Navigating UCF Course Materials: A Comprehensive Guide to Access and Affordability
Access to course materials is a critical component of student success. The University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries and faculty are dedicated to providing affordable and accessible resources for students. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the various types of course materials available at UCF, including how to access them and the benefits they offer.
Leganto: Centralizing Course Material Access
UCF faculty utilize Leganto to build reading lists for their courses. This platform consolidates course material access into one convenient location for students. Leganto offers several key features:
- Physical Reserves: Once a reading list is created in Leganto, books and other items that need to be placed on physical reserve are pulled and sent to the appropriate services desk. These desks are located at the John C. Hitt Library, the Curriculum Materials Center, or the Downtown Campus Library. Faculty-owned items or reproductions of materials must be delivered to the desk.
- Student Notification: A link within Leganto informs students when a copy of an item is available at the library.
- Borrowing Process: Students must present their UCF ID at the designated service desk to borrow physical reserve materials. The borrowing period is subject to a specific time restriction.
- Digital Reserves: Leganto also manages digital reserves. Faculty can submit requests through Leganto, including complete citations for the desired materials. The library strives to digitize physical materials or configure access restrictions for existing digital materials whenever possible. Library staff are committed to processing faculty requests for course reserves in a timely manner while adhering to copyright law, as mandated by the UCF Office of the General Counsel.
Open Educational Resources (OER): Free and Adaptable Materials
Open Educational Resources (OER) are educational materials that are freely accessible and openly licensed. This allows users to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute them without legal restrictions. As defined by UNESCO, OER are "learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others."
Faculty can find, adapt, or create OER to use as free and effective course materials. Key characteristics of OER include:
- Free for Students: OER eliminate the cost barrier for students, making education more accessible.
- Adaptable: Faculty can edit, adapt, and remix OER to tailor them to their specific instructional goals.
- Openly Licensed: OER are released under open licenses, granting users the freedom to use, share, and modify the materials.
Peer-reviewed OER can be found through the Open Textbook Library. UCF-created OER are typically housed in Pressbooks, STARS, and within Webcourses.
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Open Source Materials
"Open Source" is a term typically used for software but could refer to code, data sets, or tech-related tools released under an open source license. Modifications are permitted (and generally welcomed to encourage development and collaboration) as long as the license permits this.
- Open source materials are typically free, but this is not always the case.
Open Access Materials
Open Access materials are those that are freely accessible for anyone to use without any additional permissions needed. This can include many scholarly materials, such as books, journal articles, and all open educational resources.
UCF Libraries: Full and Limited Access Materials
UCF Libraries offer a wide range of materials to support student learning. These materials can be categorized into two main types:
- UCF Libraries - Full Access: These are library materials that an entire course (or the whole university) can utilize simultaneously. Examples include eBooks or streaming videos that permit unlimited simultaneous users.
- UCF Libraries - Limited Access: These types of library materials permit a limited number of students to use them simultaneously. Examples include a 1-user or 3-user eBook, a database with limited simultaneous logins, or a physical book placed on Course Reserves at the library.
First Day® Inclusive Access Program
First Day® is the UCF Bookstore’s Inclusive Access program. With this program, the cost of course materials is added as a "digital course material fee" to the UCF Student Account. These digital course materials are available on or before the first day of class. By opting into First Day® course materials, students can defer payment through their student account and have materials covered by financial aid.
The Impact of Affordable Course Materials at UCF
UCF faculty have embraced the use of open or library-sourced materials, significantly impacting student affordability. To date, UCF faculty have taught using open or library-sourced materials, reaching more than 200,000 student enrollments and potentially saving students just over $20 million.
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Additional Resources
- eTextbook Portal: This portal helps students identify if their digital textbook is available for free through the library.
- Course Material Guide: This guide provides an overview of different course material types, highlighting what faculty can select that align with their instructional goals while improving student access and affordability.
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