Accessing Open Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are free teaching and learning materials that anyone can use, adapt, and share. They include textbooks, courses, videos, data sets, and research articles. They are designed to make education more open, inclusive and flexible for learners around the world.
Why use Open Educational Resources?
Open Educational Resources can help you to:
- Free access to high-quality materials
- Support independent and flexible learning
- Adaptable to different cultures, languages, and curricula
- Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Support lifelong learning beyond formal education
Platforms for accessing OERs
Open textbook platforms
- Khan Academy: Tutoring and study materials for multiple disciplines.
- LibreTexts: Hosts extensive OER libraries across many subjects
- MIT OpenCourseWare: Full courses with lecture notes, assignments, and exams
- Open Textbook Library
- OpenStax: Peer‑reviewed open textbooks
- Research4Life: Free resources for health, agriculture, environment, and social sciences
- Saylor Academy: Self-paced CS courses with open textbooks
- UCL Press: Explore free academic resources in Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, and more.
- Zendy: Access articles, journals, and e-books across all subjects
Cross-disciplinary research and journals
- DOAJ: Directory of over 18,000 peer-reviewed open access journals
- Google Scholar: Search scholarly articles
- OAPEN: Peer-reviewed open access books in multiple disciplines
- OpenDOAR: Global directory of open access repositories
- OSF: Open data and research
- ResearchGate: Connect with researchers and access academic papers
Subject-specific OER collections
See suggestions for specific disciplines:
Case studies and tools:
- Harvard Business School Online – Free Cases: Selected open-access business case studies
Legal research tools:
- Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII): Free access to U.S. law, Supreme Court opinions, and legal guides
Research:
- PsyArXiv: Open access preprints in psychology research
Textbooks and courses:
- CS50 by Harvard: Complete introductory computer science course with videos and problem sets
- LibreTexts’s libraries:
- OpenDSA: Interactive textbooks for algorithms and data structures
Simulations, labs, and tools:
- HHMI BioInteractive: Free animations, videos, and interactive resources for molecular biology, genetics, and ecology.
- LearnChemE: Chemical engineering simulations, screencasts, and interactive modules.
- PhET Biology Simulations: Interactive biology models (photosynthesis, diffusion, genetics).
- Runestone Academy: Interactive Python, Java, and data structures textbooks.
- The Missing Semester of Your CS Education: Open course on practical computing skills (shell, Git, editors).
- Engineering Toolbox: Open reference tools for formulas, materials, and conversions
Open data:
- ARXIV: Preprints in physics, math, computer science, and more.
- ASME Engineering Data Library: Some openly available technical references.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): Open-access biodiversity data.
- Human Kinetics: Exercise science infographics, sample chapters, and training guides.
- Kaggle Datasets: Public datasets for ML, AI, and data science.
- NASA Open Data: Engineering-relevant datasets on aeronautics, robotics, and materials.
- National Library of Medicine: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI): Offers a wide range of online tools and databases for accessing biological data. Among its key resources are GenBank, which stores nucleotide sequences, and PubMed, a major database containing citations and abstracts from research across the life sciences.
- National Repository of Online Courses (NROC): Includes engineering fundamentals and applied sciences.
- ScienceOpen: Research network with millions of articles; free registration required.
- Scitable: Multimedia, articles, and eBooks emphasising the life and physical sciences.
- UCI Machine Learning Repository: Classic datasets for machine learning research.
- Wolfram Demonstrations Project: Includes interactive computing concepts (mathematics, algorithm visualisation).
- Applied Math & Science Education Repository
Need more help?
If you need further support, email the team at library@rcl.ac.uk.
