook Network by having members support the membership fee. The role of the Task Force is broader than just the OTN.  She also mentioned one aspect of the work of the task force is the creation of the “Open Illinois” CARLI Initiative and the possibility of working with other organizations. The development of web resources (in the form of a web page) related to Open Educational Resources is another task.
• Anne Craig mentioned that this was a member initiative and that CARLI would be in a support position to allow the membership lead this initiative.
• There was a question, was anyone familiar with the Rebus Community (https://forum.rebus.community)?   It is a group effort to create open textbooks rather than being created by one person.  Others were not familiar with the project.
• Another idea that was raised was developing open resources/textbooks in-state for K-12 rather than paying for similar resources statewide.
• Another question was about adding items from the Open Textbook Library to the library catalog.  It isn’t a unique question as CARLI received a similar question from an I-Share member, but getting a bit more information about the resources available, may help the committee decide if this might be a recommended addition to the catalog.

Decision

• The group will meet again after the OTN Summer Institute and Summit to organize their plans for the year and the responses to the CARLI Board.

Tasks Assigned

• Elizabeth and Lorna will setup a conference call in August for the Task Force.
• Everyone should think about the broad topics/headings for the to-be-created website on Open Educational Resources.

Next Meeting

To be determined.