An Embedded Librarian’s Experience Piloting a Subject-Specific OER Initiative

Abstract

This case study will describe the labor and collaborative efforts to-date made by an embedded librarian to pilot an OER textbook creation and/or adoption program in her liaison area—a school of education serving approximately 850 graduate and 150 undergraduates at a private Catholic university on the West Coast. This case study will explore the initial project goals, successes (e.g., administrative support and graduate student enthusiasm), and challenges (e.g., faculty buy-in, unbalanced labor, OER creation support) encountered in this project. The study will also discuss the librarian’s professional development undertakings in effort to fill OER creation and platform knowledge gaps. Finally, the study will discuss the librarian’s next steps for this project in the upcoming academic year.