Incorporating no-cost course materials into a syllabus offers the opportunity to reduce costs to students, create more equitable access to education, and to use and create course material that is directly tailored to a specific course.
Tisch Library offers support in finding, using, and creating no-cost course materials. Browse this page for more information, or submit our contact form to get in touch.
- Find no-cost course materials
- Syllabus affordability review program
- Affordable Course Materials Awards
- Schedule a meeting or workshop for your department
Find no-cost course materials
Visit our No-cost course materials & Open Educational Resources (OER) guide to find resources for finding & using no-cost course materials and open educational resources (OER) and resources from Tisch Library. You can also request assistance from Tisch librarians for finding materials. Please submit our contact form to start the conversation.
Open Educational Resources (OER)
Open Educational Resources (OER) are “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions” (UNESCO).
OER are one way to address textbook unaffordability by providing high quality, free alternatives. They also allow instructors to reuse, remix, and create course material that is directly tailored to their teaching.
Tisch Library resources
Tisch Library provides many resources that can be incorporated into your course, including linking to from Canvas. These materials are frequently not openly-licensed, but are free to students. We can also purchase, where possible, unlimited user ebooks of titles that you'd like to assign so that students have free access to the title.
We also have a list for students of resources for accessing textbooks and other course materials.
Syllabus affordability review program
Tisch offers a syllabus affordability review program to reduce course materials costs for your classes. We will consult with you and review your current syllabus, or plans for a new course, and assist as you:
- Identify no-cost course materials to replace existing texts in your syllabus
- Modify existing open materials or create your own
- Answer copyright questions about using material
- Incorporate diverse voices and perspectives, and course content from historically marginalized scholars
To request a syllabus affordability review, submit our contact form, or contact your liaison librarian.
Affordable Course Materials Awards
We also offer awards to provide financial support for faculty & instructors in the Schools of Arts, Sciences & Engineering who are interested in adopting or creating no-cost course materials for their classes. Find out more about the Tisch Affordable Course Materials Awards.
Schedule a meeting or workshop
Tisch librarians can visit your department meeting to talk about no-cost course materials & library support, or plan a workshop for your department. Submit our contact form to schedule!