Research Guides: Open Educational Resources (OER) &amp; Textbook Equity: Political Science & Law

How do I even start if I'm thinking about textbook equity/affordability?

Request a Course Materials Affordability Review
Course Materials Affordability Reviews will be temporarily unavailable from July 1 through August 22, 2024. Requests submitted during this period will be acted upon during fall semester. If you need to identify free/affordable materials prior to then, please explore the options listed on this guide under Find Open Textbooks and More.

Instructors can complete this form and attach a syllabus (a draft or even a topic list would be sufficient). Rod Library faculty will review course concepts and share some free and/or affordable resources that may have potential for the course. Allow about 2 weeks. Instructors have ultimate responsibility for reviewing course material quality as well as academic freedom to select the best course materials.
Place course materials on course reserve through Rod Library
Course reserves allow equal access to library (or instructor-owned) copies of course materials for all students. Rod Library can place physical materials on reserve at the Library Services Desk for in-house 3-hour checkout (or other time specified by instructor). In addition, up to 10% of a book may be scanned by library staff and placed on electronic course reserve for up to one semester.
Join the UNI Textbook Equity Google Group
This Google Group is for faculty, staff, and students interested in the campuswide Textbook Equity initiative. Occasional announcements, including funding opportunities, will be shared via this email-based group. Contact Anne Marie Gruber to be added.

What if I want to share course materials I've created or modify/customize something listed here?

Whether you have a homegrown course "packet" or aspire to create an entire textbook, Rod Library can support you in creating, licensing, and sharing materials that you intend to be free of charge. This includes modifying existing materials that are openly-licensed. Details: https://guides.lib.uni.edu/oer/authoring

Suggested Resources

Included on this guide are selected Open Educational Resources (OER) in various broad disciplines, with an emphasis on resources used by other Iowa colleges/universities as well as textbooks reviewed in the Open Textbook Library or by relevant associations. Some free resources may be included that aren't technically OER because they do not have open licenses. Be sure to evaluate each resource for quality and usage rights.

For more, use the Find Open Textbooks tab on the left side of this guide. Rod Library's OneSearch also includes some open textbooks as well as licensed ebooks; note that if you plan to use a library-licensed ebook for a course, you need to notify your liaison librarian well in advance (more on textbooks & library ebooks).

Readings for Faculty

Brandle, S. M. (2022). The book costs how much??? Textbook cost & OER awareness in political science. Journal of Political Science Education, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2022.2104164

Brandle, S. M. (2020). It’s (not) in the reading: American government textbooks’ limited representation of historically marginalized groups. PS: Political Science & Politics, 53(4), 734-740. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096520000797

Brandle, S. M. (2018). Opening up to OERs: Electronic original sourcebook versus traditional textbook in the introduction to American government course. Journal of Political Science Education, 14(4), 535-554. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2017.1420482

Jacobson, T. E., & Friedman, S. (2019). Teaching critical thinking and metaliteracy through OER: Theory and practice in a course collaboration. The International Journal of Open Educational Resources, 2(1), 25017. https://doi.org/10.18278/ijoer.2.1.11

Kalaf-Hughes, N. (2021). Reaching students with low interest: subject matter interest and perceptions of open educational resources in an introductory American Government Course. Journal of Political Science Education, 17(sup1), 459-485. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2019.1694530