Faculty OER Toolbox

Works in the public domain are no longer protected by copyright law and may be used freely without obtaining permission from or compensating the copyright owner.  In the United States, the copyright of a book expires 70 years after the author's death.  Works produced by the U.S. federal government do not have copyright protection.  Other rules apply in various circumstances. Visit Copyrightlaws.com to learn more about public domain.

The following websites contain eBooks that are available in the public domain.

OER are educational materials that are distributed at no cost with legal permission for the public to freely use, share, and build upon the content. OER are and always will be free, but not all free resources are OER.

Free resources may be temporarily free or may be restricted from use at some time in the future (by adding access fees). Free (but not open) resources may not be modified, adapted or redistributed without obtaining special permission from the copyright holder.

Creative Commons resources allow for educational access and often reuse and remixing of content based on a creative commons license. 

Works that are in the public domain are no longer protected by copyright and may be freely used without obtaining permission from the copyright owner. Learn more about public domain at Copyrightlaws.com.

The Holt Library and NC LIVE subscribe to numerous paid databases containing eBooks, streaming videos, articles, etc. which are under copyright and are licensed for use by our college. These are available at no cost to students, faculty, and staff, and may be linked or embedded in Moodle.