InfoGuides: Low-Cost, No-Cost, and Open Educational Resources (OER): College of Engineering

College of Engineering

The items suggested below are starting points. If you are new to OER, or have limited time, please start with the OER Roadmap or the six repositories in the Best Bets box below. To look at more extensive lists of resources, please refer to the OER Resources tab at the left. Click on the name of each resource to learn more about it.

Best Bets

OpenStax
Based at Rice University, OpenStax publishes openly licensed college textbooks and works with institutions to increase OER impacts.
BCCampus OER by Discipline Directory
BCCampus, likely the biggest name in OER, has put together one of the most comprehensive lists available of OER content, sorted by discipline.
OER Commons
This is the repository from the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, one of the biggest names in OER.
OER TX
This is the official Texas State OER Repository funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and a variant of the OER Commons interface, so there is a lot of crossover with the OER Commons.
Open Textbook Library
This repository is the Open Education Network's repository and requires that all content has a PDF form. It also allows OEN members to make reviews of the content.
more...less...
Through our consortial deal with the Texas Digital Libraries, WTAMU faculty have the ability to leave reviews in the Open Textbook library. Contact Bruce Wardlow for more information.
Pressbooks Directory
Pressbooks is the easiest platform to use when creating and adapting OER. It also has the widest variety of formats for textbooks, including pdf, epub, and common cartridge.

Resources

BC Campus OpenED

BC Campus OpenED

Subjects Included

Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Engineering - General
Mechanical Engineering
Algebra
Calculus
Math - General
Statistics

Licensing

CC by 4.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Choose subject, select title, and chose download format.

DOAB - Directory of Open Access Books

DOAB - Directory of Open Access Books

Subjects Included

Environmental Science, Engineering & Technology
Civil Engineering, Surveying & Building
Computer Science
Mathematics

Licensing

You can read the license for each item by doing the following:
- Click on the title of the item you are interested in.
- Click on the "Book License" button under the cover image of the book.
"If not stated otherwise, all works in the OAPEN Online Library fall under the OAPEN Deposit Licence – all rights reserved. End users are allowed to read the work online, download, print and copy it for their own personal purposes within the legal framework of their national copyright law. Beyond this all rights are reserved." - DOAB
You can also search by license type.

To Download

Select subject, select title and click on "Download URL". You may also search for books.

Free TechBooks

Free TechBooks

Subjects Included

Computer Science
Mathematics

Licensing

"Each author and publisher has their own terms and conditions in the forms of free/open licenses, public domain or other specific ones." ~ FreeTechBooks

Green Tea Press

Green Tea Press

Subjects Included

Computer Science

Licensing

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Select a title and click the "Download..." or "Read..." links.

IntechOpen

IntechOpen

Subjects Included

Computer and Information Science
Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
Mathematics
- Algebra
- Analysis & Calculus
- Applied Mathematics
- Discrete Mathematics
- Fuzzy Logic
- Geometry & Topology
- Statistics

Licensing

Various Creative Commons licenses including CC BY-NC-SA 3.0, CC BY 3.0 and CC BY-NC 4.0. Check individual titles to see which Creative Commons License applies. Chapter licenses may be found at the bottom of a chapter page. For more information on their Copyright Policy (publication and use), see their Copyright Policy page.

To Download

Select a broad subject at the top or a finder subject category near the bottom of the page, select a narrower subject, select title, select a chapter, and click on the download link icon or the chapter download link below the PDF.

LibreTexts

LibreTexts

Subjects Included

Computer Science
- Programming and Computation Fundamentals
- Programming Languages
- Applied Programming
- Operating Systems
- Databases and Data Structures
- Web Design and Programming
- Networks
Engineering
- Introductory Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering (Sustainability and Conservation)
- Mechanical Engineering
Mathematics
- Arithmetic & Basic Math
- Pre-Algebra
- Algebra
- Geometry
- Precalculus & Trigonometry
- Calculus
- Differential Equations
- Analysis
- Linear Algebra
- Abstract and Geometric Algebra
- Combinatorics and Discrete Mathematics
- Mathematical Logic and Proofs
- Applied Mathematics
- Scientific Computing, Simulations, and Modeling

Licensing

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted

To View

To navigate through the different bookshelves, click on "libraries" in the blue column on the left.. There, you have two options:
- One, click on the title of the library and it will take you to the landing page for that library. At that point, click on "Bookshelves" to see everything in that library.
- Two, click on the drop down arrow then click on the specific subsection of that library that you would like to go to.
Once you click on a book, the download options will be at the top right.

MERLOT

MERLOT

Subjects Included

Computer Science
Engineering
Mathematics
Statistics and Probability

Licensing

Check each resource for licensing information

To Download

Choose discipline, select title, click "Go to Material," and use the resource (some may have a download link).

MILNE Open Textbooks

MILNE Open Textbooks

Subjects Included

Computer Science
Discrete Mathematics
Electrical Engineering
Engineering
Math
Mathematical Models
Mathematics
Mathmatical Arguements
Statistics
Web Development

Licensing

CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Choose subject, select title and choose download format from right hand side.

MIT OpenCourseWare

MIT OpenCourseWare

Subjects Included

Algebra and Number Theory
Algorithms and Data Structures
Applied Mathematics
Calculus
Civil Engineering
Classical Mechanics
Computation
Computational Modeling and Simulation
Computer Design and Engineering
Computer Networks
Computer Science
Differential Equations
Discrete Mathematics
Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Linear Algebra
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Probability and Statistics
Programming Languages
Robotics and Control Systems
Software Design and Engineering
Systems Design
Theory of Computation
Topology and Geometry
And more...

Licensing

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Choose a topic under the heading "Online Textbooks then choose title. Click on the "Readings" link on the left then browse through what is listed and follow download directions there.

National Academies Press

National Academies Press

Subjects Included

Computers and Informational Technology
Engineering and Technology
Mathematics

Licensing

The National Academies press stipulates that "For most Academic and Educational (emphasis added) uses no royalties will be charged although you are required to obtain a license and comply with the license terms and conditions". You can find further information at their Request Rights and Permissions page.

To Download

Select book from list and find download or view links.

OER Commons

OER Commons

Subjects Included

Computer Science
Engineering
Mathematics
- Algebra
- Calculus
- Functions
- Geometry
- Measurement and Data
- Numbers and Operations
- Ratios and Proportions
- Statistics and Probability
- Trigonometry

Licensing

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted

To View

Refine list by "Subject Area", select title then click "View Resource"

OERTX

OERTX

Subjects Included

Environmental Engineering
Mathematics
- Algebra
- Calculus
- Functions
- Geometry
- Measurement and Data
- Numbers and Operations
- Ratios and Proportions
- Statistics and Probability
- Trigonometry

Licensing

Check each resource for licensing information.

To Download

Use the drop down arrows to filter and search for resources. Select title and choose download format.

Online Mathematics Textbooks

Online Mathematics Textbooks

Subjects Included

List of freely available math books compiled by George Cain at Georgia Institute of Technology

Licensing

Observe licensing details after navigating to resources.

To View

Select book from list.

Open Book Publishers

Open Book Publishers

Subjects Included

Mathematics

Licensing

CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Each title has a "Copyright" tab within its record with further details.

To Download

Browse by subject on the left-hand side, select title, click the "Download" button next to the PDF version and then open via your "Downloads" folder.

Open Course Library

Open Course Library

Subjects Included

Mathematics

Licensing

CC by 3.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Select course and download files from Google Drive

Open Michigan

Open Michigan

Subjects Included

Engineering
Mathematics

Licensing

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Select subject, select course, select "Materials" and download each individual item

Open Textbook Initiative

Open Textbook Initiative

Subjects Included

Mathematics

Licensing

Observe Copyright Notice on individual textbooks. Most are creative Commons licenses that are not too restrictive.

To Download

Choose subject, select title and click on "For more information and to download" and find the PDF download link.

Open Textbook Library

Open Textbook Library

Subjects Included

Computer Science
- Information Systems
- Programming Languages
Engineering
- Civil
- Electrical
- Mechanical
Mathematics
- Applied
- Pure

Licensing

CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Choose a subject, click "Read More" then choose to "Read this Book" by PDF or online.

OpenCourseWare, UMass Boston

OpenCourseWare, UMass Boston

Subjects Included

Computer Science
Mathematics

Licensing

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Select "Departments", select a course, and reuse materials as needed.

OpenCourseWare Utah State

OpenCourseWare Utah State

Subjects Included

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Licensing

CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Find your subject, select a class and click on the blue "Download" button in the top right corner.

OpenStax

OpenStax

Subjects Included

Math

Licensing

CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Choose subject from top navigation, select title and click "Download a PDF".

ScholarWorks@GVSU

ScholarWorks@GVSU

Subjects Included

Mathematics

Licensing

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Choose a title from the list and click "Download Full Text" or choose individual chapters.

UC Irvine Open

UC Irvine Open

Licensing

CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted

To Download

Select subject, select course and click "Download".

Disclaimer

The Library has not evaluated these resources for content or accessibility. Use your professional and subject expertise in evaluating and using these resources.

Additionally, review the terms of use and copyrights on any resource you find.