About

The Open Educational Resources Collective Pilot is an initiative of the Council of Australian University Librarians.

The pilot was established in January 2022 and will operate for two years. The Collective aims to:

  1. Build infrastructure and capacity, and achieve tangible outcomes to move the OER agenda forward at a national level.
  2. Facilitate collaborative authoring and publishing of open textbooks in targeted priority disciplines, with a preference for the inclusion of local and/or indigenous content.
  3. Allow Member institutions to publish their own textbooks in disciplines of their choosing.

The Collective provides a shared open textbook publishing platform for participating CAUL Member institutions in Australia and New Zealand, with the aim of facilitating independent publishing by authors at participating institutions, as well as collaborative, cross-institutional publishing. The Collective will also build community and capacity across CAUL Member institutions to support open textbook publishing.

CAUL Member institutions are at various stages of development in terms of their exploration of open textbooks. The aims of the Collective allow Member institutions with different goals and different needs to benefit from the Collective. The Collective draws on the strength of networks within the CAUL membership to encourage cross-institutional collaboration on open textbooks and facilitate knowledge sharing.

Inclusions

Participating institutions have

  • space to publish up to two open textbooks on the shared Pressbooks platform per year (depending on membership type)
  • access to training, guides and templates via the OER Collective Workflow guide
  • access to two communities of practice – one for library staff, and one for academic authors
  • the opportunity for academic authors at their institution to apply for DIY Open Textbook Grants.

Participating Institutions

The following institutions are participating in the OER Collective in 2022 and 2023:

  • Australian Catholic University
  • Bond University
  • Charles Darwin University
  • Charles Sturt University
  • Curtin University
  • Deakin University
  • Edith Cowan University (Joined 2023)
  • Federation University
  • Flinders University
  • Griffith University
  • James Cook University
  • La Trobe University
  • Massey University (Joined 2023)
  • Monash University
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • RMIT University
  • Southern Cross University
  • Swinburne University of Technology
  • University of Adelaide
  • University of Auckland (Joined 2023)
  • University of Canterbury
  • University of Melbourne
  • University of New England
  • University of New South Wales (Joined 2023)
  • University of Newcastle
  • University of Notre Dame Australia (2022 only)
  • University of Otago
  • University of Queensland (non-publishing 2022, full member 2023)
  • University of South Australia
  • University of Southern Queensland
  • University of Sydney (2022 only)
  • University of Technology Sydney (non-publishing 2022, full member 2023)
  • University of the Sunshine Coast
  • University of Waikato (Joined 2023)
  • University of Western Australia
  • Victoria University of Wellington
  • Western Sydney University

More Information

  • The OER Collective Administration Guide for Library Staff provides important information on Collective operations and governance, including procedures, contact information and frequently asked questions.
  • The OER Collective Workflow guide provides documentation, guides and templates to support publishing. It’s a key resource for library staff and academic authors designed to guide you through the publishing process.