The idea behind an internal library
Many organizations train staff with a mix of external courses, slide decks written years ago, and informal advice from colleagues. An in-house learning library tries to bring this into one place: a curated collection of materials that staff can use when they need them. Open educational resources are one source for such a library, alongside purchased courses and content the company writes itself.
The attraction is flexibility. Openly licensed material can usually be copied, edited and combined, so a company can fit it to its own terminology, tools and procedures. That is different from linking to a free course run by someone else, which can change or disappear without notice. The trade-off is effort: someone has to select, adapt and maintain the content, and open does not mean free of cost once staff time is counted.
Where open material fits and where it does not
Open resources tend to work best for general, widely needed topics: spreadsheet use, writing clearly, basic project planning, introductory data handling, workplace communication, or foundations in a technical subject. These topics change slowly and are not specific to one employer.
They work less well for anything particular to the business, such as internal systems, products, procedures or culture. That content has to be written in-house. Safety, compliance and regulated training need special care: they often have legal or professional requirements about content and record keeping, so open material should only be used if it clearly meets those requirements, and the relevant official guidance should be checked.
Practical steps
1. Start from needs
List what staff actually struggle with, using manager feedback, support requests and role descriptions. Avoid building a library because it seems modern. A common reason these projects fade is that the content does not match real tasks. If the problem is a skills mismatch between what staff can do and what roles need, it helps to be specific about which skills, for which roles.
2. Write down the learning objectives
For each topic, state what a person should be able to do afterwards. Clear learning objectives make it easier to judge whether an open resource is suitable, and later to check whether it worked.
3. Find and screen candidates
Search open repositories and directories for each topic, then screen. Useful questions: Who wrote it, and are they credible? When was it last updated? Is it accurate and at the right level? Is it accessible, with captions, readable text and usable formatting? Does it assume background your staff lack? Quality varies widely, so expect to reject many candidates.
4. Check copyright and licensing
This step cannot be skipped. Questions of copyright and licensing apply to every item, because each resource has its own terms. Some licenses allow commercial use, and some do not; some allow changes, and some do not; some require that any adapted version be shared under the same terms. A company environment is a commercial one, so the permitted uses matter. Keep a simple register recording each item, its source, its license and the date checked. For anything unclear, ask the owner or seek advice from someone qualified in rights, since this article is general information and not legal advice.
5. Adapt and assemble
Adaptation can be light, such as adding a short introduction explaining why a topic matters in your workplace, or heavy, such as rewriting examples. Breaking longer material into microlearning modules can suit busy staff, though short is not automatically better; some topics need depth. Record what was changed and keep attribution as the license requires.
6. Choose how to deliver it
Content can be hosted in simple shared folders, an intranet page or learning management systems the company already uses. The choice matters less than making the material easy to find. If it takes six clicks to locate a resource, few people will use it.
7. Decide how to recognize learning
Some firms record completion, others use short assessments or practical tasks. Internal recognition, and in some cases open badges, can show that someone finished a unit. Be clear about what a record means: completing a module is not the same as being competent.
8. Review and maintain
Assign an owner to each topic and set a review date. Check links, update examples and retire outdated items. A library of stale content damages trust quickly.
Measuring whether it helps
Companies often measure completions because they are easy to count. These numbers show use, not benefit. Better evidence comes from comparing before-and-after performance on a task, collecting manager and learner feedback, and watching for fewer errors or support questions. Learning analytics can help spot where people stop, but it should be handled carefully, with clear rules about who sees individual data. Attributing improvements to training alone is difficult because many things change at once, so conclusions should be modest.
Common pitfalls
- Collecting too much. A few well-chosen resources serve better than a vast, unreviewed pile.
- Ignoring time to learn. Staff need protected time. A library nobody has time to use gives no benefit.
- Neglecting rights. Reusing material outside its license can create avoidable problems.
- No ownership. Without a named person, updates stop.
- Assuming one size fits all. New starters, specialists and managers need different pathways.
Is it worth it
For a small organization with common training needs, curating open material can be a low-cost way to start. For larger or more specialized needs, the cost of curation and upkeep can approach that of purchasing content, and a mixed approach is typical. The sensible test is simple: try one topic, track the effort and the feedback, and decide from that evidence rather than from general enthusiasm.