A case study investigation of academic library support for open educational resources in Scottish universities

The aim of the research was to investigate why and how Scottish university libraries support open educational resources and to assess their ability to provide support services for their development and use within higher education institutions. There has been little research on the role of academic libraries in supporting open educational resources in Scotland and previous research found that there is a lack of awareness of them in Scottish higher education institutions and few have open educational resources policies. The case study methodology therefore involved two Scottish academic libraries providing open educational resources services. The libraries’ motivation includes supporting teaching and learning and the development of educator digital skills and copyright knowledge. However, there are a number of barriers limiting the services the libraries are able to provide, particularly lack of human resources. The research confirmed the findings of previous research on the importance of institutional commitment, incentives for educator engagement, and understanding of copyright and licensing issues by educators and library staff.