Remote alternatives for Spring 2022 course support

Greetings. We are republishing this blog post to assist you with the pivot to remote teaching for January 2022. Here are some alternatives and tips for online content to use in your courses, along with remote support for students and researchers.

Photo by Caroline Madigan, CC-BY 2.0

Consider access and affordability of course materials, including Open Educational Resources (OERs) as alternatives to traditional textbooks. A good place to start is the Open Textbook Library, a collection of 790 OERs curated by the Open Education Network, based at the University of Minnesota. Another option is OpenStax at Rice University. You can also find more information on the Emory Scholarly Communication Office’s website on OER. If you have trouble finding OERs that will work for you, please contact your subject librarian or informationist (see below for contacts).

Utilize existing Emory e-book content and work with your subject librarian or informationist to access additional content, when available.

Photo credit: Tina Franklin via Flickr

The libraries continue to expand access to an ever-growing number of individual e-books and e-book collections, most of which are discoverable through library search. While we strive to purchase multi-user e-book options for teaching and reserves, certain publisher restrictions may exist. For more information on our key e-book collections and assistance in locating, accessing, and working with e-books for your course, please carefully review our e-book guide. Contact your subject librarian or informationist to determine if we can acquire an acceptable e-book version of your required and supplementary texts, or if an existing text can meet class needs. You can always place a request through our purchase request form.

Keep in mind that textbooks are difficult for libraries to acquire in digital forms. Rental options, through the Barnes and Noble Bookstore, may be the best option for some students to access textbooks. Also, remember that Wiley, Oxford, Springer, Cambridge and Routledge all produce a variety of handbooks, companions, and surveys which can serve as course texts freely accessible to you and your students. Again, see our e-book guide for more details as to the availability and access to these collections. Consider OER options (see above) as well.

Free options such as Open Library may be useful, although these e-books are read-only, and not downloadable.

Leverage existing Emory video content through Library Search and check out the Emory streaming video content options. Work with your subject librarian or informationist to acquire new content. Acquiring streaming video can take significantly more time than purchasing a DVD, so please inquire as early as possible to determine if the Libraries can provide streaming access. You may want to also consider if film clips are a potential option in lieu of the full streaming access. Keep in mind that some distributors do not have institutional streaming access options, and may only provide individual rental streaming options. Note that Kanopy and Swank provide the quickest turnaround.

When you are developing your research assignments and activities, remember to keep in mind not just your course structure, but also your students’ circumstances and access to research materials. Considering different scenarios and situations in advance can help you select materials and develop assignments that ensure all of your students can achieve your course objectives, whether they are residing in an Emory dorm or spending their semester overseas.

Visit CFDE’s Online Teaching website for a wide range of content on designing and developing an online course, including crafting assignments and selecting course materials. The Flexible Teaching Toolkit and other resources include content from CFDE, the Emory Libraries, Academic Technology Services, and Emory College.

Additionally, see our For Instructors page, where you can find suggestions for research assignments and information on how to get support from the library for your class. Remember, subject librarians and informationists are always happy to meet with you to discuss options for course materials and assignments!

For assistance with open educational resources, ebooks, streaming videos, or research assignments, we are offering remote consultations with librarians and informationists.

Contact subject librarians for College of Arts and Sciences and Laney Graduate School
Contact informationists for Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health
Contact law librarians for the Law School
Contact business librarians for Goizueta School of Business
Contact theology librarians for Candler School of Theology
Contact oxford librarians for Oxford College

To incorporate rare books, manuscripts and archives into your class, contact Rose Library at rose [dot] library [at] emory [dot] edu.

For assistance with student learning accommodations, please contact Emory’s Department of Accessibility Services.

Instructors can get assistance with course reserves, including placing course readings on e-reserves which are integrated into your Canvas course, by contacting the appropriate reserves staff. Since the move to online classes for Spring 2022 was unexpected, if you have students who do not have their books the first week of class, you can upload in course reserves a scan of the readings for the first week. Also, the Libraries will manage and pay for any permissions required for readings placed in course reserves. The exception may be commercial textbooks, which publishers often restrict from use on course reserves. If you have any questions, email reserves [at] emory [dot] edu or call 404-727-2230.

Course Reserves