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.
Search in OER Repositories- Use the Tools!:
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.
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.
Change the "usage rights" field to "free to use share or modify" or "free to use, share or modify, even commercially" depending on what type of license you want.
Use the other fields to plug in key words and to narrow your results.
Hit the "Advanced Search" button.
The results page should show only Creative Commons resources. Make sure to verify exact license type and terms of use.
You can watch the following video for a demonstration of a Google Advanced Search:
Here are a few more Google 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 search for "climate change" will return less, but more relevant results than searching for the phrase without quotation marks.
