Librarians in a university setting
A university library is more than a building with books. Its staff include subject specialists, copyright and scholarly communication experts, and teaching librarians, many of whom work with students and academics online as routinely as in person. Typically called academic librarians, these staff are well placed to help with open education because they already deal with sources, licenses and research methods. This article describes three areas where they commonly help: open resource discovery, licensing questions and research skills. Services vary between institutions, so check what your library actually offers.
Open resource discovery
Finding a suitable open resource is harder than it sounds. Materials are spread across repositories, publisher sites, university pages and personal websites. Quality, level and license differ, and it is not always clear whether an item is current. Librarians help in several ways.
- Searching. They know how to combine search terms, filter by subject and level, and use directories of open materials. Many libraries maintain guides listing open textbooks, open courses and open journals by subject.
- Evaluating. They can suggest criteria: who wrote it, when it was last updated, whether it has been reviewed, whether it matches the course outline and whether it is accessible.
- Collecting. Some libraries add open resources to their catalog and discovery tools, so that students find them alongside licensed content.
- Comparing. For an instructor considering replacing a commercial textbook, a librarian can help compare the available open titles against the syllabus.
For an online learner, these services are valuable because a student cannot wander the shelves. A request by chat, email or video appointment can often produce a short list of relevant, freely available sources within a day or two, though response times differ.
Librarians also connect discovery with the wider library holdings. If an open resource does not cover a topic fully, they can suggest licensed articles or books that complement it, available through the institution’s subscriptions.
Licensing questions
Reuse of materials raises questions that many instructors and students find confusing. Typical examples include:
- May I post this open chapter in my course site?
- Can I combine two openly licensed works with different licenses?
- What credit do I need to give?
- Can I include a figure from a journal article in my slides?
- Can I share my own lecture notes openly?
Academic librarians often have training in copyright and licensing, and many institutions have a designated person for such questions. They can explain what common open licenses permit and what attribution should look like, and they can help authors choose a license for their own work. Our broader discussion of copyright and licensing covers the basics.
Two cautions apply. First, a librarian can explain how licenses work in general but is usually not providing legal advice. Complicated cases, such as commercial use or material containing third-party content, may need the institution’s legal or policy office. Second, rules differ across countries, and an online course can have students in many places. Where it matters, the answer should come from the institution’s policy and from official sources.
Librarians also help with the reverse problem: knowing what you may not reuse. Material behind a paywall, or marked with a restrictive license, cannot simply be uploaded to a course because it is convenient. Alternatives, such as linking to the library’s licensed copy or finding an open equivalent, are often available.
Research skills
Online learners often need research skills more than in-person learners do, because they work with less direct supervision. Teaching librarians run workshops, record short tutorials, contribute to course sites and give individual appointments. Common topics include:
- narrowing a research question
- searching library databases effectively, including using keywords, phrases and filters
- evaluating sources for reliability and bias
- managing references and using citation styles consistently
- avoiding plagiarism through correct quoting and paraphrasing
- understanding how scholarly publishing works and what open access means for finding articles
Sessions can be built into a course, with the librarian invited to the online classroom or the course site, or they can be requested by individual students. Evidence on the effect of such training on student grades is mixed and depends on how well it is integrated with assignments, so it is reasonable to describe it as helpful but not as a guaranteed improvement.
Research support also extends to staff and postgraduate students. Librarians advise on depositing work in repositories, on choosing open access journals and on managing and sharing research data.
Working with instructors
Librarians and instructors often collaborate. Typical joint activities include building reading lists with a mix of open and licensed items, designing assignments that require students to evaluate sources, and checking that materials are accessible. A course team that involves a librarian early usually avoids last-minute problems, such as discovering that a key reading cannot be shared.
Some libraries run small grant programs or workshops to encourage instructors to adopt or create open resources, offering consultation on licenses, hosting and publication. This kind of work ties into the institution’s wider structures of support and is not a substitute for it.
Limits and good practice
Library staff are often stretched across many duties and hold limited hours for each course. They are not subject experts in every field, and they cannot guarantee that an open resource is accurate or complete. Learners and instructors should still judge materials themselves and check key claims.
To get the most from your library:
- Look for a subject guide or an “ask a librarian” service on the library website.
- Explain the course, level and any deadlines when you ask for help.
- Bring specific licensing questions with a link or description of the material.
- Ask for a short appointment if you are starting a major project.
For online learning, the library may be the part of the institution most visibly open to everyone who studies there, wherever they happen to be.