About

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

After a successful two-year pilot period from 2022-2023, the decision was made to continue the CAUL OER Collective in 2024 – 2025 as a service in line with the CAUL Open Educational Resources Strategic Enabling Program. 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 Open Textbook Grants.

Participating Institutions

The following institutions are participating in 2024:

  1. Auckland University of Technology – Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau (New in 2024)
  2. Australian Catholic University
  3. Bond University
  4. Charles Darwin University
  5. Charles Sturt University
  6. CQUniversity (New in 2024)
  7. Curtin University
  8. Deakin University
  9. Edith Cowan University
  10. Federation University
  11. Flinders University
  12. Griffith University
  13. James Cook University
  14. La Trobe University
  15. Lincoln University – Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki (New in 2024)
  16. Macquarie University (New in 2024)
  17. Massey University – Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa
  18. Monash University
  19. Queensland University of Technology
  20. RMIT University
  21. Southern Cross University
  22. Swinburne University of Technology
  23. University of Adelaide
  24. University of Auckland
  25. University of Canberra (New in 2024)
  26. University of Canterbury – Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
  27. University of Melbourne
  28. University of New England
  29. University of Newcastle
  30. University of Otago – Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
  31. University of Queensland Library
  32. University of South Australia
  33. University of Southern Queensland
  34. University of Sunshine Coast
  35. University of Sydney Library
  36. University of Tasmania (New in 2024)
  37. University of Technology Sydney
  38. University of Waikato – Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
  39. University of Western Australia
  40. University of New South Wales
  41. Victoria University of Wellington – Te Herenga Waka
  42. 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 (undergoing updating for 2024).
  • 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.