The MSU Libraries' OER Award Program applications are now open for the 2025-2026 cycle.
To encourage the use, adaptation, and creation of openly licensed learning materials, Michigan State University Libraries is pleased to announce that applications are open for the 2025-26 OER Awards. This program provides incentives and support for instructors interested in adopting, adapting, or creating OER as an alternative to traditional textbooks and a pathway to increasing student success. Descriptions of our award categories and links to our application forms for the 2025-26 cycle are available on this OER Award webpage.
The deadline for submission is October 10, 2025.
Award applicants are strongly encouraged to meet with Linda Miles, OER Librarian, milesli3@msu.edu, for a one-on-one project consultation before preparing their application.
Upcoming events in the Digital Scholarship Lab
New open textbook: Civil Engineering Tools: Concepts, Applications, and Question Bank
This section contains links to instructions to aid you in doing common tasks related to the services provided by Michigan State University Libraries.
Open Access (OA) is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. Open Access ensures that anyone can access and use these results—to turn ideas into industries and breakthroughs into better lives. - definition from SPARC
Open Educational Resource (OER): SPARC defines OERs as teaching, learning and research resources released under an open license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. OERs can be textbooks, full courses, lesson plans, videos, tests, software, or any other tool, material, or technique that supports access to knowledge.
Open Science is a global movement that aims to make scientific research and its outcomes freely accessible to everyone. Open science principles include: transparency or making research visible, sharing or making research accessible and usable, and inclusivity or involving and crediting more contributors to research. - definition from the Center for Open Science.
Open source software doesn't just mean access to the code. True open source meets 10 criteria defined by the Open Source Initiative. Very briefly, open source software should allow for free distribution, modifications to the code, and inclusion of the open license when distributing the software.
Preprint servers provide access to scholarly or scientific papers that have not yet undergone the peer review process. The preprints are available for free and may eventually link to or be replaced by the final, published version of the article. Commonly used preprint servers in engineering include arXiv, TechRxiv, and engrXiv.
Since anyone can put whatever information they want on the Internet, not all web sites are created equal.
Some points to consider when evaluating the information provided by a web site:
Evaluating Web Pages - techniques to apply and questions to ask from the University of California at Berkeley's Teaching Library Internet Workshops.
The following guides may also have information you need:
