Elon Open Textbook Guide
A university-curated shortcut to open textbook repositories.
Elon University’s library guide points instructors and students toward sources for open textbooks, open books, and related teaching materials. It organizes major OER textbook hubs alongside subject-specific and publisher-based collections, with a reminder to check each resource’s license before reuse.
Why it stands out
- Focuses specifically on textbook and open book discovery rather than general OER theory.
- Mixes large multi-subject repositories with discipline-specific sources and open-access book publishers.
- Includes regional and institutional initiatives such as Open Education North Carolina and SUNY’s Milne Open Textbooks.
- Frames discovery around reuse rights by explicitly directing users to verify licenses and attribution requirements.
Good to know
- This is a curated link guide, not a searchable textbook repository or hosting platform.
- Coverage depends on the guide’s selected sources and may not include every current OER provider.
- Licensing, formats, and adoption terms vary by the external sites linked from the guide.
- Some listed resources are discipline- or region-specific rather than broadly comprehensive.
Photos
College instructors replacing commercial textbooks can use it to compare vetted OER starting points quickly. Find open textbook collections for common undergraduate courses. Locate subject-specific resources in areas such as mathematics, languages, psychology, and art history. Identify open book publishers and repositories for course reading lists. Check where to begin when learning how open licensing affects classroom reuse.
Curated links to OpenStax, BCcampus, Open Textbook Library, OER Commons, LibreTexts, DOAB, and other open book sources. Includes brief annotations for each source, separate sections for recommended starting points and additional collections, and navigation to related OER guide pages on licensing, repositories, audiovisual resources, and journals.
Alternative listings
A faculty-focused guide to free textbook and courseware alternatives.
Open educational resources & free learning platformsThis University of Rhode Island ITS article introduces open educational resources and summarizes five free platforms instructors can use to replace or supplement commercial course materials. It covers LibreTexts, OpenStax, OER Commons, MIT OpenCourseWare, and the Open Textbook Library, with notes on content types, disciplines, licensing, customization, and LMS-related support.
0 votesVisit siteOpen textbooks and adaptive homework tools for educators.
Open educational resources & free learning platformsLibreTexts is a nonprofit platform for finding, adapting, and publishing open educational materials. It hosts subject-based textbook libraries, supports remixing chapters into custom course texts, and connects those materials with interactive elements such as homework questions, notebooks, videos, and visualizations.
0 votesVisit site
Similar sites elsewhere
- Open Textbook Library — open.umn.edu/opentextbooks
- OER Commons — oercommons.org
- OpenStax — openstax.org
- LibreTexts — libretexts.org