Brooklyn College Library LibGuides Home: Faculty Guide on Open Education Resources (OER): Find ZTC Content

Faculty and students have access to subscription and licensed electronic content available through the Brooklyn College Library that you can include as ZTC (zero textbook cost) materials in your courses. If you have any questions or need further assistance please reach out to your subject specialist librarian.

Using OneSearch to Find Online Resources

OneSearch: This “discovery layer” search tool, available on the library home page, searches multiple databases and delivers a single set of results. Search for a known title or author, or do a keyword search on a topic. In OneSearch, you’ll find links to e-books and e-chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, streaming video, and reference resources for background and biographical information. Limiters on the right-hand side of search results screens allow you to focus on the “Resource Type” you want

Use the Filter my results option on the right-hand side.

1) Under Limit To, click on Full Text Online (to limit to e-resources)

2) Then, under Resource Type, select the type of resource you’re looking for: Books (for e-books), Book Chapters (for e-chapters), Videos (for streaming video), Reference Entries (for background information)

Additional Resources

Subject Databases	Streaming Video
OneSearch does not include all items from all library databases, or all search features found in other databases. Therefore, when you need to dive deep into disciplinary literature or carefully craft an advanced search, you may favor our individual databases. Also, consult WorldCat to find books not held by CUNY libraries. Subject Databases: Browse through our many databases by setting a subject filter on the Databases page, or link to one of our Research Guides that our subject librarians have built to make it easier for you to find the subject databases you need for your topic. Search under the “Articles and Databases” tab in the guide you choose to find subject databases.	Our Streaming Video Guide provides access to all the Library's streaming video databases, such as Kanopy, AVON, Alexander Street Press, Swank, and more. All films are available 24/7 both on and off-campus, with no restrictions on the number of concurrent users. This guide includes a listing of online sources for free and free-with-ads streaming video. Showing films in your online courses? Have questions about what you can do? Check out the Library FAQ for Streaming Film.

Subject Databases

Streaming Video

OneSearch does not include all items from all library databases, or all search features found in other databases. Therefore, when you need to dive deep into disciplinary literature or carefully craft an advanced search, you may favor our individual databases. Also, consult WorldCat to find books not held by CUNY libraries.

Subject Databases: Browse through our many databases by setting a subject filter on the Databases page, or link to one of our Research Guides that our subject librarians have built to make it easier for you to find the subject databases you need for your topic. Search under the “Articles and Databases” tab in the guide you choose to find subject databases.

Our Streaming Video Guide provides access to all the Library's streaming video databases, such as Kanopy, AVON, Alexander Street Press, Swank, and more. All films are available 24/7 both on and off-campus, with no restrictions on the number of concurrent users. This guide includes a listing of online sources for free and free-with-ads streaming video.

Showing films in your online courses? Have questions about what you can do? Check out the Library FAQ for Streaming Film.

Linking to Library Licensed Resources

You can link from your course site to library owned and licensed resources, including e-books, online articles, and streaming videos. Linking to resources rather than uploading PDFs or other files is the best way to avoid violating copyright.

Here are three possibilities to ensure that students pass through BC Library Authentication on the way to accessing licensed material:

Sometimes you can just grab the URL once you are at the resource (please test that it will route students through the library’s Authentication page).
You can also use this prefix https://brooklyn.ezproxy.cuny.edu/login?url= before the URL to any subscription materials.
Finally, and perhaps simplest, use the PermaLink from OneSearch.

Linking to Library subscribed resources is always preferable to scanning them, but sometimes PDFs of documents may be scanned and shared and you will not be in violation of copyright.

Don't have a home scanner? The Faculty Development Lab is not accessible while the Library is closed to help with scanning, but did you know that you can make PDFs of documents at home using your phone? See Creating Class-worthy E-resources with Your Phone by colleague Professor Katherine Pradt at the Mina Rees Library at the Graduate Center.

Let us know if you need help with this.

Requesting New Library Materials for Your Course

Are you looking for a book or a film that the Library does not have? You can send purchase requests to your subject specialist librarian for materials that you will use in your courses, but please keep the following in mind.

Cost/Budgets - The library has always been challenged by slim budgets, and we do our best to purchase materials in support of the curriculum. We have never been a textbook repository, and our budgets don't support it now. Reliance on Library resources needs to be aligned with existing resources as much as possible.
Commercial Textbook Publishers - Unfortunately, electronic versions of commercial textbooks from publishers such as Pearson and Cengage are typically not available for libraries to license. Many existing course textbooks are simply unavailable to any library regardless of budget in formats other than print. Replacing costly textbooks with available library materials is one way to lower textbook costs for students.
Other E-Books (licensed and free) - Find many other sites that offer access to free electronic books, and links to individual subscription ebook databases in the Library.