We know that Open Educational Resources (OER) help students to save money on textbook costs, but how else can they be useful? Let’s take a look at some of the other aspects of OER, and how they’re being put into place across CUNY.
1. Beyond Textbook Costs
Ann Fiddler, CUNY OER Librarian, explains some of the other advantages, such as increased faculty involvement, ease of use, and even student engagement. As she notes in the article, “The students aren’t just passive consumers of what they read; they’re actively creating new knowledge.”
2. Achieving the Dream
CUNY received a grant, at three community colleges, to build up their selection of Zero-Cost Courses. The project is being implemented at 38 community colleges across 13 states, and “is designed to help remove financial roadblocks that can derail students’ progress and to spur other changes in teaching and learning and course design that will increase the likelihood of degree and certificate completion.”
3. CUNY/SUNY Collaboration
Open NYS is the shared site for OER resources at CUNY and SUNY – be sure to check out their selection of open textbooks, and tips on creating new OER.
4. OER in Academic Works
You may have heard of CUNY Academic Works – and the institutional repository now includes a section for OER created by CUNY faculty. You can search by campus or by type. If you’re converting your course to OER, this is a great place to look for materials that originated from CUNY.
Other Resources
Lastly – if you’d like to take a detailed look at OER across CUNY, check out this piece, which is based on notes from a 2017 meeting of the Discipline Council.
And don’t forget to review our previous blog posts, for tips on finding OER Textbooks, Understanding Creative Commons Licensing, and more!
African American Music Appreciation Month | A Library Vinyl Record Display
African American music exemplifies the creative spirit…and is among the most innovative and powerful art the world has ever known…Songs by African American musicians span the breadth of human experience and resonate in every corner…–animating our bodies, stimulating our imaginations and nourishing our souls…
-former President Barack Obama
Proclamation of African American Music Appreciation Month
May 31, 2016
Originally established as as Black Music Month in 1979 by former President Jimmy Carter, African American Music Appreciation month formally recognizes the innovative sounds that African American musicians bring to our ears and the profound influence African American musical art forms have on the world.
In celebration of African American Music Appreciation Month, City Tech Library is pleased to share recordings from its vinyl record collection. The library’s vinyl holdings include many spoken word, poetry, educational, field and folk music recordings in addition to popular and classical music. The library has record players available for anyone who would like to stop by to have a listen.
The display includes highly influential twentieth century artists like Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Odetta and Bessie Smith. It also features field recordings that document everyday life in Nueva York and powerful songs from the Civil Rights Movement. While these albums were released in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s, the stories they share are timeless and their style and sound continue to shape music today.
Below you’ll find a playlist featuring some of the artists in the library’s vinyl record display. Who are your favorite African American musical artists?
*Images used in the above photo collage were sourced from:
The Library of Congress’ Free to Use and Reuse: Gottleib Jazz Photos Collection and Wikimedia Commons
Nina Simone in 1969 by Gerrit de Bruin
The Supremes in 1967
GAC-General Artists Corporation-IMTI-International Talent Management Inc.
Read with PRIDE!
This June the City Tech Library is celebrating LGBTQ Pride month. Near the library entrance there is a book display featuring books by LGBTQ authors and LGBTQ topics.
There are many CUNY resources available to support its LBGTQ community and to foster queer studies and research. Check out LGBT Life , a database with broad coverage of national and international LBGTQ publications.
Explore LBGTQ Studies at CUNY, the CUNY LGBTQI Student Leadership Program a year-long social justice training program, and the Free Queer CUNY: An Open Pedagogy Project a queer pedagogy initiative that seeks to encourage further queer studies course options at CUNY .
For happenings outside of CUNY, check out the Lesbian Herstory Archives, a local institution with a long history and commitment to collecting and protecting materials by and about lesbians and their community. Let other projects like the NYC LBGT Historic Sites Project, Mapping NYC’s Historic Queer Nightlife and StoryCorps Outloud bring you inside queer stories and locales.
Grab a book. Write a paper. Take a class. Explore a map. Listen to a story.
Happy Pride!
