Optimizing Library Services — Embracing OER and Enhancing Digital Skills for the 21st Century: Using Applied Digital Skills as a Powerful Teaching and Learning Tool By Ms. Danielle Colbert-Lewis (Head of Research and Instructional Services, James E. Shepard Memorial Library, North Carolina Central University, USA) <dcolbert@nccu.edu> and Ms. Jamillah Scott-Branch (Assistant Director of Library Services, James E. Shepard Memorial Library, North Carolina Central University, USA) <jscottbr@nccu.edu> Column Editors: Ms. Brittany Haynes (Assistant Director of e-Collections, IGI Global) <bhaynes@igi-global.com> and Ms. Cheyenne Heckermann (Marketer, IGI Global) <checkermann@igi-global.com> Column Editors’ Note: Recognizing the continued growing interest and benefits of the Open Access movement with the current challenges libraries face, Danielle Colbert-Lewis, Head of Research and Instructional Services, and Jamillah Scott-Branch, Assistant Director of Library Services at North Carolina Central University, write about Open Educational Resources and the importance of digital skills. As an Open Educational Resource, IGI Global’s Open Access (OA) research can be fully integrated into your system from the IGI Global OA Collection. Visit www.igi-global.com/eresources/e-collections/open-access-collection/ to learn more about this collection. — CH & BH
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n the workplace, digital skills and digital literacy are in high demand. The skills in demand are “content and knowledgerelated skills with integrated digital components” (van Laar, et al. 2019 p. 93). At the university and college levels, students are expected to gain knowledge and create content. Employers want highly skilled graduates who are capable of creating knowledge, “meaning that they produce and distribute ideas and information rather than goods and services” (van Laar, et al. 2019 p. 98; Kefela, 2010). To succeed in the workplace and at school, students need to acquire digital skills and digital literacy: informational, communicational, collaborational, critical thinking, creative, and problem-solving digital skills (van Laar, et al., 2019, p. 93-94). The aforementioned skills relate to using online information and communication, digital management, online tools, and online content creation. (van Laar et al. 2019) state that “people use information communication technologies (ICTs) to access and disseminate information, and exchange experiences with experts and learning communities, and to generate and refine their ideas” (p.93). Furthermore, the UNESCO Digital Literacy Global Framework (DLGF) states a “[d]igital literacy is the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate, evaluate and create information safely and appropriately through digital technologies for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship. It includes various competencies referred to as computer literacy, ICT literacy, information literacy, and media literacy” (UNESCO, 2018, p.6). The university or college library offers students, faculty, and staff (university community) access to the latest technology, including hardware, software, and databases. University librarians can also assist students with digital skills and digital literacy. One way libraries and librarians assist their communities is through Open Educational Resources. Open Educational Resources (OER) are important for libraries to add
Against the Grain / April 2022
to their suite of resources. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines Open Educational Resources (OER) as “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, 2020). OER resources are gaining more traction in libraries. Creative Commons licensing are the hallmarks of OERs that allow you to engage in the 5R’s: Reuse: “the right to make your own,” Retain: “the right to use the content in a wide range of ways,” Revise: “the right to adapt, modify or alter the content itself,” Remix: “the right to combine the original or revised content with “Low-cost or other materials to create something new,” and Redistribute: “the right to no-cost solutions share copies of the original content, are becoming your revisions, or your remixes with available and others” (Wiley, n.d).
imperative due Low-cost or no-cost solutions are to the rising cost becoming available and imperative due to the rising cost of tuition, of tuition, books, books, and supplies. The College and supplies.” Board reported in the Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2021 report that the estimated cost for books and supplies in students’ budget is $1,240 for four-year institutions, and for public two-year institutions, it is $1,450 (CollegeBoard, 2021, p. 11). To tackle these issues, libraries and educators present alternatives to the traditional avenues for books. These alternatives include websites with no cost (free) OER textbooks and course materials available for adoption, such as Openstax, OER Commons, Open Textbook Library, and Merlot. There are also universities and state initiatives involved in alternative textbook programs: Open Education North Carolina, UCLA’s Affordable Course Materials Initiative, NC State University Libraries Alt-Textbook Project, Affordable Learning Georgia, and others. Due to the multitude of OER resources and websites, publishers and research database vendors are engaged in “being able to find and utilize the OERs” (EBSCO, n.d.). Vendors such as EBSCOhost created a platform called EBSCO Faculty Select that enables OER resources to be more discoverable. The platform mentioned above and others like it may have costs associated with them. Also, Pearson, a company known for its educational content, assessment, teaching tools, and custom content, has a
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