SPARC Connect OER Annual Report 2016 - 2017

"As the first Connect OER Annual Report, this document summarizes insights from the Connect OER pilot, which ran from May - July 2017. The data encompass 65 SPARC member libraries spanning 31 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces who participated in the pilot. Our analysis provides a snapshot of what is happening on the ground level with OER at this subset of institutions. Our intent is that these insights will help inform SPARC members, the open education community, and the library community at large about current trends, best practices, and the collective impact being achieved through OER at participating institutions.

The purpose of the Connect OER pilot was to identify:

• Which SPARC member campuses were actively engaging in OER
• What role the library—in relation to other campus stakeholders—was playing in these efforts
• What institutional resources have been made available to support these efforts
• What kinds of activities and partnerships exist on campus
• What the overall impact of OER has been at SPARC member campuses

As the project transitions out of the pilot, we hope that the Connect OER directory will continue to grow, so that future annual reports can provide insights based on a broader range of institutions across North America. We recognize that the directory will never reach a state of completion since activities are always evolving, but our annual snapshots will provide a meaningful illustration of the reach of the OER movement, and the impact it has for students."