About the Editors
Ash Barber (she/her) is the OER Collective Project Officer at the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL). Her substantive position is an Academic Librarian at the University of South Australia. Throughout her career in university libraries, her work has had a keen focus on the promotion and integration of open educational practices and development of inclusive open educational resources.
She is a Co-Convenor of the ASCILITE Australasian Open Educational Practice Special Interest Group (OEP SIG) and on the Open Education Conference Board of Directors. Through a LATN Fellowship, she developed EmpoweredOER which provides practical tools for embedding equity in OER.
She is driven by lifelong learning (AKA insatiable curiosity) and empowering others through equitable access to information. Ash’s pronouns are she/her and she warmly embraces her LGBTQIA+ community🌈 Find her everywhere @AshTheLibrarian
Dr Mais Fatayer is a Learner Experience Design Manager at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Her expertise centers on integrating technology into learning and teaching, with a special focus on open education, learning design, and design-based research. Mais’ academic work includes a Ph.D. thesis on sustainable Open Educational Resources (OER) that explores utilising student-generated content to enrich learning resources. In addition to her research, she has taken an active role in projects aimed at promoting open education such as leading UTS Open Education Week 2023/2024, and developing resources such as her work to create an open textbook, “Designing Learning Experiences for Inclusivity and Diversity: Advice for learning designers” which guides learning designers on creating inclusive educational materials.
Mais collaborates closely with the Education Portfolio team at UTS, leading initiatives that align with her passion for sustainable learning design and open educational practices. Her work contributes to broadening access to high-quality, adaptable learning materials in higher education.
Rani McLennan is the Coordinator of Operations and Engagement at the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL). With two years of service as the Open Educational Resources Collective Project Officer since its inception, along with her previous role as Copyright Information Officer at Queensland University of Technology, Rani possesses a robust understanding of copyright and open education. She is deeply committed to supporting practitioners who advocate tirelessly for the sharing of knowledge.
Alice Luetchford is the Open Education Librarian at James Cook University. This role includes the development of open education resources such as ebooks using the publishing platform, Pressbooks. Alice is currently on a number of university and national working projects and committees relating to open education resources and open scholarship.
Sarah McQuillen is an Academic Librarian at the University of South Australia. Sarah is a passionate educator with particular interest in the transformative power of knowledge and information literacy; most especially in online adult education.
Angie Williamson is the Open Education Librarian at Deakin University. In this role, Angie coordinates the Open Educational Resources Grants Program at Deakin, supporting project teams and advancing the discussion of Open Education at the university.
The OEP SIG is a cross-institutional, practice-led, evidence-based community of Australasian higher education practitioners, sponsored by ASCILITE. The SIG offers value to the sector by providing a space for practice- and experience-sharing, open discussion, professional learning, and access to free and open resources. Find out more here: https://oepoz.wordpress.com/