Elon Open Textbook Guide
Verified working Sep 17, 2026
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 searchable catalog of free, adaptable textbooks for college courses.
Open educational resources & free learning platformsOpen Textbook Library is a University of Minnesota–based directory of open textbooks that can be used, downloaded, modified, and redistributed at no cost. The collection covers a wide range of academic subjects and lists more than 1,800 textbooks, with search, subject browsing, new releases, and forthcoming titles from Open Education Network members.
0 votesVisit siteA university-curated launch point for open textbook and OER searches.
Open educational resources & free learning platformsUIC Library’s guide gathers major open textbook libraries, OER repositories, and cross-repository search tools in one place. It is designed to help instructors and students locate freely usable course materials, with links to related guidance on evaluating, adopting, or creating open textbooks.
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Similar sites elsewhere
- Open Textbook Library — open.umn.edu/opentextbooks
- OER Commons — oercommons.org
- OpenStax — openstax.org
- LibreTexts — libretexts.org