Developing an Open Educational Resource on Creative Commons licences in scholarly publishing

A case study from Umeå University Library

Abstract

This paper describes a project undertaken at Umeå University Library to develop an open online course aimed at helping researchers navigate the publishing landscape. The course focuses on key considerations when publishing and sharing research under a Creative Commons licence. The project aimed to create a resource that could complement existing email support and outreach activities at the library and serve dual functions as a streamlined resource for busy researchers seeking an introduction to the topic and as a reference for researchers with specific questions. It was designed to be intuitive and use interactive elements like videos and scenarios, while text sections were kept short and in plain language. The course was developed using a methodological step-by-step framework based on Constructive Alignment. The framework was created at Umeå University Library and designed specifically for librarians with limited pedagogical training. Key challenges in the project included creating interactive and engaging content, avoiding lengthy text sections, and ensuring the course fulfilled its dual purposes. Based on our experiences from the project, we recommend that similar projects use a pedagogical framework to guide content development and course design, involve pilot users in testing the course, and carefully consider how open for reuse they want the resource to be, both in legal and technical terms.