2.3: Strategies for Finding OER
Search Strategies
Knowing a few search strategies will make for more effective searching. Watch the following short video and then review the search tips below so you can use them as you search for resources for your class.
Tips for Searching Repositories
- Keywords might not return the best results as resources are often input without proper indexing.
- Browse broadly — look at subject areas that are broader than yours but may still include information on your subject.
- If it is an option, browse by subject or discipline.
- Use the provided tools or filters to narrow down your search to more relevant results.
Take a few minutes to try out these strategies using a few of the suggested repositories on the previous page.
Google Advanced Search
Using Google Advanced Search is a great way to find resources by license type. Here are directions on how to use Google Advanced Search to find materials with open licenses.
- On the Google Advanced Search page, scroll to the bottom and look for the "usage rights" field.
- Change the "usage rights" field to one of the options presented.
- Always double check the license on the actual resource! The Google algorithm isn't always accurate.
Google Filtering Search Tips
- To find specific types of websites such as .gov or .edu type in the search box Site: .gov or Site:.edu
- To eliminate specific websites or words you can use a minus symbol before the word. For example if you want to search for something but do not want Wikipedia to show up in the results simply type in the search box: -Wikipedia
- Use quotations around a phrase to search for results containing that exact phrase. For example, a search for "climate change" will return fewer but more relevant results than searching for the phrase without quotation marks.
Discipline-Specific Searching
Some OER repositories are focused on specific disciplines. And, the specific search strategies that work best may depend on the specific discipline. The video below discusses search strategies based on disciplines.
Attribution:
Adapted from ASCCC OERI — OER Basics by Rachel Arteaga and Suzanne Wakim is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License