Search
Search engines
It's easy to find open access material online. Many search engines can search for and return creative commons licensed works.
- ACU Open Access - TeachingSearch boxes to fast track locating open access and open educational resources
- CC SearchUse Creative Commons Search to find images, music and videos you can share, use and remix.
- Creative Commons: Finding Open Access ResourcesThis site contains instructions on finding different types of open access resources, and links to various external sites for finding images, videos and more.
- Google SearchSearch Google to find CC licensed material. In advanced search, scroll down to usage rights and click on "free to use or share". You can then conduct your search as normal to find Creative Commons results.
Browser extensions
- Open Access ButtonUse this tool to find free, legal research articles and data delivered instantly, or automatically requested from authors.
- UnpaywallFind open access versions of research papers quickly and easily.
Research
- ACU Research BankResearch Bank is the institutional research repository of Australian Catholic University. It serves to collect, preserve, and showcase the research publications and scholarly outputs of ACU staff and higher degree students.
- DOAJ: Directory of Open Access JournalsDOAJ provides access to free fulltext quality controlled sceintific & scholarly journals.
- DOAB: Directory of Open Access BooksA discovery service for peer reviewed books published under an Open Access license. Over 1660 academic peer-reviewed books from over 55 publishers. The directory aims to cover all subject areas and all languages.
Textbooks
Benefits of using open textbooks:
- no student will miss out due to finances
- access textbooks online anywhere, anytime, with no limit on the number of users
- textbooks are produced by credible authors, often educators in the field
- teachers can locate, download, adapt, and make available to students, without copyright concerns
- OER ConsortiumMost of the textbooks on this list have Creative Commons (CC) open licenses or GNU-Free Document License. Others are U.S. government documents in the public domain (PD).
- LibreTexts libraryContains links to open-access post secondary education in the areas of Chemistry, Biology, Geosciences, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Social Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture, Photosciences, Humanities
- Open Course LibraryA collection of high quality, free-to-use courses that you can download and use for teaching
- UH OER TrainingA three-part training guide for bringing higher education instructors up to speed with Open Educational Resources (OER).
- Openly Available Sources Integrated Search (OASIS)Currently searches open content from 58 different sources and contains 160,258 records. OASIS is being developed at State University of New York Geneseo's Milne Library
- Free Books 4 DoctorsFree Medical Books
- Lyryx Open TextbooksHigh-quality open textbooks in the fields of accounting, mathematics, and economics.
Data
- Research Data AustraliaFind, access, and re-use data for research - from over one hundred Australian research organisations, government agencies, and cultural institutions.
- Registry of Research Data RepositoriesA global registry of research data repositories that covers data repositories from different academic disciplines.
- Data.gov.auAn easy way to find, access and reuse public datasets from the Australian Government. The site provides both downloadable datasets and links to online data services provided by other government sources.
Images, videos and music
Images - to use in your PowerPoint presentations, lectures and assignments
- Wikimedia CommonsA free online repository of images, sound and other media files. Check licensing for terms of re-use.
- Flickr - Photo SharingAn image and video hosting website containing millions of images. To find Creative Commons images, change 'Any License' to 'Creative Commons' in advanced search.
- NGA ImagesA repository of digital images of the collections of the National Gallery of Art in America. More than 20,000 open access digital images are available for download and use.
- Solomon R. Guggenheim MuseumThis museum archive contains 200+ digitized art books that can be read and downloaded.
- 85 Free Stock Photo ResourcesPage provides links to a range of open access image resources
Videos - that you can share with colleagues or use in class
- Internet ArchiveFind old video and movie footage including cartoons, sports videos and news footage.
- YoutubeVideos that you can use in class and for assignments. To find CC licensed works, first conduct your search. Once search is complete, choose Filter and then under "features" select Creative Commons.
- TEDInspiring thinkers on a range of subjects present big ideas and lectures on a regular basis- completely CC licensed.
- Khan AcademyOffers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboards. It covers math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more.
Music - find, stream or download for use in lectures and assignments
Open educational resources (OERs)
Find, use and remix OERs for your teaching. Tailor resources to meet local or students needs.
- CurrikiContains over 60,000 resources. Search by subject area, education level, format, language or review ratings.
- MERLOTMERLOT is the place to find online learning materials, web sites and educational digital libraries
- OER (Open educational resources) CommonsContains over 160,000 resources. Search by subject area, education level, or format.
- Open Education EuropaSearch for a range of resources by education level or Creative Commons Licence. Also links to additional OERs websites for different education sectors.
- The Orange Grove Digital RepositoryA selection of open textbooks, learning modules and videos for K-12 and higher education.
Guides on finding and using OERs
- Open Education Licensing ToolkitA toolkit developed in Australia to support the use and development of Open Educational Resources (OER) in the Australian higher education sector
- Copyright and Licensing ToolkitContains information about copyright and the different licensing options available to the author/creator of a work.
- Open Educational Resources: Librarian Tool BoxA "getting started" guide overviewing open, editable, and lower-cost textbooks and open teaching & learning resources for faculty, students, and librarians
- OER: A Toolkit for Teachers, Curriculum and eLearning DevelopersLearn how to find, use and attribute Open Educational Resources with this toolkit.
- Open education for schoolsA guide developed by Leicester City Council to help schools get the most out of open licensing and open education resources.
- Open Yale coursesLectures and other materials from select Yale College courses licensed using Creative Commons.
- A guide to making open textbooks with studentsA handbook for faculty interested in practicing open pedagogy by involving students in the making of open textbooks, ancillary materials, or other Open Educational Resources.
- open educationThere is growing use and creation of OER in Australia. Recently the Australian Departments of Education agreed to licence their websites and publications under CC BY 4.0 where possible.
- OER: A Field Guide for Academic Librarians (6MB, PDF)The book is intended to act as a guide writ large for would-be champions of OER, that anyone—called to action by the example set by our chapter authors—might serve as guides themselves.
Cite open access material
Open Access materials can be referenced using any standard referencing style.
The license is added at the end to demonstrate that you have permission to use the material and others can too.
- Creative Commons AustraliaBasic principles on how to attribute different types of Creative Commons work.
- SmartcopyingInformation for teachers and students on how to attribute Creative Commons licensed materials.
Help
Vanessa Tuckfield
Copyright Manager, Library | Canberra
T: +61 2 6209 1237 E: copyright.officer@acu.edu.au
Last reviewed: 18 August 2021