OER and Social Justice: Are We Keeping Our Promises?
The open movement has been in full force for several decades now, and it’s a field that began with high hopes and aspirations. We were going to bring knowledge to the world, to the masses, and we were going to break down the barriers to information, education, and knowledge that stood in our way. This presentation will explore the definitions of and promises made by OER, the systems that OER exists in and depends upon, such as copyright law, academia, and the scholarly communication ecosystem, and where the original mission of OER is falling short, particularly in relationship to a framework of social justice access, inclusion, and empowerment. The main purposes here are to raise questions and make connections, but we will also conclude with some general guidelines that may help move the field forward in a more equitable way.
Speaker
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Shanna HollichLearning and Training Manager, Creative CommonsThey/Them
As Learning and Training Manager, Shanna supports all of CC’s programs and projects by identifying and developing professional development and learning opportunities that are relevant to CC’s mission, including (but not limited to) the CC Certificates.
Prior to joining CC, Shanna worked for 15 years as a librarian across multiple institutions – K-12 school, public, government, and academic. They have worked in public/access services, technical services and cataloging/metadata, and administration, ultimately serving as director for the John Stewart Memorial Library at Wilson College and the Guthrie Memorial Library in Hanover, PA. Their research during this time primarily involved copyright reform, cultural heritage, open access, open education, and social justice.