Spring quarter 2021 will mark the one-year anniversary of the move to online delivery of most courses at DePaul University due to COVID-19. While this has created challenges for faculty and students, it has also been an opportunity for increased adoption of electronic books (e-books) and open educational resources (OER). E-books and OER contribute to student success by addressing both access and affordability concerns. To assist faculty in locating these materials, the DePaul University Library acquired a new database, EBSCO Faculty Select, which will make this process easier. The database can be found on the A-Z Databases link on the Library’s home page.
EBSCO Faculty Select Content
• Open Educational Resources: (OER) books from the following providers: Open Textbook Library, SUNY Open Textbooks, Open BC Textbooks, OAPEN Library, and BC Open Textbooks. Additional OER content will continue to be added by EBSCO. Faculty can request a specific OER be added to course reserves directly from the database.
• DRM-free Electronic Books: These e-books are free of digital rights management restrictions on printing, saving, and copying. Faculty Select includes records for e-books that you can request the Library purchase.
How to Search EBSCO Faculty Select
One of the most efficient ways to search Faculty Select is to enter your term(s) in the search boxes and run the search. In the margin to the left of your search results, limit your search by OER Only or E-books Available for Purchase, as well as publication date.
How to Select and Request OER or E-books
• OER Only Results after clicking Preview or Adopt this Open E-book for a specific title in the results list, two options will appear:
1. Preview this e-book (this is actually an OER): This will take you to the record on the provider’s page where you can review the details of the open text.
2. Receive a Course-Friendly Link: This will take you to the following form for requesting the OER book. This form will be routed to the Library reserves staff and they will add it to the reserves for the class and academic quarter you enter on the form.
• E-books Available for Purchase If you locate an e-book that you would like the Library to purchase for one of your courses, click Request a Purchase of this Item from Your Library to complete and submit the request form. The form will be routed to the Library reserves site for the course and academic quarter you enter on the form. The Library will look into purchasing the e-book for the course.
For more information about the Faculty Select database, contact your Library Liaison and/or view the following brief Faculty Select Tutorial from EBSCO.