| dc.description.abstract | Institutions and organizations perceiving the use and creation of Open Educational Resources (OER) as consistent with their values, experiences, and needs are developing partnerships in support of the creation and publication of OER (Bell, 2018; Hess et al., 2016; Jung et al., 2017; Schaffert, 2010). Open Educational Resources (OER) are "teaching, learning and research materials that make use of appropriate tools, such as open licensing, to permit their free reuse, continuous improvement and repurposing by others for educational purposes" (Miao et al., 2019, p. 9). Academic libraries are among the organizations advocating for OER, often playing a key campus role in education, advocacy, and support of their creation and publication (Bell, 2018; Lashley et al., 2017; Reed & Jahre, 2019; Sandy et al., 2018). Publication of OER resonates with the role of the academic library (Bell, 2018; Hess et al., 2016; Jung et al., 2017; Kleymeer et al., 2010; Reed & Jahre, 2019). Because "incongruence in perceptions" (Chtena, 2019, p. 24) can cause difficulties and unforeseen challenges with implementation and use of OER, organizations involved in OER initiatives need familiarity with how OER and organizational values align. The goal of this dissertation was to investigate how academic libraries enact academic library publishing programs and the ramification that has in the diffusion process of OER in higher education. Data collected in this single case study research project was analyzed through the lens of Diffusion of Innovations Theory. The findings from the study suggest that, if academic libraries are to enact the creation and publication of OER in ways appropriate to its conception, those involved will need to be intentional about ensuring enactment of the values foundational to OER. Future suggested research includes a multiple-case study comparative research study looking at academic library publication of OER, exploration of how opinion leaders and attributes of innovations impact academic library publication of OER, and investigation into the impact of organizational structure on the diffusion of OER creation and publication. | |
