The Open Research Library (ORL) will eventually contain a scholarly collection of 20,000+ Open Access books available to read online in either PDF format or ePub format for mobile smart devices. It is planned to include all Open Access books worldwide on one platform for a user-friendly discovery, offering a seamless experience navigating more than 20,000 Open Access books. This vital infrastructure is slated to comprise the most comprehesive collection of peer-reviewed Open Access books accessible to everyone. Libraries investing in the Open Research Library contribute to the development of a dedicated infrastructure for the global research community, while participating libraries have the opportunity to benefit from a set of exclusive services.
Type of Material:
Collection
Recommended Uses:
In class, online resources, individual
Technical Requirements:
ePub format
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The major goal of this site is to provide open access to books from different branches of knowledge from sports to religion. There are 49 categories on the home page where a user can use a single click to explore the knowledge.
Target Student Population:
Users from the High school level to the university level can use these materials.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Basic internet and search skills.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
A massive number of open resources in many areas of knowledge is provided. One could find anything they might be looking for. You can search by category, relevance, alphabetically and Publication Date. You can also view in grid or list format.
Concerns:
Quality of resources varies based on publisher, publication date, category, etc. Finding the right resource for purpose may be time consuming even with the search features.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Micro search options narrow down the source material offered to help get more specific resources for instructor purposes. Those include view by Full Text or Title only, Content Type, Contributor, Publication Year, Language, Publisher, Place of Publication, Module, and License Type. Invaluable as a research source for possible learning assignments related to research analysis and book analysis.
Concerns:
The purpose of this resource as a learning tool requires instructor creation of use and instruction of use for the learner. Once that is done and the student has clear guidelines of expectations the tool becomes much more valuable as a learning tool for the student.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Collection repository if quite easy to use and self-explanatory in how to search for materials. The layout is current and visually organized.
Concerns:
As a learning tool specific guidelines and instruction of use should be provided for quality student learning. The learning opportunities are vast when using this tool.
Creative Commons:
Search by ISBN?
It looks like you have entered an ISBN number. Would you like to search using what you have
entered as an ISBN number?
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
